No Thank You Darling
Trip Start
Jul 10, 2007
1
7
32
Trip End
Ongoing
Belleair Bluffs,
Florida,
United States
Thursday, July 26, 2007
When he suggested one of Frank Chivas' and Tom Pritchard's restaurants Marlin Darlin Grill in Belleair Bluffs, we jumped on the chance to try one of this Midas touch teams other restaurants, having enjoyed both Salt Rock and Island Way in the past a number of times. The trek from Bahama Shores, where we live, seemed to never end, and we almost flew by the restaurant, expecting it to be a freestanding building and not noticing its sign on the breezeway, nor knowing that it housed a former pharmacy. The hostess acknowledged our 645PM reservation (it seems we are eating earlier and earlier these days, is that the backlash of becoming an AARP member?). She sat us, and handed us the specials list, explaining that the uniqueness of Sunday is that the "First Catch" Weekly Specials Menu was available all nite, making this $9.90 an unheard of value. Our server arrived and her Eastern European accent made her introduction difficult to understand, and trust me, between Jose Luis' Argentine/Polish heritage and my family's Dutch, German, Slovenian ties, we can understand just about anybody. After ordering a Pomegranate Martini (yum yum !!) for myself, Cranberry juice for Jose and the tataki tuna, pan-asian shrimp and grilled churrasco skewer to nibble on as starters, we sat back and perused the menu. Preferring to eat smaller portions anyhow or combining numerous appetizer, the Sunday First Catch Special sounded like the perfect antidote to a busy week's work, and just the right amount of food for me, while Jose Luis, on the other hand, wanted to try everything on the menu, leaning towards the "captain's catch".
Approx. 15 minutes later our waitress returned (no drinks or appetizers yet in hand), but ready to take our order, and this is where it got a little confusing (think the Abbott and Costello routine of "who's on First, what's on second"), as I proceeded to tell her that I wanted to order the Bimini Mahi- Mahi "First Catch" special , and the caesar (which as mentioned before is an unbelievable $9.90 for both). She corrected me to say that the first catch specials are only available certain days of the week before 545PM, but that they had a Bimini Mahi Mahi available for $16.90 on their regular menu and the caesar would be $2.90 extra, so "do you vant to orde dat?". Now I must say, that we are not cheap, and if the special was not valid I would have been the first to acquisce, but I remembered disctinctly what the hostess had said, so I pressed the issue. Woe to me, as I got a bit of a tongue lashing, comical if it was not so iritating, and usually not being one to just take it, I was so taken aback by her unwarranted comeback that I assumed I must have gotten the info wrong (Alzheimers creeping up on me maybe?), and so I ordered the $19.80 dinner (fish and caesar), while Jose Luis decided to go for gusto with the platter of crab, grouper, scallops, shrimp and roasted veggies. The minute she left, he made his way to the hostess stand to confer with the young lady who had sat us (who happened to be the manager) and lo and behold she postured her way to the waitress to gave her a good talking to, confirming what , in our heart of hearts, we already knew to be true: $9.90 for the Mahi special on Sundays, all night. I would have let out a whoop and a holler but my disappointment in the night's service was only getting worse, as I am now seeing our server... finally ..carrying my Martini and Jose's juice, spilling half the contents before arriving at our table. Nary an apology from her mouth regarding the earlier error on her part, till prodded by Jose Luis, while I quietly started nursing my sticky glass of half spilled martini. (pomegranate juice et al), with no offer of a wet napkin to clean it.
She finally arrives with our tapas and like the Tazmanian Devil, ready to turn on her heels and leave. Having already finished my mega 3 Ounces of Martini, I ask her for a glass of Rodney Strong Chardonnay. The appetizers are every bit as delicious as anticipated and both the tataki tuna and the shrimp are stand-outs, although the basket of bread, touted as "artisian"?, is just okay. The subsequent lobster bisque that Jose Luis ahd ordered, a small $2.90 and my free caesar arrive seconds after our last bite of appetizer, and although the bisque has a beautifully, velvety flavor and consistency and the caesar a hint of anchovy, both portions are exceptionally tiny (think bread plate for the base of the caesar), but since mine is complimentary with the dinner, I can not and will not look a gift horse in the mouth.
Barely finished with our intermezzo the server arrives at the table with our dinners, but has nowhere to place them, making us heave ho our dishes into the air, while she dumps our entrees in front of us, and I realize, too late, that we have created a monster, who is never willing to forgive us for the reprimand she received, and so she is ready to leave again when I ask her for the glass of wine I had ordered (some 20 minutes before), hoping not to sound too desperate. We enjoyed the appetizers enough to know that our dinners would be on par with them and taking the first bites, this is confirmed, although the service is leaving a distinct sour taste in my mouth. It gets better or worse, depending how you look at it. She returns to inform me that they are out of the wine I ordered and what else would I like? It becomes a staring contest as I believe she will hand me the wine list back so that I can choose another white wine, but obviously she assumes that my Einsteinian brain memorized the entire wine list when we sat down over an hour ago. When she says "well..." I feel a kick under the table, as my husband knows that my patience is wearing thin but that I will do all to maintain a semblance of politeness, we are "in the business" after all, and we must show a sense of modicum. I can't take it any longer and ask her for the wine list to choose another white wine. A few minutes later, it is actually the bartender whoy brings me my wine, which is in a lovely oversized glass, but I can see only 3 ounces of wine pooled at the bottom, even putting on my magnifying glasses does not increase the amount. I am now staring at my glass sending vibes that I hope will increase its volume but to no success, and considering that we are paying $9 for the wine, makes me think they are trying to squeeze 8 glasses out of a bottle, so when in passing I ask a waiter, he cedes that I must have ordered 1/2 glass from our server, instead of a full one. Seeing my surprised face and shake of my head, he takes the glass and says that he will take care of it immediately, and as promised, within minutes he is back at the table with the normal 6 Oz. Efficiency at its best. There were a few more incidents, believe it or not, with our by now frustrated waitress and equally frustrated dinner guests, but it was the addition of the $2.90 for my caesar salad (included with the special, remember?!) to the final bill, that made me think, that she slipped through the cracks of basic server training, and there is no way that the professional team of restaurant owners involved in this enterprise are aware of her existence, and who knows whether by now she has gone the way of the dodo bird.
We have been hard pressed to make another, 55 minute trip to Marlin Darlin but maybe our memory of that night will become a fog, which at our age is a distinct possibility and we will once again dare to cross the treshold, but I can assure you that if I see "XxXx" anywhere in the building, we are running for the hills or Island Way or Salt Rock.
