Saturday Night
I'm gonna try a new rating system on my reviews in case you don't want to read all the details... I'm going to use a system that everyone is familiar with A - F.
Atmosphere: B+ (very trendy, comfortable once seated, but no where to wait for your table)
Bar: C (2 bars, 1 bartender rocked, no space at either bar and the bars are in a high traffic area where servers have to run by every few seconds)
Service: F (you'll have to read the review for this one)
Food: B (good, but not the best)
Saturday night we headed to SoHo to eat at the Mercer Kitchen. The concierge in our hotel recommended it as good atmosphere, good food, and trendy. We cabbed over and I noticed that shopping in SoHo looks even cooler than 5th avenue. The shops are very similar, but they seem to be a bit younger and trendier. We arrived a little while before our reservations because the concierge said the restaurant has a cool bar. When you first walk in, no one is there to greet you and not having been there would not know automatically to go down a dark staircase to find the hostess. Once we figured out where to go and let the hostess know we were there, we headed to the bar.
The bar is cool, but fits about 2 people. Downstairs is another bar, but it was very crowded, so we ordered a drink upstairs and noticed that there is a lounge attached to the bar. We asked if we could hang out there while waiting for our reservation, but learned that it is for hotel guests only. We decided to head downstairs anyway, because there were more people but also more space. Both bars are situated in high traffic areas where the servers have to fly past you every second. The other option is to sit on top of diners. The bartender upstairs made an awesome sidecar, so you know what jason was drinking... i had a glass of pinot noir, which was pretty good.
Overall, though, downstairs is pretty cool. The tables are all wood, the walls and floors are brick and the lights are pretty dim. It was very comfortable with acoustic covers playing. (imagine acoustic queen - we will rock you) The kitchen is fully open into the dining area, so you can see everything that is going on.
About 10 minutes after our reservations and 40 minutes after we arrived, we checked again on our table. The hostess said that the table we were waiting for was having dessert and would be finished soon. While that was happening, several other tables came and went. Finally, our table was ready.
The menu was pretty good, basic american type food, although they call it american french fusion. I read some yelp reviews a head of time and knew to get the french fries and the bartender upstairs told jason that the pork chops, tuna spring roll, and crab cake are awesome. We asked the waiter if the french fries were cooked in peanut oil (as to not kill frank). The waiter looked at us for no less than 10 seconds, then slowly turned his head from side to side. I said, "are you certain? he can die if he eats peanut oil." The waiter chuckled slowly and said that he was sure. He did not make us overwhelmingly confident. So, I got the tuna spring roll as an appetizer and a mozzarella, tomato, and basil pizza. Jason got the pork chops and Frank got the NY strip. While waiting for the food we were served a crusty stone oven cooked roll with some olive oil. Jason tasted something spicy in the olive oil, but for me, I just tasted pretty bland oil.
Then we proceeded to wait. And wait. And wait. During this time a table of four beside us finished up their meals, the table was cleared, and another party of 4 was seated and received their appetizers. We then received ours. The tuna spring roll was fresh, raw tuna wrapped in spinach, then in a spring roll wrapper. It was pretty awesome. I was expecting cooked tuna, but was pleasantly surprised with a more sushi-like approach. We also got a shrimp cocktail for the table. The shrimp were fantastic, very fresh and large. They were served with a very good cocktail sauce, a tartar sauce and a soy sauce.
Next we waited again and again and again. The table beside us received extra drinks, more food, and then entrees. We still couldn't even get our waiters attention to get us additional drinks. Finally jason got him to bring a beer and asked about our dinners. He told us that the food should be out "soon". After a while longer, our entrees arrived.
My pizza was fantastic. The crust was thin, but not too crunchy or too soft, the tomato sauce was really fresh, the cheese was fresh, and fresh basil was shredded on top. It was the perfect size for one person. Jason's pork chops came on top of a marinated cabbage salad and a side of mac & cheese. Jason thought the entire entree was delicious, the mac & cheese was fancy cheese and sort of mushed non-elbow noodles. Frank got the strip steak which came with a side of fries. Jason and I tried the fries first to confirm they were safe. (they were) The fries were decent, but because of our delicious fries the night before they tasted pretty mediocre.
At this point, we had been at the restaurant for over 2 hours and it felt like an eternity, so we decided to leave without dessert. This effort took at least another 15 minutes to flag down the waiter and get the check. Keep in mind, he was not terribly busy, he was just standing around chatting with other servers and generally not doing anything. Needless to say, he didn't earn a very good tip.
I think our impression of the place would have been much much better if the service was better. I think the atmosphere would really make it a nice place to eat and hang out, but I just can't look past the good service. Because of this, we will most probably not go back.