Metzger Bar and Butchery — Restaurant in Richmond

The good: tasty bites of food. Great mix of textures and flavors on the plate. A bit salty.

The average: hospitality. We waited probably 5 minutes standing awkwardly in the middle of a small restaurant on a busy night before we were acknowledged or greeted (and we had a reservation). Service was pretty good. Things came out timely, plates cleared, and we were constantly checked in on which was great. It didn’t feel like a high-level, serious restaurant, though.

The bad: portion size and price. The $30+ pork schnitzel literally has nothing else on the plate - no side of potatoes, German pancakes, fries, spatzl, veggies, nothing. Just a fried piece of pork with some diced olives on top and sauce underneath.

The ugly: this place lacks heart, soul, character, or theme. I saw “butchery” on the title name and expected some serious meat cuts or some non-ordinary type of animal on the menu that screamed “butchery”. This place didn’t reflect the idea of a butchery at all. Ex: the duck dish was shredded duck braised in sauce with beans. Tasty for sure but that’s not “butchery”. I would expect a nice seared duck breast or a rabbit sausage or some other interesting cut of meat you don’t see around normally. Just about all restaurants serve meat, what makes this a butchery? I don’t get it.

The atmosphere and experience didn’t have an identifiable character and didn’t feel very sophisticated or professional. There were a couple pieces of modern art on the wall in an otherwise boring, whitewashed, renovated corner place in church hill with random house music in the background. There was hardly any decor or detailed design - no identifiable theme or vibe. The atmosphere was not warm, not special, dimly lit, not “butchery”, etc. Just sort of basic and a-characteristic.

In the end, I will remember some very tasty bites of food and balanced yet wanting dishes with a variety of textures in a forgettable environment. For the price and buzz about this place: it gave flavor bombs but was lacking character, maturity, and portion. There are other places around, especially for the price, that I would rather spend an evening for an overall...

Very trendy place with interesting decor and lovely live edge tables. Bar looked well equipped. The service was very timely and servers were polite.

I was really looking forward to my meal here after all the awesome reviews. Unfortunately my experience was very average.

Ordered the 3 course weekday meal.

First course was steak tartare with paprika, rice crisps and small unripe cherries served on cabbage leaves. This appetizer was perfectly balanced and fantastic! Inspired choice of ingredients and incredibly tasty. So far so good.

Main course was currywurst with crispy fried potato straws. The sausage was of good quality and tasty, but the sauce fell on it's face. Was nothing like traditional currywurst sauce in taste or consistency.

I applaud straying from the traditional, but this sauce just didn't work. Was made from crushed tomatoes with very little curry, and very little taste. The potatoes were unseasoned and overcooked, all in all, the main course was extremely bland.

Dessert course was advertised as chocolate bombe - described as chocolate cake with cherry ice cream. It had a very nice taste, but was really a very large flash-frozen scoop of cherry sorbet sitting on top of a 1/4" thick piece of chocolate cake, then covered in milk chocolate and frozen.

The ratio of cake to ice cream made it feel like the cake was an afterthought rather than the focus of the dessert. It was garnished with dark chocolate slivers in whipped cream, and some berries that were soaked in a very strong, very cheap liqueur.

I will likely try this place again, but with much lower expectations. The schnitzel smelled and looked awesome, made me regret my...

I had an unpleasant experience from start to finish. Firstly, there were issues with the website in validating my card for a takeout order (prompting me to manually enter info multiple times), and an undisclosed "convenience fee" was added to the total for using the online system. I then received a text that my order would be ready in 15-20 minutes.

I waited until then before heading to the restaurant, walked in the door, and was treated coldly by the young bartender when I said I was there to pick up my order. He told me "it was still being prepared" and "to wait outside and attendant would bring me my order when ready."

I walked out of the restaurant, stood in the sun facing the door for another 10-15 minutes in discomfort, had to go back inside to ask when order would be ready, was told "soon" and then the young attendant came out, and thrust a paper bag with my food at me. I ordered the ham and bread plate, which was quite overpriced for what it was, an oversized charcuterie board of two pieces of toasted bread, some spicy honey mustard and butter, and fatty thin slices of ham.

Not impressed by service or food. Not ready in the time they promise, so expect to double your time if you order. Inconvenient ordering system and they could have at least let me sit in the restaurant instead of standing awkwardly outside facing a door for 15 minutes in the sun in front of...