With the recent cavalcade of amazing reviews (both on Yelp and in the press), my girlfriend and I had high hopes when we stopped in on a recent Friday night. Unfortunately, Mint Mark did not hit the mark for us.
As I longtime fan of the Mermaid Cafe, I must admit they did a great job with the interior redesign. While it can be quite loud at times (as it is basically one big room), I loved the tropical elements and overall vibe of the place.
Their menu is based around small plates and with a somewhat limited menu to begin with, we were disappointed that two of our options were already sold out. We opted for:
Kale Salad
Loved the tonnato sauce that it was dressed in as well as the croutons but the cold poached egg didn't do it for us.
Escargot
The grilled bread (from Stalzy's) was great to dip into the lemon butter but felt that the addition of pastis to the dish made the escargot taste earthy and unappealing.
Mushroom ragout
Served over roman gnocci, this was a failure. The dish was largely flavorless with the ragout truly tasting like a jar of tomato sauce and the mushrooms almost non existent.
The jury is still out for me on this. Perhaps a stop for a drink and a sampling of another item is in order but not quite ready to plan a dinner date until I know the food and execution is more consistent.