By E. Brown
The Charter House restaurant in Bellevue, Kentucky has a spectacular over-the-river view of the Cincinnati skyline. Known for friendly service, the layout of the establishment is spacious open seating. With carpeted floors, the acoustics are not too noisy. Warm colors, ambient and pinpoint lighting, and colorful fish paintings adorning the walls make The Charter House feel comfortable and a place to bring friends or work associates.
For starters, I ordered the Lobster Bisque. The presentation was nice – the bisque came in a little kettle shaped bowl complete with handle and lid. The soup was ladled over a small mound of lobster meat at the bottom of the bowl. The flavor and serving portion was just right.
For the main course, I had the seared scallops with bok-choy and coconut rice. The light soy and sesame dressing added the right amount of flavor for the scallops. It was overpowering for the rice though, not allowing the coconut flavor to come through. Toward the end of the dish, much of the rice was left swimming in the soy broth. After finishing the meal, instead of tasting the full ensemble of flavors, I was left tasting lots of salty soy, garlic, and sesame.
I would recommend the chef ease up on the sauces. This seems to be an ongoing issue for many restaurants I visit – dishes swimming in sauces. Perhaps a better approach for this entrée would be to offer the soy mixture on the side for dipping the scallops into.
All in all, I would say The Charter House is a nice place to dine. However, the lingering soy taste prevents me from highly recommending this restaurant.
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