Another day, another restaurant

My tales of Restaurant Week continue with the Mercer Kitchen. I picked it because I'd heard of Jean-Georges Vongerichten (the executive chef and famous restaurateur), but never been to one of his restaurants. It had the added bonus of being really easy to get to from both Astoria and Zack's work - right off the N/W train at Prince Street! You know what they say - location, location, location.

I didn't feel like a cocktail, so I started off with a homemade cherry-yuzu soda. It was lovely! It was fruity and light, with an interesting kick at the end. I didn't miss the alcohol at all. We also got some bread, which was wonderful and olive oil for dipping, which was not. The olive oil had this bizarre bitter taste that I just plain hated. I was so disappointed in it.

Our first courses were Figs, Prosciutto and Fresh Mozzarella with Green and Purple Basil (me) and Raw Tuna with Wasabi Cheese (Zack). My figs were great, except that they were drizzled in the horrible olive oil! Aaaaah! It was so frustrating. Zack's pizza was completely amazing. Wasabi cheese? Craziest thing ever. It was creamy and had an incredible bite. The tuna was fresh and delicious and the crust was doughy and warm. I wish I'd ordered it.

We moved on to Slowly Baked Salmon over Corn Pudding and Cherry Tomato Vinaigrette (me) and Roast Chicken with French Beans, Baby Carrots and Mashed Potatoes (Zack). Both main courses were really good. The salmon was nice and pink and moist, over creamy corn. The tomatoes added a little acidic bite, which was wonderful. Zack's chicken was tasty, with some crisp green beans and buttery potatoes. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

We finished with Strawberry Pie and Lemon Lavender Ice Cream. I'm trying this new thing where I don't just pick the chocolate desserts all the time. It's going pretty well. The fruit was so sweet (but in a good way), and the crust was flaky like phyllo dough.

Overall, I loved it! I'd skip the olive oil next time, but I couldn't complain about anything else. I want to go back there immediately.