We enjoyed our last dinner there except for the service. We had a server who was not interested in service. See last blog:
http://solittlethyme.blogspot.com/2012/01/marsel.html
Like I stated in the past, I was still interested in coming back for the good food. I had spoken to the manager before and he asked me to make sure to let him know when I was ready to come back. He no longer is employed there. Oh well, I guess managers are like restaurants, they come and go.
The ambiance is great. You are right by the ocean and most people prefer to sit outside though we opted for inside; safe from birds. We were greeted by a nice waiter named Jeffrey. I informed him that we had a voucher from Travelzoo so he enthusiastically got us the special menu; no attitude. Though there really should not have any as they automatically add the 18% tip on the original amount which was $194.00.
Before anything else, they came with some nice bread which they called English muffin. It was not your traditional muffin. It looked more like a biscuit but the texture was of regular bread. They served this with a creamy butter and some sea salt. I figured the best way to devour this muffin was to take some of the salt and sprinkle it directly on the butter, break a piece of the warm bread and slather the salted butter on the bread and enjoy. This may have been the best experience of the evening!
They brought out our first course which was a cheese & charcuterie board. We enjoyed the Spanish cheese, salami and ciabatta toast. I forgot to ask which brand of whole grain mustard they used as it was so good. The housemade pickled vegetables were too sour for both of us.
For appetizer, Sandi ordered the Chicken Liver with housemade preserves with ciabatta toast. I don't eat liver but she insisted I try. Taste change so I figured maybe this time I would like it. She got a small scoop of liver with lots of preserves and put it on a piece of toast. As I put it in my mouth, I tasted the wonderful preserves, and I thought, hhmmm...this liver ain't that bad.....then all of a sudden I tasted the liver. Oh my God! I prayed that I could get rid of the taste with a sip of wine and water. I eventually did. After this experience, Sandi informed me that the liver was not good. She described it as tasting like baby food; nasty baby food.
My appetizer was much,much,much better! It was a Slow Braised Idaho Pork Cheek.
I really couldn't care less where the pork was from.....well....I guess I do. This was served with wild mushroom barley "risotto' with soft cooked egg and black truffle butter. I enjoyed the tender pork and the barley risotto which tasted like a very aldente pasta.
Four entrée, we both chose the Balsamic Barbecued Idaho Pork Chop. It was served with grilled peaches, mustard greens and crushed marcona almonds. By the time we got our entrée, we were both getting full. We ate 1/2 our pork chops and took the other 1/2 home.
Dessert was a a disappointment. The Roasted Nut "Tart" was a soft caramel, spiced chocolate, sea salt vanilla cookie. The so called tart was not a tart. This should have been called a mousse. The spiced chocolate was too spicy and the caramel was all over the nuts which was fine but somehow,it just didn't work.
Mar'sel will have to improve on their desserts because the last time we were there, we were not impressed with their selections either. I have had really good desserts in the past but that was a long time ago.
The restaurant was quite busy on a Wednesday evening. The new manager helped the staff in serving food. He was dressed in a suit looking professional but not once did he come to our table (before it got busy), nor did he make eye contact with one of us.
I saw him interact with a larger group though. Sandi mentioned that she had read and observed that 2 women dining, normally don't get much attention. I have never noticed that till last night. I will have to pay attention to that from now on.
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