Platypus & Gnome — Restaurant in Wilmington

If you follow me or have read any of my other reviews, you know I very much dislike writing negative reviews, and I rarely do. I do not write them to complain to the restaurant. If I wanted to do that, I would contact them directly. With that said, let's get to the review. We used to enjoy going to this restaurant when it was downtown, so we were excited to try out their new location.

The Parking at Grandview has always been terrible. It still is. I will never understand why the owner of Grandview thought it would work for the commercial tenants. The only businesses that can survive are ones that do not need a lot of parking spaces.

When you walk into the restaurant, there is a loud chime to alert the staff that someone has walked in because there is nobody at the hostess counter. It seemed very odd, but we continued on in and hoped for the best. This space has been totally changed from what it originally was. The original restaurant that was at this location had a charming vibe and a beautiful bar. Now, this place feels very strange and confused. When I was sitting in there tonight (12/17/23) looking at a random small TV on the wall that only played ads, I could not believe I was in the same restaurant that used to be downtown. Their location downtown had a lovely atmosphere and a fantastic bar. This version of Platypus & Gnome would fit in better at Carolina Beach. I am not saying that negatively; I am just trying to describe what it is like. There is a random L-shaped couch in the middle of the restaurant. I assume the previous pizza place put up the brick divider wall. It used to be an open-flow and had a charming bar where now the gelato area is. We sat at a table that was right at the entrance of the Gelato area. Looking to my left, I could see right into the workstation area behind the gelato counter, which was some storage, a trash can, and a dirty floor.

The entire meal, there was staff standing around at the bar talking to a couple of people who were sitting there. We ordered fried cheese for an appetizer. It was more like fried cheese egg rolls. The sauce that came with it was excellent. They should definitely figure out a permanent main dish that has that sauce. The cheese-bread ratio was off. Bread won. For our main dishes, we ordered the mushroom Swiss burger( cooked medium well) with fries and the Platyburger( cooked medium) with fries. The buns seemed to be homemade, which is nice, but they did not hold up to the burger. It fell apart. The Swiss burger was cooked perfectly but was under-seasoned. It may not have had any seasoning. The Platybuger came out raw. When my dining companion told the waitress, she looked at it as if she was asking her if it was undercooked. Then the waitress said she would have them cook it more. She had already cut the burger with a knife that she had used to eat the fried cheese. I was surprised they would put food that a customer touched back on their cooking surface, but that is exactly what they did. It came back out; as you can guess, it was overcooked. At this point, we just wanted to eat and leave. Nothing was taken off the bill, which is fine but not the right thing to do. A new burger should have been cooked just for sanitation reasons. We were happy to leave and will...

Despite being a nice restaurant with great food this place won't last long (just like the former restaurant at this location) this establishment is doomed by the apartment manager. You see, the restaurant is located in the apartment building itself, and if you are not a resident of these apartments you WILL BE TOWED withing five to ten minutes of parking, as a matter of fact, I myself was accosted by the apartment manager AS I WAS PULLING INTO A PARKING SPACE, as soon as I opened my vehicle door I was hit with a barrage of questions- who are you!?!? What are you doing here?!? You can't park here!!! I'm calling the tow company if you don't move!!! So, if you are not a resident of these apartments and have a parking pass, you WILL be immediately towed by the S.S. apartment manager, meaning that if you still want to eat at the restaurant you have to park elsewhere, the boat company across the street uses the same towing company, and the tow truck cruises thru BOTH parking lots yanking cars, without being called mind you, he just drives around and around and around until he finds an ignorant victim, someone who doesn't know about the parking psychos or the tow truck, then, BAM! PAY FINES OR WE KEEP YOUR VEHICLE INDEFINITELY!!!!!!!! so now your only other option would be to (MAYBE) Park waay over at the Harris teeter and walk a quarter mile to eat here, WHOS GONNA DO THAT?!?!?!?!?!? And even then, you have to pray that that very same tow truck isn't lurking thru the Harris teeter parking lot looking for unattended vehicles to grab, or even sitting there (in between rounds of stalking the other two lots) watching for people to park, walk out of the parkinlot towards the apartments, then, BAM, tows your vehicle because you parked at Harris teeter and then left the property. It's very sad that gifted chefs making incredible food WILL NEVER MAKE MONEY at this location since their ONLY CUSTOMERS are the few dozen residents of the apartment complex, and WHOS GOING TO EAT AT THE SAME RESTAURANT ONCE OR TWICE PER DAY EVERY SINGLE DAY!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?, And that's what would have to happen to keep this place afloat, I'm sorry that the restaurant owners got bamboozled by the apartment leasing company and are MOST DEFINITELY...

At first glance, this delightfully oddly named eatery may seem like it is trying too hard to stand out. However, there is more than mere gimmickry afoot here. The intriguing menu is paired with great ambiance and an efficient kitchen that has a good command of flavors.

To begin, Platypus and Gnome is deceptively spacious. There are upstairs and downstairs dining areas as well as a bar. My wife and I scored an upstairs table, which gave us a nice view of everything down below - the bartender seemed to be on top of his game. The walls are lined with paintings for sale by local artists, and a jazz band was playing at the time of our visit. Put these elements together, and you're left with a cool and comfortable atmosphere.

Platypus and Gnome's inventive menu makes abundant use of boar, duck, and squash in interesting ways. Appetizers include game poutine, candied bacon, and duck l'orange flatbread, sandwiches include everything from an elk burger to duck confit to a squash cake, and entrees range from the requisite New York strip to bacon-wrapped boar to braised venison.

Though this variety made for a difficult decision, I couldn't resist crossing off a bucket list item: a house-made Turducken. My wife settled on the mesquite tuna, and we split a cup of wild boar soup beforehand. Flavors across the board were excellent. The soup (a squash/red pepper/smoked gouda base) was wonderfully smoky. The tuna was cooked to the desired medium doneness, and the sweet corn risotto that accompanied it was addictively creamy. Meanwhile, the Turducken was like eating Thanksgiving. Not only were the Cajun-rubbed turkey, chicken, and duck quite tasty, but the accompanying green beans were perfectly cooked with just enough bite and the mashed sweet potatoes were among the best I've had.

For all that went right, there were still a few inconsistencies. The broccoli that came with the tuna was a bit undercooked while the edges of the turkey were somewhat dry. These issues are ordinarily easily forgivable, but with entrees priced (not outrageously) in the mid-$20s, they tend to command more attention.

Overall, Platypus and Gnome made for a great meal, and I would not hesitate to return should I find myself back in...