A Sad Report on Purloo

Four of us went to dinner last night at Purloo (for those of you don't know, it's and adjunct to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum on OCH).

We really wanted to like it. But we were all disappointed.

The space is nicely done, with very high ceilings and a bit of an industrial look. The bar and kitchen are open as you might expect.

The staff was casually dressed and friendly. They tried to be accommodating. Alas, they don't have their act quite together. The drinks were agonizingly slow coming from the bar, and if you watched carefully, you could see some confusion.

Fortunately, the appetizers and entrees arrived within a reasonable amount of time. Unfortunately, though, they brought the wrong entree for me. They straightened it out in less than five minutes I guess.

More problematic was the food itself. Two of us had the lamb stew. It was bone-in with precious little meat, and the stew was sort of sparse and not exciting. Another person had the paneed rabbit. It wasn't really bad, but it could have been anything . . . chicken, veal, etc., and the accompaniment was meh. My wife had the pan seared drum. Again it was very average.

We each had a salad/appetizer and entree. We each had one drink. And three of us had one glass of wine each. The bill was about $220 before tip. Not a bargain under the circumstances.

I really hope the place improves. I like what's happening on Oretha Castle Hailey, and I like the idea of this restaurant and the museum.