Dining Out Asheville, NC, The Stable Cafe at the Biltmore Estate

We recently visited the Biltmore Estate. Unfortunately, on the day we visited there was a daylong deluge of rain.  We toured the Estate, which was absolutely stunning and overwhelming! The details of the architecture and design for the time period in which it was built is truly amazing.

We chose to have lunch on the grounds at the adjacent Stable Cafe. Yes, this restaurant is set in what was originally the Estate's horse stable.  The dining area is bright and airy and the converted stalls hold cozy booths.  Here are some of the pictures I took from our booth in the dining room.

The menu features house-smoked meats, Carolina BBQ, grilled burgers, salads, and a variety of sandwiches.

We started with a Blackberry Lemonade $4.25.  They struck the perfect balance of tart and sweet with this lemonade.  The best part? When only half finished with the glass a new glass was delivered to the table without having to be requested. We'll talk more about the service in a bit.

We reviewed the tantalizing choices on the menu.  Did we want a sandwich? A burger? A BISON burger? How about one of those fresh salads?  Then, at almost the same time, we both spied The Stable Cafe Sampler.  Smoked baby back ribs, smoked pulled pork, roasted chicken, bacon bourbon baked beans, corn on the cob, potato salad, coleslaw, brown sugar BBQ sauce, served with Stable's sweet pickles.  Plate for one $19.95 -- Feast for two $34.95.  We chose the Feast for Two and eagerly awaited the delivery to the table!

Here's the entire Feast which as you can tell was a great deal of food for two people.  However, we had no problem cleaning the platter! The ribs were fall off the bone tender with a nice smokey flavor. The pulled pork, sadly and surprisingly, was the weak link on the platter. It had a very dry texture as if it had been shredded a while before our meal. Even the addition of the sauce didn't save the pulled pork.

The corn on the cob was a tad mushy for my taste. The beans lacked a lot of bacon OR bourbon flavor but were good nonetheless.  The pickles were divine!

We both gave thumbs up to the potato salad and the cole slaw.  The potato salad had large chunks of red potatoes and was nicely seasoned. The cole slaw had the perfect amount of dressing. 

Now to the star of the Feast!  The roasted chicken. Any time you smoke or roast chicken, you run the risk of it being dry and tasteless. This half a chicken was perfectly cooked, tender, and moist. Amazing! As much as I love pork BBQ, I would have swapped the ribs and pulled pork in a second for more of this chicken.  Kudos to the person in charge of the chicken roasting! You are a MASTER!

We had no room for dessert which could have been our choice of Carrot Cake Cheesecake, Hazelnut Raspberry Torte, Double Fudge Chocolate Cake, Warm Bacon-Maple Bread Pudding, or key lime, peanut butter pie, or Dutch apple pie served with homemade vanilla bean ice cream.

The day we visited the Estate was very crowded with dripping wet guests. The servers and food runners were not overwhelmed, even with many diners. The food was promptly delivered to the table, our drinks were quickly refilled.

All in all, I'd give The Stable Cafe an 8/10.