pomegranate

A recent second visit to Pomegranate now allows me to write a review of the place. My previous visit left me with a lingering sense of disappointment. I have ranted about this before and Pomegranate is exhibit A in the category of Richmond restaurants that price themselves to a category where they do not belong. I didnt mind the food but the check left me wondering if perhaps I'd missed out on something that made this place "special". A second trip confirmed that I hadnt.
The decor of the restaurant is quite inviting. It is dimly lit and with the yellow light from the street lights streaming in through the windows, the setting is quite romantic and cozy. A wall in the back with empty frames, framing the brick interior is a nice touch. It is not very large and oddly, a saturday night visit was emptier than a weekday dinner.
Pomegranate is apparently a Euro Bistro but I thought the menu was more modern American. The menu certainly looked appetizing and they had a few decent wines. I wont go into specifics but there were a fair number of rather good looking salads. We tried a couple of the salads and they ranged from rather bland to good. The pumpkin soup with the truffle oil was too sweet for my palate and the white bean soup was apparently too dry. The entrees were also pretty good and ranged from a pork ragout with gnocchi (dull) to tuna (good) to veal (also decent).
Dessert was easily the most disappointing part of the dinner. From a rather pedestrian list, we settled on a chocolate "soup". This was "finished" with a few ladyfingers that almost appeared to be tossed in as an afterthought. In fact, a jar of these ladyfingers can be seen on the counter at the back of the restaurant and I wonder if they're added to all desserts.. The soup was a bit too rich and sweet and hard to finish.
The service was very efficient and our waitress was knowledgeable and easily handled the tables. The portion sizes were perfect, (none of the those overloaded plates with insipid food) and well presented.
Bottomline: C+ to B-. The food at Pomegranate is not bad. However, the quality of the food, originality, taste and the usual fine dining parameters are definitely not worth the prices. The entrees are all over $25 and most of the appetizers are around $10. A dinner for two comes to way over $100 with taxes and tips. Add drinks and you're looking at a pretty steep check. They did make a mean Pomegranate martini though !!

Pomegranate: 1209 E Cary Street, Richmond VA. Google Maps