Mercer Kitchen

11/21/09

Poor Management + Reservations

by jasonmarq at Citysearch

The previous posts regarding poor management and reservation policy are not isolated events. Our party of four arrived promptly at 8:30pm for our reservation and were asked to wait at the bar for a drink. Not unusual in New York. We were patient and accommodating to the staff, but when we asked the MD why there was such a long wait, he revealed that hotel guests have priority. Our party was bumped from our reservation twice in the span of 30 minutes as the guests of the hotel, all but flashing their black Amex cards, casually strolled in to take our place. When we pointed out that we were disappointed with the service, our hosts were stalwart to our complaints and reluctant to make us more comfortable. No free drinks or appetizers, and not even an apology! Instead, their last effort as we walked out the door was to offer us a table upstairs to continue waiting for our imaginary reservation. After 1 hour of stalling, it dawned on us that the large MK marque out front didn't stand for Mercer Kitchen, but rather Mood Killer.

SoHo was a NoGo.

My recommendation: Go to Lucky Strike and drown your sorrows in a pomegranate martini.

• Pros: Ambiance
• Cons: Service!

10/21/09

Great night out with good food

by Mayke at Citysearch

When friends wanted to go here I was concerned as I took a quick peep at the reviews. Our experience was not consistent with the recent comments. I'd say give it a go.... I don't think you will be disappointed.

• Pros: Attentive service, good food

10/11/09

Shameless cheaters

by Silvana at Citysearch

They claimed to serve sea bass, and they insisted when asked , that they served us snapper. The manager was hostile and aggressive. They have no quality, no shame!

• Cons: Misrepresent their merchandise

07/09/09

Not worth your time or money

by CSMobileUser at Citysearch

If you are interested in food in the least please do not go here. The food really is not good at all. Take your money and head to Savoy down the street for an amazing meal and great service.

12/07/08

Rudest Staff in NYC

by kirilynn at Citysearch

Worst experience ever. Uninformed, rude staff.

Made reservations for a time that the dining room wasn't even open, and allowed us to make a reservations with a high chair, when they don't have any.

Biggest beef is the incredibly rude staff.

07/23/08

Best Cheeseburger of my life

by rachelz3 at Citysearch

MK is one of the restaurants that decided to use Restaurant Week to strut their stuff. Lunch - 4 adults and 2 strollers (use the Mercer door for the strollers or wheelchairs), well accommodated. Raw Tuna Pizza - wonderful unique and worked perfectly. Figs and prosciutto with mozzarella- simple and perfectly matched, the mini cheeseburger was the best burger I ever had in my life, and roasted chicken with mashed potatoes delicious comfort food. Lovely to see the chickens roasting on the rotisserie. I will say the french fries were just average, and the chocolate dessert also pretty commonplace,the strawberry rhubarb was nice but needed some of the chocolate from the chocolate dessert (like a little souffle with a warm chocolate center) to be better. I do wonder if I would have loved it as much if I was paying full price. Lunch took 2 hours, perhaps due to the cakes? I tried one of their home made sodas, it tasted nice but it was just syrup and seltzer.

I arrived early and they were charming about giving me a place to wait, and they had made arrangements for the strollers I had mentioned in my reservation. This put me at ease.

• Pros: What they do well at, rocks
• Cons: Some things just average and still high priced

03/10/08

don't believe the hype of JG

by natt2000 at Citysearch

I went their last night and the food was so bad i thought i was going to get sick right then and there. meat, fish, vegetables covered in thick gooey sauces. hey... buy good quality produce and you do not have to cover it in sauce!!!! JG is over. Tired of hearing praise for someone who thinks gooey sauce is cooking...i may sound mean but i am tired of paying big bucks for bad food from famous names. Place was so dark i couldn't even find my mouth. The wait staff are too young and inexperienced... do not know the difference between pinot noir and pinot blanc. Location was good once but NYU has invaded. Everyone get out of my city and go back to where you came from!!!!!!

03/02/08

Pleasant Surprise

by canobar at Citysearch

I am generally a big fan of anything JGV comes up with, and Mercer Kitchen was for some reason one of the only one of his restaurants that we hadn't yet tried, so we made reservations last minute without taking the time to read much about it first.

The atmosphere was lively without being too much of a scene (read: Spice Market). In spite of the reviews I've since read below, the duck was delicious (moist and, as usual, subtly flavored) and my skate was fantastic. The molten chocolate cake dessert was as good as the legend would require (not "dry" at all...), so I'd say the only real disappointment was our crispy squid appetizer which arrived as a greasy, standard lumpy mush.

It must be difficult to make a decision about Mercer Kitchen based on the reviews below- and every restaurant has its off days, particularly during restaurant week- but we had an excellent meal, lively but not too loud atmosphere- even as early as our geriatric 6:30 reservation- and attentive service on a busy Saturday night. My suggestion: give it a chance, will not disappoint.

• Pros: Delicious food overall, comfortable yet lively atmosphere
• Cons: Nothing comes to mind. Lighting?

01/28/08

Long wait for a table with a reservation + average food = below average experience

by sorenhbech at Citysearch

Had a 9:30P reservation for dinner and arrived at 9:25P, and was told it would be a few minutes for a table for two. We waited at the bar and around 9:45P I went to check in to see what was behind the delay in being seated and were told "it is restaurant week, we are very busy, but you are the next table to be seated." Another 25 more minutes passed and several other tables for 2 were seated. Clearly I was lied to about when I was going to be seated. We finally were seated at 10:10P with barely an apology for the wait. For a restaurant that has been open for as long as this one - thru many restaurant wks - they should have optimized their reservations systems by this point so people don't have to wait so long for a table...

Service during the meal was fine, but we both found the food to be average at best. The salmon main course was bland and the tuna/shrimp appetizers were fine but unremarkable. Chocolate cake was dry. Yes, it was a restaurant week menu but even more reason to get people excited about a restaurant so they come back one of the other 50wks of the year!

Having been to Mercer Kitchen before a few years ago, I was looking forward to rediscovering it...well, what I discovered was a restaurant whose time has clearly passed...

• Pros: Space is still fresh after so many years
• Cons: Rude hosts, long wait times for table with reservations, average food at best

01/26/08

great customer service and FANTASTIC food

by nyc115 at Citysearch

I went here last night for restaurant week and the food was fabulous! the atmosphere is great (trendy, dim lighting, very Soho feel). The steamed shrimp appetizer was one of the tastiest things I have ever eaten. I will definitely go back to this place even though it is very expensive