Last night Adam and I ate at 202 Market - a local restaurant with innovative American cuisine at reasonable prices. I love eating there. I can't resist. Food is one of my favorite things and I don't mind spending the husband's money on something I really enjoy.

This was the first time we'd eaten in the rear of the restaurant. Called the "kitchen," this dining space is incredibly cozy compared to the open environment of the front of the restaurant which offers both a view of the bar and Campbell Avenue's busy street from its windows. We scored a table just for two in the back of a little nook that was framed by large drapes. The red booth we were seated in curved around a round table making it wonderful for private conversation. It was also perfect for me as it was non panic attack inducing. (I suffer from agoraphobia.) Adam and I had planned on ordering the Chef's Tasting at 202 as Chef Chad Scott whips together some of the best combinations on the planet. I was even going to take photos of the tasting to do a blog entry on just what this tasting thing was all about. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, and the Chef wasn't offering a tasting anyway as this was the first night offering a new menu. While Chef Scott offered to whip up a tasting for us, we didn't want to impose on him. Instead, we simply created our own little three course meals. We figured we could always forgo the tasting for the next time we visited.

Let me just say that every time 202 offers a new menu we are delighted. While some menu items have become staples and manage to make attach themselves permanently to every new printing, the new items are always a delight on the senses - the look, the smell, the taste. If food was sex, 202 Market is orgasmic.

Unfortunately 202 hasn't yet updated their menu online so I can't give the names of exactly what I ate, just basics that I remember from the top of my head. But for a starter I tried the Iberian Ham, that was similar in taste to proscuitto, with taleggio cheese. I followed with a filet for my main course - perfectly medium - with asparagus, a mustard sauce, and truffled fries. Dessert was an apple tarte tatin. A caramelized apple with a dough "tart" and saffron ice cream. Adam tried the yellowtail ceviche, wagyu beef, and the apple tarte tatin. Again, if food were sex, we would have had multiples.

Since we were all dressed up in our finery, Adam and I decided afterward we may as well give Metro! a try. After a drink at Blues BBQ Co. to let our food settle a bit, we proceeded to walk to our destination. There's a lot of hype surrounding Metro! as "the" place to dine and "the" place to be. After being denied entrance over the summer, however, for not meeting their dress code though readily being let into 202 Market, I was reluctant to return. As I find I'm a sucker for giving second chances. In an effort to discount any preconceived notions of the restaurant, I finally caved and made that second visit. Metro! - as described on their website - offers refined American cuisine in a stylish, metropolitan atmosphere. Basically it's sushi, and sushi with a twist.

Metro! looks great when you walk in, but the fun stops there. The ambiance is horrible. The music from the bar upstairs overwhelms everything. It's so loud we could barely hear the wait staff much less converse among ourselves which pretty much killed any notion that we might enjoy ourselves. I don't understand how you could possibly appreciate your time out with friends and family if you can't hear a word they're saying. It made things quite uncomfortable. Meanwhile, the service was okay, though it could have been better. It could have been that two separate female members of the wait staff didn't each step on my husband's foot. A foot that was squarely planted underneath the table. It simply didn't make any sense.

Then there was the food. Oh, the food. After trying the cuisine, I'm quite certain the chef must be lacking crucial taste buds as the food was awful. I ordered the Calamari-Bacon Fritters. They tasted like a gob of mushy hush puppies with super hot spice. I couldn't detect the calamari or the bacon. Surely the key to great food is making all the flavors work together, not covering them with the equivalent of hot sauce. I was quite frankly disgusted, and managed to only choke down half a fritter.  And don't let me forget to mention the complimentary Salmon Croquette we had beforehand. It was a difficult bite to swallow seeing as how the salmon was so dry it was almost gritty.

Adam decided to order something similar to his favorite dish at Wasabi's - the Sumo Roll (grilled tuna inside, tempura fried, special sauce.) The closet thing Metro! offered was The Star City Roll (tempura fried, seared tuna roll with a spicy sauce.) I have never seen Adam make a face so sour as when he took a bite of that sushi roll. Not even when I was learning how to cook and my Cheesy Tuna Helper turned out more like soup. Tuna should be flaky when cooked, yes? Not at Metro! The tuna was so chewy it stuck to Adam's teeth. And the special sauce? It set both his mouth and his gut on fire. He literally forced himself to eat 3 1/2 bites in order not to be wasteful. Unfortunately he only punished himself as he was up for some time afterwards with heartburn. Myself? Well, I must say I haven't felt my chest burn since I was pregnant with Cody just over eleven years ago. We rather quickly requested the check and left.

Conclusion? Metro! is nothing but hype. If you're going for the food, you'll be disappointed. If you're going for the status, well, that's just dumb. I can't imagine how Metro! gets these awesome reviews in the paper. The reviewers can't possible be eating the same food! I will not go back. At least now there's no doubt in my mind that the best sushi downtown is sold at Wasabi's. (Read Adam's review of Metro! here.)