Market by Jean Georges

We got to the W Hotel, where Market is located, around 9ish so we checked in, put our coats at coat check and decided to grab a drink at the W Lounge. Pretty swanky, REALLY crowded.. not particularly sure why…. curious

After waiting forever and asking multiple times for our cocktail waitress to come over, as soon as she left with our order our table at the restaurant was ready. Since it was a half hour earlier than we anticipated  we decided to stay for our drink first. 10 minutes later, the waitress comes back to check our IDs… LAME, we just left and went to eat.

Market WAS the star of the show anyways.

We had an amazing cozy corner table :]

Bottle of Champagne, Bread, Butter and Salt

Maine Diver Scallops

Green Chili, Pistachio and Mint

This was delicious. Such a great way to start off the meal — all the other raw items on the menu, salmon, tuna, etc… I could already taste them [heavily asian influenced] before even ordering.. this was SO refreshing and unexpected.  The scallop was So tender that it was buttery and melted in my mouth. SUPER clean tasting — I LOVE scallop sashimi and this is some of the freshest scallops I’ve ever tasted [viva la Boston seafood]  The strong mint and the crunch of the pistachios were amazing with the creamy scallops… after all the flavor and texture explosion, you get blown away with a great bam of heat from the chili. So hard not to devour in seconds, we savored every bite slowly…

Peekytoe Crabcake

Pink Grapefruit, Avocado and Ginger

The crabcake itself, I would’ve liked it with a crunchier sear, but the flavors were fantastic. The soft inside with the crunch of the outside, great. But the sauce it was laying in was way too sweet for me.  Too much sugar – although I adored the acidity of the grapefruit, the subtle hint of ginger and the creamy slices of avocado. Z, on the other hand, adored the sauce and ate most of the dish.

Black Truffle Pizza with Fontina Cheese

Oh derrriiiicious <3  Who could resist a truffle pizza?  The black truffle was ground into bits and spread across the pizza with a bit TOO much salt.. I would like a little more cheese on it as well but overall the flavor was great.  The frisee definitely helped cut the saltiness and added a nice refreshing crunch to the pizza. The dough was amazing – perfectly cooked and a bite of the pizza with the saltiness and then a bite of the crust really balanced it out. Z wanted the crust [on the bottom] to be thicker but I loved how thin it was!

Grilled AsparagusLemon Zest, Olive Oil

Cold :[ A bit too overcooked and mushy.. I like a good crunch on asparagus.. and while I loved the charred flavor of the grill on the stalks, I really wish they were less cooked. And hot… hot is key ;D Either make it known and obvious that it’s a CHILLED side or else keep it hot, kthanx <3

Hand Cut French Fries

Our first batch was cold so we asked for a hot basket. While they were really piping hot and fresh. A great fluffy crunchy fry, perfectly salted… I was slightly disappointed that it was boring. I could’ve just gone to Mickey D’s to buy delicious plain fries for a dollar instead of coming here… add some spunk to it plz ;D Parm, Rosemary, Truffle, etc.. keep it interesting.. nevertheless I gobbled them up!!!

Cheese Fritters

Jalapeno and Cheddar

I was looking forward to these but they were cold. I think because of this the cheddar hardened up and it was just bleh. I also adore Mozzarella cheese so I bet they’d be even yummier with mozz and jalapenos :] HMMMM.. definitely expected a ball of hot cheese that tasted like Chile Rellanos… sigh*

Roasted Maine Lobster

Oregano and Chili

I didn’t even taste this. I was SO excited to get this dish as soon as I obviously memorized the menu online earlier in the day.  BUT I smelled it before it was even right in front of me. Stinky stinky stinky fishy smell :[ Gross. I ended up exchanging it.  Since Z also wanted lamb chops we swapped this dish for some lamb chops.  Z gave me his striped bass [which had been my second choice of dish anyways]

Striped Bass

Nut and Seed Crust, Sweet and Sour Broth

The sauce was a bit too buttery for my taste [but still delicious, I mean COME ON, it’s freaking BUTTER], but the fish was perfectly cooked – the skin was crunchy and delicious. I loved the onions, tomatoes  and edamame garnishing it.  So so tender and really good.. Z and I shared this together while we waited for the lamb chops to arrive [kiiiinda slow.. the whole night was really slow…]

Speaking of slow… we actually had to reach around over to get our champagne because our waitress didn’t help pour us more and we kept having empty glasses the whole night. It wasn’t until I made Z pour in front of her while she ignored us and talked to other customers and I exclaimed “SERIOUSLY?!?!” loudly that she finally came over and filled our… FULL GLASSES #solame. Ok, //End Rant

Since the lamb took awhile I started eating the fish slower and slower just so Z could get his chops….FINALLY they came…

Grilled Lamb Chops

with Mushroom Bolognese and Pecorino

To be honst, they just didn’t smell or look appetizing.  Z didn’t like this and we ended up returning this dish too.  The bolognese and pecorino overpowered the lamb and apparently just didn’t go together well. Very depressing… since the meal started off well and was just going downhill from there :T

We weren’t TOO sure about dessert at first [it happens when I get depressed at meals] but our waitress offered us two complimentary desserts, so we immediately perked up and ordered THREE!!! — it’s how I roll, you know how it is. *wink

Key Lime Pie

Blackberry Ice Cream

This was definitely no Joe’s Stone Crabs Key Lime Pie or the one Z made me but still quite tasty. I really loved the creamy blackberry ice cream… completely bursting with flavor!!!

Champagne Mango Tart

Basil Meringue, Passion Fruit

A very light dessert.. the basil meringue [which was really more like a basil ice cream or just cream to me] was SOOOO goooood.. it was great with the light flakey refreshing tart.  So fruity and bursting with tropical flavor. Not quite sure where the champagne came in [the custard?] but really good.

Salted Caramel Ice Cream Sundae

Peanuts, Popcorn and Chocolate Sauce

This was my favorite dessert of the night, for obvious reasons… OBVIOUSLY. Hahahaha.. Salted Caramel. Chocolate/Fudge Sauce. Peanuts and Caramel Popcorn. UM, hellooooo, Miss Tiffie’s land of happiness and happy eats!!!! Flavor, texture explosssssion!!! Crunchy, sweet, salty, creamy, sticky, chewy OMG…. all that would be needed would be a sprinkling of fresh bacon bits on top and they would be the icing to that cake… cherry on that sundae? MMMMM <3 Pork fat makes everything better!!!

Overall, the entrees were kind of disappointing but the apps and desserts were enjoyable.  Definitely stick with seafood and go for simple.  The service is kind of slow so be patient, in the end they were really nice :] PLUS they have a great list of drinks/wines and the place is really modern-looking and beautiful, awesome interior design [yeah I’m a geek] We had a really late nite reservation [10pm] which doesn’t really give them an excuse to slack on the food but perhaps that was a reason. Doubtful I’ll return but I’m glad I finally got to try it out – another check off my list.