Rosewater Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Raleigh

I’ve been hearing about Rosewater for some time. A friend and I stopped by after seeing Barbie. Rosewater did not disappoint.

Ambiance The place is beautiful. Feels like you wandered into a French country-side restaurant.

Drinks I ordered a mezcal-based cocktail and loved it. I hadn’t eaten much that day, so the one drink felt good all the way through dinner. I tasted my friend’s cucumber-themed cocktail and loved the balance of flavors—the cucumber shined through at the end of the sip.

I ordered the Salmon entree. The salmon came out piping hot and cooked just the way I ordered it. It was lovely. The proportions were great too—not too much, not too little. We share the Brussels. They were a delight. I think there was a balsamic reduction that went well with the cherries that were together in the dish. Again, the “cook” on the Brussels sprouts was nice—not too hard, not too soft. Almost ordered h th E corn too, but now I’m looking forward to having that next time because everything else was great.

I tasted my friend’s farmer’s market salad and that was good. Somehow her side of salmon for her salad was bigger than my entree and that was a little strange. 🤔

Dessert I ordered the lemon-something cheesecake. It was just ok. Could be a technique I’m not used to in that it was—I can’t find the words, but will come back when I do—something with the texture, not bad, just different—not smooth. The lemon drizzle was very nice.

Honey Caramel ice cream I didn’t order this, but had a taste. It was a perfect bit. Lingering. Memorable. I’d pick this dessert over the cheesecake next time.

Having been here finally, I’m sad I missed their recent tequila dinner. Better believe I’ll be at the next one! I have video and will post pics when I can cut the video.

Thanks for a great dining experience.

Changes to a 5-star. Originally gave a 4 because it was fairly warm, and we were seated by the napkin-folding utensil-wrapping table, and the cheesecake was a tad odd. Deserves a 5–this was one of the best experiences I’ve had at a restaurant in some time. Didn’t get the server’s name, but she had part of her hair brightly colored and...

Tremendously disappointing - returned to Rosewater for the first time since COVID with fond memories of our first meal there. Unfortunately, the second experience was no comparison. I'll start with credit for the service being friendly and attentive, and the cocktails interesting and well made, but it was downhill from there. The bread basket ($8) was dreadfully stale. The "prawn rolls" seemed to have been deep fried in some kind of eggroll dough or batter, and although the prawns themselves were in large and impressive, were far too doughy and greasy. Imagine shrimp tempura without any of the pleasure of light and delicate panko breading. The beet hummus, although not offensive, was undersalted and lacking in citrus. The Greek salad, while a passable and fresh salad, appeared to earn its name solely because there was feta sprinkled on top. The shrimp addition to the salad was three large and juicy shrimp, curiously however served about 10 minutes after the salad was served. The logic behind coursing a salad addition in such a way escapes me. The tagliatelle Bolognese was attractively plated and flavorful, although again sadly undersalted and served at a lukewarm temperature on top of boiling hot pasta. This unfortunately speaks to somewhat careless expo. We sprung for dessert and regretted it - the item described as "olive oil gelato" was charitably, a mousse of some sort, served at a chilled but definitely not freezing temperature, which consisted mostly of congealed, crumbly olive oil blobs which is an awful texture for a "gelato". The manager at that point asked me my thoughts and I offered my honest opinion on the gelato - his response was along the lines of "yeah we know, we are removing it from the menu". Sir, politely: a menu item you know is terrible should be removed from the menu before you are having these kinds of conversations with guests. I'm not sure what it will take but I do hope that Rosewater can turn things back around. I'll give it some time before I...

Disappointed in the food taste. We have had this place on our list to try because it is so cute. The menu has deterred us before, but the current menu had items we were interested in trying.

First- avoid the $19 cheese dip. If you’re like me, you’re thinking, sure, it’ll be amazing that’s why it’s expensive. It is not. It is sliced wheat-style toast with a watery/stringy white cheese with peppers. Strange and not something that was enjoyable or memorable.

We also ordered the focaccia to try it. What the heck? It is 5 small pieces of dry sliced bread with under-seasoned dipping oil. Nah.

Entrees we chose were suggested by our server as best-liked dishes. Short rib & red snapper. They were lacking flavor in a big way. There are unique ingredients that don’t help the dish along and then a lack of flavor in the protein itself. My husband is usually amenable to just about anything and he did not enjoy either.

Sides we ordered were OK. The sweet potatoes were good but I not something I’d crave to have again. Brussel sprouts were bitter.

Our server informed us about a blueberry dessert being really good so we decided to try that too. Turned out to be a blackberry crumble which had a very tart fruit filling with a granola-like topping. Literally the dessert was not even good and we didn’t eat it.

Positives: Decor & lighting were stunning. The staff was friendly. The cocktails were beautifully presented and tasted good. The person who seated us checked in and took one of the entrees off the check (one that we did not eat beyond the first bite).

Negatives: Seat backs were uncomfortable. Food was disappointing & on top of not tasting good it was expensive. I’m ok with expensive when it...