Beyond

I love Beyond!

I will do my best to describe how good this new restaurant is. First, let me say that I have been there 3 times in the past 7 days. So needless to say during these three trips I tried many different dishes. I'll get to the food in the second, let me start with the decor. Beyond has a very contemporary feel with dark wood furniture and dark stone floors. There are colorful paintings by local artists lining the walls and it balances out the dark of the decor perfectly. It has a very sleek feel without trying too hard. There is a nice sitting area next to the bar with some small couches. The bottom floor includes the bar, sitting area, and some tables. The top floor includes tables, booths, and the wine rack.

All three times I went the service was AMAZING. The staff was very knowledgeable, attentive, and kind. The service flowed quite nicely with the perfect amount of time between courses.

Ok, let's get to the food. I'll break this up into visits so it will be easier to describe :) I'll mention though that instead of bread or bread sticks each table gets a plate of salted edamame which is quite delicious.

Visit 1: Miso Soup, Pork Dumplings, Chicken Lettuce Wraps, and True California Roll. The soup was very good, it's Miso soup so it is what it is. You do get a huge bowl of soup, plenty to split, maybe even between 3 people. The Pork Dumplings were also very good. I got them steamed and they had an amazing texture. I felt the filling could have used a little more seasoning but they were still very good. The True California Roll had a beautiful presentation and the roll itself was delicious! I'm not usually a sushi person but this was excellent. My companion is a sushi person and he loved it! Now to my favorite part of this meal-Chicken Lettuce Wraps! These were AMAZING. I don't know what they put in the chicken mixture but they are to die for. You make them yourselves and they bring you out a long plate that has iceberg lettuce, rice noodles(i think), ground chicken mixture, and a sake-ginger sauce. These are as fun to make as they are delicious. As the menu points out, these wraps are plenty for 2 (as you'll see in my second visit). The chicken wraps were by far my most favorite part of the meal-so simple but so delicious!

Visit 2: If you couldn't tell already, I love the chicken wraps. My best friend and I had reservations in Charlottesville for 7:30 one night last week but we were quite hungry at 4:30. So we decided to head to Beyond for a pre-dinner snack! We only got the Chicken Lettuce Wraps and they were again AMAZING! We ran out of lettuce and our server brought us more ASAP. The wraps are $8 and since we split them it was just the perfect price for a pre-dinner meal.

Visit 3: Harrisonburg had the 'Taste of Downtown' event going on this week so for my third visit I decided to take advantage of this menu. I went with my best friend(don't feel sorry for him, he loves being dragged to restaurants!) and we each took part in the 3-course meal for $25/each. We each got something different for the appetizer, entree, and dessert so we could try as much as possible! The two appetizers we got were the pork riblets(buffalo) with blue cheese and the mini-crab cakes with chipotle siracha cream. The pork riblets were to die for! The perfect amount of heat and spice without being too overpowering. The pork practically fell off the bone. They have the option to get them in terryaki also and I will definitely be trying those next visit. The crab cakes were also delicious! The cream was amazing, a little sweet, which complemented the crab perfectly. The texture was great, the perfect mix of breading and lump crab meat.

For the entrees we got the Coq au Vin and the Kobe Steak with Lobster Mac and Cheese. The Coq Au Vin was very good and it was a huge portion! I needed to add a little salt to it but other than that it was superb. It came with garlic rubbed crostini and had potatoes, carrots, and celery in the dish. The chicken was amazing tenderly and you could taste the red wine without it being too overwhelming. The Kobe steak was very good, it wasn't the finest cut of meat but since it was Kobe beef it was still delicious. It was a small portion but the perfect size. The lobster mac and cheese was ridiculously good! I was hesitant about seafood in my mac and cheese but if you've ever had lobster you know it has a slightly sweet taste and let me tell you, it made that mac and cheese! It was DELICIOUS! It was the perfect amount too, because it was so rich you wouldn't have wanted any more. Accompanying that dish were steamed green beans that were lightly salted and this again was just something that was simple and delicious. They had a great crunch and great fresh flavor.

Dessert! We got the fried banana and the chocolate trio. The fried banana was good, had walnuts and a vanilla gelato with it. It was one of the better friend bananas I've had, not greasy or anything-but I'm not sure I would get it again. The chocolate trio however-WOW. The trio included a bittersweet chocolate mousse, white chocolate brownie bites, and a coffee-chocolate tart. OMG my descriptions could not do these three things justice. They were all VERY rich but since they were little tasting sizes they were perfect! The mousse was my favorite and the white chocolate brownies my friend's favorite.

To sum it all up-I will be visiting many many times in the future. I am so happy to have a place like this in Harrisonburg now! You can go in for tapas or a whole meal. The prices are great, and it is an amazing restaurant and its not trying too hard. My only con would be the drink prices-a little pricey for me :(

They also have a patio that is open when the weather is cooperating, I can't wait to sit out there and eat Chicken Lettuce Wraps this summer!