Thankfully that second chance arrived as a gift. My wife, having never used her Groupon account received a free $15 to spend on a certificate and due to the timing and expiration of that free $15 certificate, The Asheville Public was the only thing available. We lucked out and had $30 to spend on dinner at no out of pocket expense and this gave us an opportunity to try The Asheville Public again.
We opted to have dinner this time around and am I ever happy we did. The beer selection at The Asheville Public is great, with many locals and craft brews available. I ordered a Ninja Porter and perused the menu. My wife is a former pastry chef and she noted that they had strawberry shortcake on the dessert menu. With this in mind, I opted to try and order something less expensive and leave money and room for dessert. I got a plate of something called Boerewors, which is a South African sausage over mashed potatoes with gravy and red bell pepper. My wife had a butternut squash ravioli with pecans and a burned butter sauce. Neither one of us was disappointed. This meal was superb.
When the strawberry shortcake arrived, it was also quite delectable. It was an old style shortbread with a homemade strawberry compote and whipped cream. It really hit the spot and we wound up getting out of there for the $4 I spent on beer only. I'm not suggesting anyone else could get a meal that cheap there, but 2 people eating for under $30 wouldn't be unheard of and the food was great. I'll definitely be going back again, although I may leave this as a lunch and dinner restaurant and find somewhere else for breakfast as I still am leery of that meal being great at this venue.
***1/2 3.5 asterisks
TAP: The Asheville Public
175 Clingman Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801 (828) 505-1720
