49 replies to this topic

[Abbylovi]

Anyone heard of this place?

[bonitobroth]

It's right next to Diner, same owners. In the daytime it's a grocery store but at night they open up the back. Mainly a lounge, but they have fresh oysters, cheese and a few more substantial items as specials. Go early, as it's tiny and gets crammed with people later.

[Abbylovi]

Thanks. Are the oysters good?

[bonitobroth]

Thanks. Are the oysters good?

They're fine... usually just Malpeques. I've only been a couple times.

[Abbylovi]

$25 and Under NY Times Column.

[bonitobroth]

Had a very good dinner at Marlow & Sons yesterday. Chilled pea soup with mint, spring onion sandwiches, softshell crab salad, and jambon royale with a rice salad and dandelion greens. Nothing cutting edge, but everything was superfresh and seemed just about perfect. Especially the spring onion sandwiches -- a mix of thinly-sliced scallions, some red onion and some other kinds on slices of baguette with homemade mayo. Sometimes it's the simple things.

[Abbylovi]

I've been wanting to go here for a long time and I finally made it last night. I really liked this place a lot: the decor, the grazing menu, the good service and of course the food. I liked the look of the place a lot with the dark wood, marble counter tops, and an almost apothecary style behind the bar. I wanted to get a better look at their groceries but I just never got the chance.

Like bonitobroth said, the food isn't cutting edge but everything was very good. I ordered the liver pate and a squid salad. The liver pate portion was enormous and since my friend wasn't into it, I had to tackle the entire thing myself. I managed. I loved how the staff immediately noticed that I had run out of bread and cornichons and offered up more.

The menu presents a good problem in that I wanted to try everything. I was like a deer in headlights when the waitress came around and she recommended the squid salad which was lovely. The perfectly cooked squid came with thinly sliced celery and mint. Oh so refreshing.

We had a bottle of wine. The color was red.

For dessert we shared a chocolate caramel tart with fleur de sel. Alarmingly good.

What I didn't love was the volume of the music but hey, I'm still going back.

[bonitobroth]

I was there last night too. I think I've figured out why I love this place. You don't have to worry about going in on a 90 degree day and finding a lot of braised meat on the menu. The chef somehow seems to know exactly what I want to eat on any given day. Last night it happened to be chilled pea soup, heirloom tomatoes, a tri-color salad, a plate of bresaola, scallops with bulgar/cucumber salad (a lot like taboulleh, obviously), beet-and-bluecheese crostini, and roasted sea bass on amazingly sweet creamed corn and tomatoes (this was the killer dish tonight), and peach cobbler -- which three of us shared. I also had a cocktail called a Rhubard Swizzler which was very good (I have no idea what was in it other than rhubarb). Total bill with drinks and tip was $120.

Yeah, that liver pate portion is huge. Enough for four.

The music was too loud, you're right.

[Abbylovi]

You're definitely right about someone in the kitchen having a good head on their shoulders.

I think they were sold out of the sea bass by the time that I got there.

[Abbylovi]

Another very fun night at Marlow & Sons. It was Saturday night and my friend and I were a little worried that we were about to take up prime real estate while just grazing on a couple of appetizers. But again, another reason to love this place: we felt no pressure whatsoever as we leisurely talked, drank and ate. And mind you, there was a line snaking out the door...

I was feeling a little under the weather so we asked if the bartender would make a hot drink. The reply came back that hot toddies were available and we went for it. Very good. For food we went with the rabbit terrine (highly recommended) and a dandelion and hen of the woods salad. The salad was less successful because it really is too late in the season for dandelion greens but the shrooms were very good.

When we went to order wine, at first we were going to go for the house red, which our waiter steered us away from. Instead we got a bottle of red. Yes, that's all the info I can give you on that. Oh! Maybe it was Italian.

If you're a people watcher, this place is ground zero for characters. Is that or isn't that a tranny? Is that guy wearing a fake beard and being ironic or does he just have a beard? Check out that 28 year old guy with the seventies-style comb-over.

For dessert we had stinky cheese from Virginia. And then a night cap at Dressler. Also recommended.

[bonitobroth]

Marlow & Sons sous chef Josie Smith Malave is a contestant on the new season of Top Chef.

[wleatherette]

our meal last night was pretty disappointing. my friend and i split the squid salad, which was nice, though we waited quite a while for it. after another half an hour, our mains came out - pan roasted king salmon for her and a prosciutto and fontina panini for me. the salmon was a fairly thin, unexceptional piece of fish on a bed of very fresh green beans with a few chunks of beet. eh. my panini was a shade away from incinerated, just totally dried out and burnt. by that point we'd been there for about an hour and a half and were on the verge of being late for a show, so i didn't send it back. under other circumstances i would have asked for a replacement. aside from the food, our waitress was a joke. she took our order, space-cadetted around our table a few times, and that was it. the friendly and efficient hostess and the runners handled pretty much everything (water, wine, food, check) for us.

i'm hoping that this was just an off night, as i really love the atmosphere of the place. anyone been recently? am i just cranky?

[Salli Vates]

I've never been for a full meal, but I really like the baked goods they sell during the day. I'd love to have a little gourmet grocery like that in my neighborhood!

[Abbylovi]

i'm hoping that this was just an off night, as i really love the atmosphere of the place. anyone been recently? am i just cranky?

I'd be cranky if that happened to me but based on the half-dozen times that I've been, I'd say that it was just an off night. M&S is worth a second try.

[wleatherette]

i'm hoping that this was just an off night, as i really love the atmosphere of the place. anyone been recently? am i just cranky?

I'd be cranky if that happened to me but based on the half-dozen times that I've been, I'd say that it was just an off night. M&S is worth a second try.

i'll definitely be back, if only for oysters and cocktails, but probably not at prime time on a friday night. i think that was part of our problem, and in hindsight it probably wasn't the best idea to choose an incredibly popular place on one of its busiest days when we had someplace to be after dinner.