The Mermaid Inn, a reasonably good seafood restaurant in the East Village, is a frustratingly mediocre one in its new location on the Upper West Side. - Julia Moskin
The East Village's Mermaid Inn has swum upstream to open a sibling on the Upper West Side. With its nautical theme and fish-shack feel entirely intact, the new...
I tried for DAYS to get a reservation. No dice.
We tried a walk in and were told they didn't take walk-ins.
I tried again for a reservation for days and was told on my last call there that they always kept tables for walk-in pairs and the wait should be about 20 minutes.
I arrived...the wait was well over an hour. The place was bustling. People waiting by the bar crammed in like sardines.
The biggest problem...IT'S LOUD. REALLY REALLY LOUD. The design of the interior has only hard edges. There is little in the way of textiles to deaden the sound. The candle holders on the wall in the back room are cool though.
When we were finally seated, the wait staff was lovely and the manager brought over an appetizer on the house in apology for the wait.
The food...
The menu is very small and specializes in seafood.
We went for the specials...which were tasty.
Over all the food was good -- but really, it was so loud I could hardly hear my date across the tiny table (and we sat in the quieter back room.) Not sure I'd go back other than at a really early time early in the week hoping it was less crowded and quieter. I won't go and wait like that again -- it certainly wasn't NEARLY THAT good!
Really too bad. Get some textiles and deaden that sound and you'd gain a star.