Mary's Fish Camp - A

First off, I need to make note that I did not have a camera on me during this visit, thus the lack of pictures. However I will gladly take one for the team and revisit and order exactly what I ordered below and post the pics here.

Now for my first restaurant review. Except I think these blurbs are going to be more "personal restaurant experiences" than reviews because until I've eaten at a place several times and fully tested the menu, I don't think a 'review' is quite appropriate. SO! My first "personal restaurant experience"!

One Saturday night Justin and I decided to ditch our cooking plans for the evening and try out Mary's Fish Camp, only a few minutes walk away (yes, I LOVE living in the West Village!!). I have to preface this by explaining that I've been to Pearl's Oyster Bar a couple of times and feel a certain nostalgia/defensiveness when it comes to Pearl's because the owner/chef is from Maine and I am from Maine, WOW! And anyone who is from Maine knows the deep burning pride when it comes to our home state. So I felt like a bit of a traitor going to Mary's, because, as most people know, Mary was a head chef at Pearl's before leaving Pearl's to open Mary's Fish Camp and word on the street is that it wasn't a pleasant parting...although the actual story is probably more complicated!). So, even though I felt hesitant about straying from Pearl's, I was perversely curious about the "bad" restaurant (see how much Maine pride I have??), so we decided to give it a try.

The evening started off by strolling to Mary's, putting our name on the list (we were told the wait would be about 20 mins) and then walking to Les Deux Gamins to have a glass of wine while we waited for a phone call from the host at Mary's (they will call you approx 5 minutes before your table's ready so that you don't have to stand around outside waiting for your name to be called - I also imagine this is to encourage people to walk around instead of crowding inside and outside of the restaurant, as it becomes very cramped and busy during peak hours). Almost exactly 20 minutes later, and one glass of champagne later, I received a call from the host who very kindly told us to swing on by for our table. I'm very sensitive when it comes to politeness/niceness of waitors and hosts and I have to say that the Mary's host (why do I want to say his name was James?? I'm pretty sure he never told me his name so that's kind of creepy) gets an A+. He was the perfect mix of niceness and professionalism.

Now once I entered Mary's, I saw that there is a semi-circular bar that wraps around the kitchen (the bar is like a force field between the kitchen and the small dining area which seemed to hold only about 10 tables, no wonder we heard a 4 top being turned away at 8pm bc "unfortunately we won't be able to seat you tonight as we already have 5 other 4 tops on the list...so you would be seated after we've closed..."). At first I was dreading being seated at the bar. There's just something about being seated at a bar that I don't like. Actually I know exactly what I don't like about it and I'll tell you: it's the possibility of sitting right next to someone who is under the impression that because you're all at the bar it's OK to bombard you with unwanted conversation. Yes, call me anti-social but when I go out to eat with a friend, it's so I can talk to my friend, not to the nosy neighbor next to me. In any case, dun dun dun, we found ourselves being escorted to the bar, quelle horreur!! But you know what?? I actually LOVED being at the bar and, by the end of the meal, kept swinging around and looking pityingly at the folks in their cramped tables. My fear of being talked to by strangers was put to ease as we soon realized that these people were hardcore foodies just like us; they came to enjoy the food and conversation with their friends and hardly even glanced in our direction the entire time (score!!). Also the excitement of being front stage and center was wonderful as we could see the chefs work their magic in the kitchen and had prime access to the lovely servers.

Now for the good stuff! We started out with Crab and cheese gratin...just thinking about this amazing dish is making me long to go back to Mary's and order this appetizer. It was actually, no joke, one of the most tasty dishes I've ever had. Served in a small souffle-esque pot, the flavors of fresh crab and rich cheese melted perfectly together. It was also the perfect amount to whet our appetite for the lobster rolls to come but not so much as to have us wishing we had split one lobster roll. Yes, that's right, we both devoured our huge lobster rolls. And I have to say, as much as I love Pearl's lobster rolls, Mary's were just as good, if not better. In fact they're very similar - a heaping serving of incredibly fresh lobster meat overflowing out of the brioche-esque bun with the perfect amount of mayo-seasoned sauce. Mmmmmmmmm. I actually almost had a panic attack when I realized I had only two bites left. Luckily, we ordered a hot fudge sundae to split which was absolutely divine.

BOTTOM LINE: Get yourself to Mary's Fish Camp and if it's your first time, please please order the lobster roll. You will be in food heaven.

INSIDER TIP: Get there 20-40 minutes before you're acutally hungry and put your name on the list. Then take a walk down beautiful West 4th street and the side streets or have a glass of wine in a nearby cafe. The host will call you 5-10 minutes before your table is ready!