Mermaid Oyster Bar, 1st visit...will it be my last?

Mermaid Oyster Bar at 79 MacDougal Street, between Bleeker and Houston, Greenwich Village.

We went there for the first time on St. Patrick's Day (Thursday).  The wait was only 5 minutes.  The restaurant was nice and quaint with the bar adding a bit of chicness to it.  It had a nice airy feel to it, which isn't easy for a restaurant of small size.  Perfect for a date.  I had a jumbo lump crab cake and West Coast Oysters.

The crab cake, sitting on a small bed of arugula-jicama salad was WAY over salted.  I'm a fan of salt, but this was ridiculous.  The tarter sauce under the salad was bland, and the salad was way over salted.  I thought jicama was supposed to be sweet?  The "jicama" actually looked more like radish slaw. It's too bad, a sweet punch of jicama would have helped this dish, but it wouldn't have saved it.  This starter was a "hot mess".

  

My boyfriend had the roasted free range chicken, which came with waffle fries, spinach, and pan gravy.  The waitress remarked that this was one of the best things on the menu.  She wasn't all wrong.  The chicken had excellent flavor and was cooked very well, but the gravy, although also had great flavor, was over salted, and sogged out the once crispy waffle fries (also over salted).  The spinach accompanying the chicken was average, but how can you mess up spinach?  If you order this dish, get the gravy on the side.  Yikes!  

As for the oysters.  I am a big fan of the West Coast oysters because of their sweetness, and these oysters were great.  They came with a lemon, a horseradish/cocktail sauce, and a vinegar based dipping side.  I guess if you are going to an oyster bar, you should stick with the oysters.

I tried the Royal Miyagi, Hood Canal, Kusshi, Attelier Bay, Fanny Bay, and Kumamtoto.  The Kusshi was a little on the salty side for me, the Kumamato was thin and stringy, but the Atelier and Fanny Bay oysters were  pretty good.  Out of all of these oysters, I ended up liking the Royal Miyagi and the Hood Canal oysters the best. I ended up ordering 2 more each of them.  They were nice and sweet.

My favorite, by far, was the Royal Miyagi oyster.  It was nice and sweet and very meaty.

We finished out our dinner with a complimentary chocolate pudding in a cute little espresso cup, topped with whipped cream.  They do not have a dessert menu, so this was a nice light ending to the meal.  Along with the cup of pudding, came a fish fortune, which was adorable.  You place the plastic film fish cut out on the palm of your hand and depending upon which way the fish curls up, determines your state of being.  So fun!

I would go again for the oysters, but this time I will stay away from the crab cake. Maybe I will try one of their fish dishes and report back.

Mermaid Oyster Bar Place page

79 MacDougal Street
New York, NY 10012-2514
(212) 260-0100

Grubbing at Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) - Brand new restaurant/bar opened up for St. Patrick's day.  My boyfriend and I were excited for the opening.  We arrived at 8pm to check it out and grab a bite to eat, but they were no longer allowing entry, due to the fact that it had reached it's maximum capacity.  Bummed out, we went and grabbed a bit to eat, and returned to GMT at 11pm.  The crowd had thinned out, but it was still hoppin'.  We noticed that the crowd wasn't your typical Bleeker street rocker bar crowd or NYU crowd.  It was an older crowd, post graduates and professionals.  We ordered a Sauvignon Blanc and a Tetley's draft beer.  The beer costing. $8 and the glass of wine, $12.  At these prices, the chance of seeing many young NYU students her will be.  It's about time you can buy a great draft AND glass of wine in one bar on the Greenwich village Bleeker strip. They weren't currently serving any food, but will be soon. We were there for 3 1/2 hours and not one fight broke out and I didn't see any puking.  Again....not your typical Bleeker street bar.  This isn't a sports bar.  There are no TV's and from the mouth of the owners, this is on purpose.  The lack of TVs keep the "pin heads" out and facilitate conversation between the pub goers.  GMT has a warm upscale pub atmosphere and is a far cry from the old Senor Swanky's that use to inhabit the place.   The window/doors provide a nice option for an indoor/outdoor seating experience.   We highly recommend checking this place out.

Location: Greenwich Mean Time "GMT," Corner of Bleecker St. & Laguardia in Greenwich village.
Date and Time of day: 3/17/11 St. Patricks day, Evening.