Restaurant Review: Mainland

Quick neighborhood restaurant review... Last night, Amy and I went on a double date with friends in the neighborhood to a place with a location that seems to be a revolving door of failed. Mainland is located on 3rd Avenue and 64th Street. All in all, I am happy we went there... Highlights of the evening go as follows:

• The reverend Al Sharpton was dining with his wife 2 tables away. He was unavailable for comment, although Amy did the inconspicuous walk-by 2 times...
  
• The last page of the menu consisted of particular important employees, one in which included the "MIXOLOGIST". After a "smart-ass" inquiry of my own, our table learned that this was just a fancy way of saying a bartender. The waitress, or should I say the "Servoligist" wasn't sure if there was special training or schooling in order to gain that title
• An old Chinese man who didn't speak English came over to cut our full duck in front of us. What's with that? I still don't understand why this happens, but whatever...

In terms of what the place needs to work on...It was certainly trying to play "Manhattan trendy" in an area with plenty of strollers and walkers (although is getting younger). Amy was quick to point out that we were some of the last to leave (at 10:45). Although we had a reservation, they still did the typical "it will be about 10 minutes" routine - just enough time for us to spend $40 at the bar...(I looked and did not see anyone leave the place before we were seated).

In a 5 star rating system, I'd give it a 3. A little on the pricey and it certainly didn't need to be. The food was good, although I have come to the conclusion that duck makes a much better appetizer than it does a main course. Wait staff was pretty on top of things, although they took a little bit to warm up.

That's a rap on my first restaurant review blog post. Let me know if you think I should do more of them. Peace.