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| - Visited on 12/26/2013. The current online menu is from 11/12/2013. 4 of 20 items were the same.
Meat plate
Cheese plate
Meat/Cheese plate
Burger
Restaurants, an online menu makes sense when it's updated!
Odd door-front curtains. It's a cool entrance but corny from inside.. is it to separate crammed dining room from those waiting? It sticks out, and Bar Marco is more a dim-lit+high chatter+blend-in vibe. Dark with a stifling dash of hipster.
Service was slammed, one guy working the 8 tables out front. Our second round of drinks took 25 minutes. He apologized before we could comment when he dropped the check, so they're good enough to realize it. Descriptions were on-point 75%, occasional stuttering and stammering when questioned.
The bar is novelty. "We have no cocktail menu" she challenged with a smirk. Game on! Drink #1 was awesome, ordered in person. Drink #2 was third-person via waiter, and it came out with 2/5 the ingredients asked for. Conclusion: SIT AT THE 6-PERSON BAR, WHOLE MEAL. That said, neither drink was more standout than a good cocktail from a printed-menu.. anticipate that novelty wearing thin on return trips.
Food is decent at best, mix of tapas and classy bar. Cheese plate is a cheese plate, the earthy honey and jalapeno jelly the highlight. The fried smelt needs more lime and salt, the fish arguably too delicate for frying though the light mayo cuts the oil well. The tartare is well-diced with few clumps but way over-spiced, cumin masking the meal. The bolognese was bland and the sauce watery with chemical hints. Definitely could do with more salt and another minute on the noodles.
If the bar is one reason I'd return, the pork belly is the other. Everyone does pork belly these days. Bar Marco actually does it right: perfectly crisp edge with the piping hot sticky gob of fat melting in your mouth. No "sour" per the menu, but the definite highlight. Adult candy.
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