PX This.

PX This presents THE F&F REVIEW

Hey, sorry we couldn’t make it to "Friends&Family," we were out of town/ had to work/ not invited. We’re really glad we finally managed to come by, though— it’s so nice to see you!
What’s that? You would still like us to take the time to fill out the F&F survey, because you’d love to take advantage of all our vast experience, knowledge, insight, and expertise as long as we’re already here? Because you invited 75 people to F&F, and afterward all you got was 41 "Congrats[es]!" 22 "Awesome[s]!" 3 "Ciao[s]!" and 9 "Best of lucks[s]!" ?
Of course, we’d be honored. Oh ha, yesss, we’ll be honest— brutally honest even, ha ha! After all, that’s what friends & family are for!
No no please, don’t send anything more, we’re stuffed, we can’t breathe, you’ll have to roll us out of here, ha ha ha… !

Mermaid Oyster Bar

What was your first impression?
they did move the bar! smart. good for them.

Please rate the Bar:
110% better than its last incarnation. nice, clean, comfortable. great bartender.

Please rate the drinks/ cocktails/ wine:
good, eclectic, reasonably priced wine list. perfect for the menu, neighborhood, and ambience. simple, straightforward (confident?) beer/cocktail list with prices firmly steeped in reality.

Please rate the Dining Room:
totally informal, but cute. an efficient and very astute use of the spare square footage.

Please rate the BOH:
overall very good. menu, philosophy, execution all exude insight and experience. a little hiccup in the timing, but it was handled very well.

How was the staff?
no complaints. not one. even the runner is very good.

What did you eat?/ How was the food?
1/2 dozen wellfleet, 1/2 dozen blue point oysters: fresh. delicious. hooray. i don’t usually go for the mignonette but i did notice the thinly sliced garlic. nice touch.
fried clam strips: fine. i’m a bit of a sucker for the belly so it’s a wee bummer not to see one, but i’ll live. it does say "strips" after all.
decent batter, nicely fried, not too greasy. personally i think it would be nice if the sauce had a bit more punch, but whatever.
snapper ceviche: very good. very fresh. a bit oddly sweet ("from the touch of fish sauce"), but primarily very flavorful and clean. the sizeable slices of snapper are a welcome departure from your typical ceviche.
shrimp and lobster spagehtti fra diavolo: not bad. pasta and seafood just a tad overcooked. sauce okay but not extraordinary, and too mildly spiced for a "fra diavolo." altogether just adequately satisfactory.
grilled salmon: very good. perfectly grilled. unpretentious, uncomplicated, unelaborate, just an unmistakably good piece of fish.
sauteed spinach: good. again, very simple. no fuss no muss. perfectly fine.
the chocolate pudding: very cute.

What did you like?
the bartender. the ceviche.

What did you dislike?
umm… the crowd? ha ha ahaa oh okay— ONE person in the crowd. okay fine: lois-freedman. BLECCH.

What was your last impression?
god i really hope lois-freedman totally hated her dinner, cuz i think i’d like to come back here. it’s so conveniently located.

Would you come back?
yes i would. is there some way we could strap a lojack or cow bell or some shit on that woman?

Thank you, and hope to see you soon!
i’m crossing my fingers…

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