Restaurant Review: Copia

Last week was Downtown Restaurant Week here in St. Louis, so we decided to try one of the participating restaurants.  Jessie hadn't been to Copia since they reopened after the fire, so we decided to try it on Friday.  I have to admit, I was super excited to try the menu:

Starters: (Choose One)

Arancini

Flash-fried garlic herb risotto balls stuffed with Parmesan served with tomato basil cream

Seared Ahi Tuna Nachos

Two house-made aged Cheddar and chipotle crackers topped with seared ahi tuna, fresh guacamole, roasted green chile and tomato salsa

Copia Salad

Mixed greens, red wine soaked red onion, tomato, Goat cheese crostini, balsamic vinaigrette

Classic Caesar Salad

Entrees: (Choose One)

Slow Roasted And Grilled Prime Rib

Served with Yukon gold whipped potatoes, fresh seasonal vegetables, horseradish cream and au jus

18 oz. Center Cut Pork Steak

House smoked and grilled pork steak glazed with tangy BBQ sauce, served with mac n' cheese and baked beans

Blackened Salmon and Shrimp Farfalle

Bowtie shaped pasta with roasted rock shrimp, tomatoes, scallions, corn, red pepper, jalapeno cream sauce and topped with blackened salmon  

Pan Roasted Grouper

Garlic and herb bread crumb encrusted grouper filet served with roasted garlic, tomato and basil orzo pasta topped with Champagne Goat cheese cream and grilled vegetable relish

Slow Roasted Chicken

Lemon and herb chicken with natural gravy, Yukon gold whipped potatoes and fresh seasonal vegetables

Desserts: (Choose One)

Grand Marnier Crème Brulèe

Chocolate Tulip

Mini chocolate tulip cup filled with house-made white chocolate mousse topped with fresh seasonal berries

Glass waterfall wall with wine closet behind it

I decided to try the Tuna Nachos (which the waitress said were so good they are adding them to their regular menu), the Grouper (I just love fish), and the Creme Brulee (I'm not a big dessert person, but I do like cracking the hard sugar top).  Jessie got the same except she tried the Arancini balls instead of the tuna nachos.

First, the Tuna Nachos were super disappointing.  They were not nachos at all, more like 2 small pieces of bruchetta with a cold piece of seared tuna on top.  The crackers the tuna sat on were really dry and had an almost goldfish cracker aftertaste.  They weren't bad, but I was expecting a lot more.  It didn't help that the two tiny pieces were set on a ginormous plate, that was mostly full of empty space.  I would've definitely tried a smaller plate to showcase that appetizer.  So far, STRIKE 1!  Jessie's arancini balls were good, but I could hardly taste any cheese.  I think the best part was the dipping sauce it came with.

Tuna Nachos

Arancini Balls

Next came our Grouper, which I was excited about because I love Grouper and the tomato and basil orzo pasta sounded really good.  Unfortunately, I am not a fan of heavy goat cheese on anything.  I assumed that the goat cheese topping would be on the fish and I could scrap off a bit to lesser the flavor, but the dish came out with the goat cheese practically mixed in with my orzo so I couldn't escape any of the strong flavor.  That wasn't the worst of it though... my grouper was significantly under cooked (practically raw).  How can you under cook grouper??!?!  I was really really disappointed and completely lost my appetite after that.  A meal that I would usually clean the plate, I barely got through half of it.  STRIKE 2!

Grouper over Basil Tomato Orzo with Goat Cheese sauce

Luckily Joe ordered well, a pork steak topped with fried onions with baked beans and mac n cheese as a side!  I originally didn't order the pork steak because I was afraid of the "tangy" BBQ sauce that came on it, but the mac n cheese did sound enticing.  Luckily Joe gave his mac n cheese to me and Jessie and it was pretty good.  I enjoyed the light bread crumb topping the most.  And let me tell you, Joe did not get gypted with the size of his pork steak!

Pork Steak, Baked Beans and Mac N Cheese

Ginormous Pork Steak the size of the plate!

After the entree, I was not feeling so hot (probably the mental repercussions of eating a raw filet of fish) but was interested in trying the creme brulee for dessert.  I am not a big dessert person, but out of the two choices on the menu, creme brulee appealed to me because it wasn't chocolate and I enjoy cracking that hard sugar crust on the top.   Unfortunately, the dinner could not close well and the creme brulee came out with a soggy syrupy topping that was completely uncrackable!  STRIKE 3! Get me outta here!  I took 2 bites and had had enough.  Majorly disappointing meal!

Creme Brulee with soggy top

I will probably not go back to Copia anytime soon.  The menu sounded so good but they failed to deliver (and some things they delivered were even inedible!).  While I enjoyed the decor of the restaurant (the glass walls with water falling down were pretty cool), our over experience there sucked.  Even the waitress was extremely awkward and made us uncomfortable.  Perhaps if I go back I'll stick to the bar side and have a glass of wine (it is an urban winery) but I would not eat there again.

Luckily the location was nice, so after dinner we could walk down the street to the Dubliner, a really fun Irish bar (imagine all wood decor inside) that usually has late night live music.  My favorite drink at the Dubliner is called the Snake Bite (it's Harp Lager mixed with Cider).  It was a really good after dinner drink to wash down my awful meal.

Outside the Dubliner on Washington Ave.