Mary's Fish Camp

[lullyloo]

I've never been, nor have I been to Pearl Oyster Bar.  I'm dying for their type of seafood menu.  Wanted to go for my birthday, but just read really mixed customer reviews on citysearch.  It sounds like people either loved it or hated it.  It's too pricey for me to risk it.  So what's the scoop on Mary's, my trusty e-gulleteers?

[NYFoodie]

Yummy.  I went there in early October and had lobster knuckles to start (a nice mess made with the nutcrackers and all but well worth it) and a special fish of the day that I so wish I could remember (might have been grouper), seared and served with sauteed spinach and garlic.  Apple cobbler dessert was nice too.  Haven't had the famed lobster roll sandwich but maybe someday.  Prices are roughly the same as Pearl (appetizers Ů-12; entrees in the high teens/low 20s).

Note that it opens at 6 PM and there are usually people lined up beforehand waiting to get in.  There are about 10 tables and seating for another 10 or so at the bar.

If you want to "test" it first, you could try it for lunch when I'm sure it's less hectic.

[Ruby]

Definitely check out either one. My main gripe with both places is because I'm genuinely claustrophobic, I hate sitting at a cramped counter. It's more crowded at Pearl because they have less tables.

For your birthday, perhaps go someplace more relaxing - I'd hate to see you standing outside on the sidewalk at Mary's Fish Camp waiting for a table to open up. Both places are packed at lunch too. My suggestion is: go one day by yourself, sit at the counter, and enjoy it for what it is.  

[Elissa]

Isn't she a genius? Somehow, yesterday for lunch, I had one of the best meals ever: arctic char PeRfecTly grilled on a bed of cabbage and beans that tasted so good I almost fell off the bar stool, for $13. The vibe there is super cool too: beautifully designed, low key, no problem to go alone because you can sit at the bar and meet the solo diners next to you. I had the albarino by the glass, which was good, and then I had a second glass. The woman next to me at the bar, an editor at Harper's Bazaar, also had a couple glasses to go with the outsized steamed clams, from Maine?, that she claimed were among the world's finest. Can't wait to return and try them myself. Ever been?

[Bux]

Just once, but in this case it's not a matter of not wanting to return. It was definitely entered into a "keep in mind" list. I recall uncomfortable seating however. I don't think I've ever had a bad albarino -- well maybe one glass of over oaked albarino that wasn't bad, but not to my taste and that was in a wine bar in Santiago de Compostela.

You note that it's a good place for solo diners. Although we (2) had lunch there, we wondered if it would be a comfortable place for two couples to dine and converse.

[Wilfrid]

I prefer dining solo without having to meet anyone, but the food certainly sounds good.

[Elissa]

MFK writes: "A is for dining Alone....and so am I, if a choice must be made between most people I know and myself." What's your favorite letter of her Alphabet for Gourmets?

But Wilf it's not that you must speak to others here, just that you may...

Mary's does get a bit loud at night, yet I would imagine that if you got the corner booth and didn't arrive too late, a conversation between four would not be an impossibility. If none of you are too terribly corpulent, relative comfort would not be out of reach either, but the chairs are not inordinately cushy nor are there three foot aisles between tables. It's great food but decidedly casual: not unlike eating in an upscale fish camp cantina for adults, or those who had stopped getting taller let's say.

[Wilfrid]

OOoh, I got a new sig line there.

[Bux]

OOoh, I got a new sig line there. 

"Not too terribly corpulent?"

[SobaAddict70]

OOoh, I got a new sig line there. 

Whazza....?!?

*looks up from his bowl of soba*

Soba

[Holly Moore]

The fish camp's I've come to know and love are on the North/South Carolina border outside of Gastonia NC. They started on a river - set up a grill and cleaned and fried fish for the fisherman. Over time they evolved into vast eatting halls serving heaps of fried fish, cheap. Now there are 6 of them in a two mile radius.

I mention this because I am not familiar with Mary's and I'm wondering if the place has been influenced by the Gastonia Fish Camps.

[weinoo]

Been, and love it.

Do they take reservations.

[DavidJS]

Do they serve bouilabaisse?

Edited April 11, 2003 by DavidJS (log)

[anil]

It is tiny and gets awefully busy. Lobster Rolls are very good. If you do not mind sitting on the counter, then it becomes tad easier. Go late and many things run out; go early and have waiting partons glare down on ya

[Steve Plotnicki]

Lobster roll has nice flavor but is a bit watery I thought. The better item is the lobster knuckles. Hard to eat, but very rewarding meat (rhymin'). Good watch the day go by vibe at lunch. Even on a dreary day.

[Bux]

Steve P and anil put there fingers on the suspicion I've had about dinner and that's too bad. I'm far more inclined to have dinner out. I've never understood lobster rolls, it's the bun.

[robert brown]

If you arrive much after 5:15, you may have to wait a long time for a seat or table. I haven't been back in several months because there was a woman there controlling the line who was as disagreeable as they come. (Everyone else there is very nice, however).She wouldn't let a couple in for the first seating because the husband was looking for parking and arrived two seconds after the woman decided to let people in ahead of them, even though she could have done otherwise. As for us, we also couldn't enter for the first seating because we were three people. The couple behind us got seated and we had to wait an hour for the first couple to finish. To their credit, they will take your cell phone number and call you when they are about ready to seat you. I haven't given up for good on Mary's. We like the food there and will put up from time to time with the lack of comfort and hurriedness of the visit.

[Simon Gittins]

I too found the wait somewhat of a drag - I went a few weeks ago on a freezing night when waiting outside was not a pleasant option and as there is so little room around the bar we nearly gave up before getting a table.

Enjoyed the lobster roll though I noted the grilled fish dishes really appeared to be the ones to go for. However I did have a bad experience with my oyster appetiser. One of the oysters was really, really off. I spat it out as soon as I put it my mouth because of the disgusting taste. It actually stunk and I am little abashed that I did not identify the source of the odour before starting to eat it. Anyhow the wait staff acknowledged the problem immediately and brought a plate of 3 oysters as compensation (which my companion benefited from - I could not quite face oysters again that evening).

Anyhow, I will give the place the benefit of the doubt (it is easy to miss a bad oyster) and will return again (outside of peak hours) though I think I will avoid the oysters.

[ahr]

I still prefer the food and the atmosphere, however small the premises, at Pearl. To be more precise, I prefer Pearl's versions of the signature chowder and lobster roll; the steamers are about the same, and only Mary's does the knuckles. My one experience with Mary's grilled whole fish found it overcooked, overherbed, and way overpeppered; a grilled filet and the salt-crusted shrimp were excellent at Pearl.

Pearl, along with Shopsin's, is one of my very favorite places to while away a lazy weekday afternoon. Not that I would throw Mary's out of bed, of course.

[Brad Trent]

I dunno...count me as one who just doesn't get Mary's Fish Camp. When it first opened I went just 'cuz I go to anything in the neighborhood when it opens...I was not impressed. Not that the food wasn't OK, but it was just average, and the waits to get in were longer than Tartine! No matter, I gave 'em a second chance a few weeks later...experience was about the same if not a wee bit worse. I've been dragged back a few more times by friends who like the joint despite my protestations and have yet to see what the fuss is about.

Maybe folks is just hard up for fish places?!!

BeeT's

[mikec]

I haven't been in a while, but I suspect MFK is better in the warmer weather. When I've eaten there in the winter, the cold air seeps in right through the windows and I've had to wear my coat while eating. Not exactly what I'm looking for when eating out. The food isn't bad though.

[juuceman]

after a bunch of meals there over the past year and a half, during which time i thought the food went from great to merely ok, i had a crap meal there a couple of weeks ago.. they'd taken the clam chowder off the menu and replaced it with a tomato based conch chowder which sucked.. she could've mentioned that it lacked both the bacon and the cream, but it was my own fault for not asking and simply assuming that it would.. the fried shrip and oysters were as good as always.. the lobster rolls were blah.. no sweet taste of the meat, rather just big chuncks of meat that had an ok texture, but the overwhelming flavor was of watery mayo and not that sweet lobster meat you'd want.. the grilled fish was good.. the soft shell crab special sucked.. too heavily battered and over fried in oil and butter with some weird slaw that's replaced the root vegetable slaw they used to offer.. the lobster pot pie was ok.. very rich and creamy like it's supposed to, but again, the flavor of the lobster just wasn't there..

on the upside, the fries were still great.. on the downside, the check was over $200.. next time, i'll hit it at lunch for some oysters but now that the clam chowder is gone, i'll head over to pearl's and see if their lobster roll is still up to snuff..