The Umstead Hotel And Spa

Service — excellent. Janice took wonderful care of us and was very down to earth, something that often concerns me when heading to a nice establishment.
Food — devine. The lobster roll was out of this world. Somehow priced less than most food truck rolls in this country, The Umstead delivered in a big way. It was so fresh, not too much mayo and just enough citrus to make it so enjoyable. Served with some house made salt and vinegar chips. The tenderloin was also incredible. We ordered it medium and it was cooked to perfection.
Only thing that disappointed were the selections for dessert. We opted to pass as nothing really stood out but then again I’m kind of picky about having a phenomenal dessert.
I would regularly frequent The Umstead for lunch whenever I am in the area!

A great place for a romantic date night the Heron is perfect! Amazing service and a classy atmosphere. The food was flavor and presentation was very exciting.

If u looking for a Michelin star restaurant in Raleigh area, herons in Umstead hotel is only one. We ordered 4 courses. All the presentations were so amazing. Oyster came out just like an art. I couldn’t eat it just looking it for a while. Make u have really good appetite. Unfortunately I didn’t take pics of food. Even the breads they came so cute and With different butter and sauce. Waiter was professional but hard see his smile. But that’s ok. Just enjoy the food. Love it. Try go back very soon.

We had a lovely three course meal, with so many extra surprises. The presentation of the oysters was magical and the chestnut soup was presented as a white chocolate sphere that transforms. If you like wine the wine pairing is delightful. One of the best culinary experiences of my life. This is just perfect in every way!

I’ve eaten here on 3 separate occasions, and each time has been impeccable. Two have been anniversary dinners (and MAN do they go all out for your special day), and one was a beer dinner with Fullsteam Brewery. For the anniversary dinners, they take down special note/​instructions when you place the reservation and really take it to heart. The first time I went there, they sent us home with personalized menus of the dishes we ordered – not the menu of the day but our own personal menus – with our names and date printed on them to note the significance of the meal. There were some other special touches that I don’t go into detail with, but my experience was good in every way. That’s what this place is – an experience. The sommelier is great at what he does, the chef has come out on occasion to personally shave truffles over my food, the servers are attentive and professional. AND THE BREADS. PLEASE HAVE THE BREADS. It’s way too much to talk about each meal here, but you can’t go wrong with any meal option that sounds exciting to you, because it really will be that exciting. I’ve had the pleasure of eating here when Chef Crawford was there, but also after Chef Greene has taken over. Both are wonderful and took their menus to interesting places. Please go.

Lovely restaurant, impeccable service, and original menu with many unique twists on old favorites. The cocktails are hand crafted. This place is one of our favorites!

It was delicious! We had a nice, comfortable table, pretty view and great service! We had the soup and grilled pimento cheese. We should have split one sandwich — it was huge — and absolutely delicious! Nice casual atmosphere. Several things on the menu we’d like to go back and try.

Herons is my one of my favorite restaurants in the triangle. Excellent service and lunch menu is tasty. Sweet start to my spa days!
I would rate it 5 stars, if they served eggs florentine during brunch!

The peaceful Umstead Hotel has a lovely restaurant called Heron’s. It’s become a more welcoming place — I learned this from their amazing Pastry Chef Sheridan. He told me they are trying to be more welcoming.
Last week I attended their Coffee & Pastry Tasting with my friend for her birthday and it was very informative and delicious!
Today, I took my wonderful associate to a delicious brunch. Their Crab Benedict was very good (esp. after I added some salt) and the desserts were incredibly delicious!

I recently had a birthday lunch here and it was a truly delicious experience for me, though not my whole party. The staff is very attentive and it is clearly a five-​star experience. When you are having a birthday along with your meal afterwards you are served a special birthday treat. The one criticism and reason for four instead of five stars is that my vegan friend had a poor meal experience in contrast to mine.
The restaurant has surprisingly few vegetarian options and almost 0 vegan ones. When I made the reservation I was very specific about having a vegan in the party and was given the impression there would be options for her. The waiter did know of her dietary restrictions and offered only three options. Not all entrees. She chose the pumpkin risotto which he said they would make vegan for her. However when it came it was a plain risotto. Just grain with way too much oil. The restaurant was not busy and the waiter never mentioned why there was not any pumpkin in the dish. My friend chose not to bring it up as it was my birthday. At such a high quality restaurant with almost no traffic at that time and no vegan menu I really would’ve expected the chef to come out and discuss some real options for her. As a review writer I would have brought it up at the time so we could’ve work towards a resolution however it was my friends choice to say nothing and really we should’ve never been in that situation.

My third or fourth time at Herons tonight. I’ve been mildly impressed before, but tonight was underwhelming. Ate in the dining room, where the menu was prix fixe, though not too limiting, with 5 options per course.
Unfortunately, the first course was four seafood plates (I really dislike seafood) and a «tomato salad». I skipped the first course (three courses was an option) and had the quail to start. It was served as a cylinder of (I’m guessing) pulled quail that was reminiscent more of a plate of cat food than anything else. The flavor was okay.
For my main I got the beef tenderloin. I will have to say that the beef was cooked perfectly, but the presentation included four different salts, which apparently means that it was completely unseasoned in the kitchen. It was accompanied by twice-​baked espresso potatoes (a potato purée with what must have been unbrewed espresso powder; it tasted like dirt), sparse vegetables (a few leeks and fava beans), and what, I was told, was a leek purée, which tasted like, as I described it to one of my companions, slightly sweetened nothing.
For dessert I had the yuzu custard, which was accompanied by some melon presentations that did not compliment the yuzu at all. It also involved what I think might have been chopped lavender buds. Whatever they were, they were awful.
All in all, each course felt more like «look how many exotic ingredients I can use» than «taste how well these flavors go together».

Valet Parking. Fine dining in Cary at it’s finest! If you cannot find better anywhere then Herons is your destination.

This review is for the bar and lounge area under the Herons Restaurant name****
A 5-​star restaurant has to get 5 –stars and the Umstead is truly the finest dining experience and hotel in the area. As soon as you drive up to the Umstead, a feeling of tranquility washes over you and you step into the luxurious lifestyle hidden from Harrison Avenue. You can either valet or park in the lot on the left and walk to the entrance. As soon as you arrive at the Umstead, a polite doorman welcomes you and opens the glass doors and ushers you into the impeccable lobby. The flower arrangements in the center of the lobby are always perfect and then you can see the check-​in counter to the right and left of the lobby.
We went just for drinks on a Thursday night and sat outside on the patio. There was a musician playing the guitar in the lounge area inside by the bar and then there were diners at the outside tables and area by the fire place. We had a beautiful and peaceful view of the lit-​up pool and our server could not have been any friendly. Every single person at the Umstead is trained to the utmost level of professionalism and we were greeted and brought fresh waters, a drink menu and an assortment of snacks. We menu has seasonal cocktails, local craft beers and wines from all over the world. I had a very good Pinto Noir from Germany and my friend had a rich red from California. It was a perfect evening to sit and talk and the outdoor patio is truly fantastic.

Herons is literally the best food and service in the world. We’ve had a chance to eat at Michelin rated restaurants in Europe and elsewhere: we are ridiculously lucky to have such an incredible establishment in the Triangle. Comparable restaurants include Fearrington and Saint Jacques. Chef Greene is a genius. Hai, the sommelier, is a genius. The entire staff is phenomenal. Every bit of detail is on point– from settings, to plating, to ambience/​décor, to the interaction from each employee. The pairings and entrée suggestions are wonderful. Portions are not massive, and the food is not cheap– this isn’t Olive Garden. Anyone who gives this restaurant less than five stars has either had a one time issue or is inept. We’ve had the chance to dine here more than a few times, and every visit has been worthwhile. The Kaiseki Menu is worth trying, and it really shows the breadth of Chef Greene’s abilities. Additionally, Heron’s Bar is a great location to relax, grab a drink, or get some work done on your laptop. It can get busy in the evenings, especially if there’s an event taking place. If you don’t eat here at least once, you’re missing out.

Amazing food, very unusual and stretched me out of my comfort zone. What I didn’t eat, my husband took care of ;) We had a very different, very wonderful anniversary dinner, one we will never forget.

Do a seven course meal and let the chef understand if u r omnivore or pescatarian then sit back and be amazed.

This week was our second time dining at Herons. We each did the four course with pairings.
Our waiter was nice but not in a great mood. He didn’t have much to recommend or share other than «everything is excellent.» Which is true, we were just looking for different ideas of what to try. The sommelier was very knowledgeable and attentive. The last time we dined he was late with our pairing but this time, it was just right.
We decided the oysters were our favorite this time, followed by the halibut. The scallops were perfectly prepared. The crab was a busy dish and hard to taste the crab flavor. The beef was also excellent but very rarely cooked even though when asked, I wanted more medium. The blue cheese dessert was the biggest disappointment. I had in my head more of a tiny cheese board but this was more of a blue cheese creamy dish. Just not what I expected.
Until next time Herons!

My husband and I had brunch here on Valentine’s day. We made reservations online a few weeks ahead. Heron’s is absolutely gorgeous. They valet your car as soon as you pull in. Than you take a short walk through Umpstead’s to Heron’s. This is fine dinning at it’s finest!
During our meal they had a harpist playing and that was a beautiful touch. Roses were our table décor. Before our brunch we were brought a blueberry coffee cake and blueberry smoothie shoot. Both were great! Now to the entrée. I had Crab Cake Benedict which is blue crab, country ham, english muffin, and hollandaise. It was out this world good. Beautifully plated as well. Hubby got Herons Featured Omelet that comes with roasted potatoes, seasonal ingredients, and local cheese. The seasonal ingredient was lobster!!! That was amazing! Service was great. I can’t wait to go back. They really made our Valentine’s day that much more special.

I’ll admit I was surprised to experience this level of fine dining in Cary NC. I mean, there is nothing in the area other than a Wendy’s and Chick Fil-​A, and even those are 5 minute drives. Located in the Umstead, Heron’s houses a head Chef that clearly knows their craft well. I went with a 3 course wine pairing, even though I had told myself it was a sober night– there were no regrets in the slightest bit. It’s not often that I have a meal paired by an Advanced Sommelier, so I knew I was in for quite the treat.
With each course (which were all finely prepared with elements of molecular gastronomy and an interesting blend of flavors), the Sommelier would present his pick for the pairing and give a history of the grape, region, wine, and flavors that would compliment your chosen dish. Having enjoyed the documentary Somm, this was quite the entertainment. I kept waiting for him to describe the taste of the Chardonnay as buttery with a hint of Tennis balls and freshly cut garden hose (look it up). Hats off to him though, as the pairings were perfect. Very impressed.
The service was impeccable for a table of 7. We came during a Tuesday night and it was relatively empty, so perhaps that explains why we had numerous servers ensuring prompt placing and delivery.
5 stars overall.

The meal started off wonderful! Great service, very classy ambiance.
Amuse-​bouche was a corn soup with bacon– so much flavor! really good
Bread basket– super good and unique! a bacon cornbread and a feta-​cheese scone– super delicious! had to resist stuffing my face.
The appetizers:
Roasted pork belly– SO GOOD! the crispy skin was perfect and the mushrooms with pancetta– very flavorful!
Scallops with violet yam– disappointed– scallops were cooked perfectly, but the violet yam had a weird taste and the sauce it came with wasn’t good.
The entrees– super super disappointed:[
Ribeye– it was good, i liked their special steak sauce. but the sides were awful! the creamed spinach was so watery and the potato gratin. i have no idea what it was. it was a hard block of potato… so odd
Salmon– salmon was good, but again, their sides were awful. friend did not like the carrots which were super sour. and the rye bread pudding also was weird.
the sides of the entrees just seemed like fillers that were there to take up space…
On to dessert.
Asked one of the servers what she recommended and raved about how the malt chocolate parfait was amazing.
when it came out, my friend said «i feel like this is something they would serve on chopped»
literally, it was INEDIBLE! first it was like a deconstructed parfait, the chocolate cake part was HARD the malt part inside was HARD. the rum bananas, weird. everything just tasted like nothingness– i wanted to spit out what i ate because it was an awful waste of calories– literally, they should take this OFF the menu.
don’t understand how dessert can be that awful– probably the WORST dessert i have ever had in my entire life.
so our server took it back and brought us her favorite which was a white chocolate parfait type dessert which was actually pretty good. it had lavender, apricot, lots of yummy flavors that made it sweet but not overly sweet.
overall, a roller coaster meal with lots of ups and downs.