River Grille

River Grille

1003 McClain Road

Bentonville

For months now, we’ve been hearing about the River Grille, the most popular new upscale restaurant in Northwest Arkansas. So we had to try it ourselves.

The restaurant and bar, which specializes in steak and seafood, is elegant with dark wood walls adorned with large Ansel Adams black-and-white photographs and inset, six-foot-high wine wells.

The private club requires the standard, yet nominal, $5 membership fee. We showed up without reservations for lunch, and that didn’t seem to be a problem. Our party of three quickly got a round of iced teas, which went down as cool and smooth as the River Grille’s decor.

Although prices here are considered high for dinner, we were pleasantly surprised at the affordability of items on the lunch menu.

We started off with a couple of appetizers. One diner had a cup of the gazpacho soup ($3), which is a chilled tomato and vegetable soup “garnished with basil and chiffonade.” The other had the marinated Greek salad ($6), which consisted of artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, hearts of palm, fresh-cut vegetables and feta cheese.” Both were delicious.

For an entree, one diner picked the “catch of the day,” which was such a mouthful for our waitress to describe that we asked her to write it down.

Here’s what she wrote: “Grilled and gorgonzola-crusted Columbia River sturgeon on shitaki basmati rice, sauteed myaki mushrooms, asparagus tips and a fomet lemon butter reduction.” Price: $13. Yes, that was the most expensive thing on the menu, but the diner was pretty happy about it even if some of the mushrooms looked a little more like quid than fungi.

Another diner at our table had fish and chips ($8), described on the menu as “beer-battered codfish served with steak-cut french fries, remoulade sauce and malt vinegar.”

Add a dash from one of the River Grille’s ornate vinegar bottles, and diving into this entrée is like hopping a flight to Liverpool — first class, of course.

The third diner at our table said her entree of wild mushroom stroganoff ($9), which features “three kinds of mushrooms sauteed with shallots and garlic on a bed of creme sauce served over linguine,” didn’t get her too excited. She rated it a “three” on a five scale, but raved about the Greek salad throughout the meal.

For dessert, the three of us split a piece of chocolate cloud cake ($7), which one diner said may have been the best chocolate dessert he’s ever had (and he’s a chocolate fanatic).

The service was excellent, although it did take a few minutes to get the dessert. We didn’t get a chance to try the River Grille’s sultry bar area, but from a glance it looked to have the mischievous charm of an uptown speakeasy.

Now we know what all the fuss is about.