Daniel's Reviews

When I arrived at Mark’s bar in the basement of Hix’s my friends had already been waiting for half an hour. At the time I assumed that they were waiting for me before ordering. I didn’t look at the menu but just decided on a gin gimlet (gin & lime cordial over ice) and my friends ordered their cocktails from the menu. The room is beautiful with a lot of thought having clearly gone into the height of the bar and chairs. I thought the NY style ceiling was particularly attractive.

Everyone had tap water and glasses on their table which was a good thing as it was the hottest day of the year and after twenty minutes our drinks had still not arrived. We asked about that and were told that it was a ‘complicated’ order. After a further ten minutes (I know because our table upstairs in the restaurant was held for us) we opted to go up and order food. Our drinks followed a few minutes later. I think that if your menu is so complicated that three built cocktails and one shaken cocktail take 30 minutes then a redesign may be in order. I could have ordered, gone to the pub next door, had a pint and returned in the time it took to get a drink at Mark’s. And I would have done that if I had known the wait we had to endure.

The menu in the restaurant is clearly designed by someone who wants the world to know how clever he is. I’ve worked in catering for ten years and still had a few questions. If your first thought on reading the menu is ‘I feel stupid’ perhaps that’s not the most welcoming message.

Overly complicated descriptions aside I opted to start the meal with a plate of heritage tomatoes with crab and chives. It arrived looking beautiful on the plate and tasting wonderful. As for the main course I decided on simple grilled mackerel with broad beans and tomato relish. It’s nice to see that the overcomplicated quality of the menu was not carried through to the cooking. Perhaps what they really need is just a good proofreader.

My friend ordered a medium steak with chips and a… More