Blu Farm to Table — Restaurant in Washington

We had a shockingly bad experience at Blu Farm to Table. We walked in and were greeting by a hostess who never once cracked a smile. She then, rather than escort us to the table, ran up the stairs making me feel like I had to run to keep up. We were given enough menus for about half our party. After waiting about ten minutes to be even greeted by our server, she promptly left to get us waters rather than our drink order. Eventually, I ordered a Dirty Harry which was a pretty standard dirty martini. The menu said made with pepper vodka but then also said choice of vodka or gin. It came out and was sweet. I think the bartender made it with sweet vermouth. It was not drinkable. Didn’t need any dry vermouth, and certainly not sweet vermouth. We then ordered two of their sampler appetizers which the menu said consisted of fried mushrooms, fried Gouda bites and fried cheese curds. Two of the three were definitely some US Foods type frozen goods- def not made in house. The fried Gouda may have been made in house. But what was the most upsetting is there were no fried mushrooms. Instead, there were bites filled with a weird soupy liquid and large chunks of ham. When we asked our server where the fried mushrooms were she said they’ve never had fried mushrooms…? The menu explicitly said fried mushrooms. She then came back and said they were out so they gave us risotto balls. There was nothing resembling risotto in these balls and she insisted they didn’t have meat. She then disappeared before I could show her the ham. I was able to show it to another server and I just wanted her to know what they were serving so she could inform future customers. She agrees it was definitely ham but her reaction was “did it say it was a vegetarian option on the menu?” They had no knowledge of their menu and no concern for the fact that it simply was not what the menu had promised. Very upsetting for the two vegetarians in our group who had unknowingly eaten these strange ham filled balls. Our server said she could see about discounting the items if we wanted her to but that never happened and honestly it should have just been done without us having to ask for it. As a restaurant manager,I make sure my servers know anything we are out of at the start of their shift and throughout their shift if we run out of anything and we never substitute any item without discussing it with the table when they order the item. If any of my servers lack of menu knowledge led to someone eating something they don’t/can’t eat, I’d comp those items no questions asked and I would, as the manager, personally apologize to the table. They simply didn’t care and made us feel like we were being difficult. We paid for their incompetence. This appetizer was $24 dollars and no one in the restaurant could even tell us what we were eating which made it even more clear it wasn’t made in house. My entree was a salad recommended by the server. No salad dressing but instead a small ramekin of sour cream. Very strange condiment for a salad. Try mixing sour cream into a salad. Checks came and I had to ask the server to remove the sugary sweet dirty martini off the ticket that I couldn’t drink. I’ve never felt so ripped off. Place was lovely and the live music was delightful but despite spending a lot of money, I went home hungry. The lack of fresh or vegetarian friendly menu items makes me question the restaurants choice of name. This is my only time leaving a bad review but the whole experience was extremely...

So, you want to experience food, not just eat it. I happen to be one of those types as well. I made plans for my husband and me to go here for lunch. We were visiting Washington, and we love exploring the local restaurant scene. So, I made reservations for Thursday at 12:30 pm.

When we got there, we were greeted and asked if we would like to sit on the rooftop or the main level. I opted for the rooftop, and thank goodness we did. There was shade and a nice breeze coming in from the Pamlico River.

Our waitress, Faith, was easygoing, like talking to a friend, and had a wealth of information. With her guidance, we chose the truffle fries for an appetizer, the lobster BLT, the crab cake sandwich, and the peach cobbler and apple crumble for dessert.

You have had truffle fries, everyone has them now, but not like these. These had a lemon aioli on them, which gave them such a unique taste that kept you grabbing one and then another and another.

I have never experienced a lobster BLT before, but when I took a bite, I knew this was exactly how it should taste. It wasn't a small sandwich either. It was a good size, big enough to make my husband happy. It's creamy, and the candied bacon took it to another level, all on a soft brioche bun.

The crab cake sandwich. Let me preface by saying I am a crab cake fiend. I sleep, breathe, and eat crab cakes, but I never thought about making a sandwich. Whoever had that idea knows their way around the kitchen. The crab cake sandwich was hefty. It was full of crab meat, about a half-inch-thick patty, topped with bacon and fresh peach salsa on a sweet brioche bun. Perfection. Perfection. Perfection.

Now on to dessert. My husband's favorite dessert is peach cobbler. He gets it when peaches are in season and when they're not. He is also crazy about ice cream. Put those together, and he is one happy man. I, on the other hand, will never opt for peach cobbler because I do not like peaches. Having said that, I think I ate half his peach cobbler. I actually know I did. The cobbler was more like a moist cake. The bottom layer was baked peaches, and it was topped with roasted peaches and little mint leaves. It was accompanied by their homemade vanilla bean ice cream. Delectable. Recommend. But hurry, the menu changes weekly, if not daily.

We had the wonderful pleasure of speaking with the owner and chef, Vickie Desourdy. She herself was a delight. Very personable and kind. We will definitely be eating here again, and...

Was very much looking forward to this restaurant. We recently found out about it and usually love anything waterfront. We decided to try Blu this Saturday evening with another couple.

The place has good bones and the ambience is on the right track. Unfortunately, the service and menu leaves something to be desired.

1. Menu - I take no issue with a small menu but would like to see variety instead of three pizzas and two pasta dishes. Typically, one would expect to see a red meat, a seafood and a vegetarian dish.

2. Food - The food was ok. Seafood pasta was lacking in flavor and tepid when I got mine. My dish arrived ten minutes after the other three guests at my table. Pizza was tiny; definitely not enough for an adult entree.

3. Service - Our waitress was sweet and well-intended but needs polishing and training to interact with customers. On more than one occasion she stated “I don’t know what I’m doing” and “I don’t know anything about wine.” This is fine but not something you want to freely advertise to guests. Wait staff needs to have and use their resources and should have an experienced person to ask questions to. The bar appeared to be up and running yet our waitress said she had to make our drinks; she appeared very overwhelmed which was reflected in the service. She could not hunt down various bottles of wine our party was interested in.

Overall, I can’t say we will be back. I would expect the restaurant to have fine- tuned some of these service and menu issues at this point. Disappointing because it’s a great location and has...