bloom Restaurant & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Roanoke

Excellent food, service, and atmosphere! Plenty of unique and delicious food and drink options for dinner and brunch! At dinner, portions appropriately small but still substantial, tapas style, perfect for trying several items and sharing among two to four people. Breadcraft Focaccia and Baked Artisanal Brie (4 oz pictured) are both excellent starters; especially loved the crispy speck ham in the Brie! Cocktails including Lizard King, Tropical Cosmonaut, and Sangria were all well-balanced and very nice - Cosmonaut in particular is a must-try. Winter Salad and Local Carrots are both excellent, especially the unusual hazelnut-caramel corn sprinkled on the Carrots for a touch of sweetness and texture. Entire Valentine's Menu For Two was a home run, particularly the Chocolate dessert, which was our favorite of the four on offer, rich and chocolatey! Raspberry Mango Creme Fresh Bar was light and fine, but perhaps the most skippable item on the menu, though perfect if you want dessert but just something small. Berry Clafoutis was a unique offering, bread-pudding-like with plenty of flavor, though lacking on VA maple. Non-Valentine's Menu "Chocolate" dessert was our second-favorite, especially enjoyed the brandy soak, tart cherries, and pistachio cream.

For brunch, the Breadcraft Basket is a can't-miss shareable. Brunch mains all had generous portions and were hearty and flavorful. Biscuits 'N Gravy, Croque-Misto, American Bowl, and Coffee-Cake French Toast were all great, with the French Toast taking the cake as the favorite, with its bread-pudding like texture and...

Saturday brunch….details matter - and at Bloom you can see that from the moment you enter. Some may not like the “open kitchen” concept, but when I owned a restaurant (a million years ago) the state of the hood told me all I needed to know about the brigade. If we had a gleaming hood, I knew everyone was set & ready. It took a small ladder to reach the tiny vents in the back, and cleaning it took time and purpose. You had to care about the details. The gleaming hood greets you at Bloom and is a statement that sets the very tone for the experience. Clean-missing no detail. From the fresh faces in the front to the tattooed artisans on the line, the tables, flowers and bright windows gleam and greet you. Once seated, we chose coffee, a mimosa (with just a whiff of juice) and the chicken & waffles & the seasonal quiche. Here’s when the real experience began! It’s our anniversary weekend, and after many years of marriage - we are settling into a calm together. But as we ate our brunch today, we remembered those early days, when dressed so conservatively we flirted without restraint. Blooms food is the same….shes conservative at first glance, but has a mischievous alter-ego. Greek yogurt brushstrokes beneath a quiche? Dill and cilantro in the side of greens….? And a chicken & waffles to include the humble sweet potato? I blush at the convergence of these flavors….hints of curry on breakfast potatoes? I stifle my sighs! Details matter. Thank you team Bloom. You are setting the bar for brunch - and we lovers are...

Overall, the food was okay, the service was good, and the atmosphere was nice. I was highly disappointed in the portion size to price ratio though. I ordered the $32 catfish dish (large portion). I asked what the difference between the smaller and larger portion was. The waitress told me it was a double portion. This was true and I expected two pieces of catfish. Especially considering it does not come with sides, just a bed of lettuce, some sauce, and a very small portion of essentially bacon bits and corn.

When the dish arrived, it was very small. The catfish was half the size that I receive at other restaurants. I then told the waitress that I was supposed to receive the double portion of catfish and she said that the double portion is a whole piece of catfish. I almost laughed. Nonetheless, I would choose other places over this simply because the value is not there. I ended up at Chipotle after this, because I was still hungry.

The food tasted fine, but was nothing spectacular. Of everyone at the table we all agreed the dishes were just okay. We do not plan to go back. If you are a light eater and don't mind spending alot on small dishes then you may like this place, otherwise I would...