Mercury Chophouse Review

Be Celebrated!  A phrase that I often will tell others, whether it is on their promotions, birthdays, anniversaries, or just because. Recently I decided to take my advice and celebrate by treating myself to a nice dinner. For this celebration, I decided that I wanted to eat at the Mercury Chophouse located in Arlington, Texas. Now, normally I will walk into the restaurant, ask for a seat for one, and enjoy my dinner. This time, however, I decided to make a reservation, mainly because it is a nice steakhouse, and I wanted to ensure that I would have a place to sit, but also out of respect for the restaurant.

My reservation was for 6:30 pm on a Friday; When I arrived at the location at 6 pm, I began looking around for parking when the Valet service flagged me down to inform me that Valet was free for the restaurant and told me that the restaurant was located on the 9^th floor of the office building where I arrived. Because I was thirty minutes early, I had expected to wait in the lobby when I approached the hostess station. However, they were able to sit me right away.  As the hostess led me to my table, we passed by a nice full bar, grand piano, and some other patrons sitting at nice tables with leather chairs, beautiful lighting, and large windows overlooking the city. My seat was a corner table for two that was part of a long booth. I was able to sit facing the window on the opposite wall and look out over the scenery.  After a few moments, my server stopped by my table and offered me a wine and a cocktail menu which also displayed an impressive collection of spirits. Accepting the cocktail menu, my server gave me a few minutes to decide what I wanted to have with my dinner; my server came back, presented the dinner menu, and took my drink order.

I decided upon my standard go-to drink of an Old Fashioned for my cocktail. I started with the appetizer sampler, which consisted of Filet Mignon Cigars, Scallops, Bacon Wrapped Shrimp, and Fried Calamari. The Filet Mignon Cigars were my favorite out of each: chopped Filet Mignon wrapped and fried in a breading and came with a siracha cream sauce. The scallops were seared in a lemon butter sauce, sitting on top of poblano cheddar grits, and came with a champagne beurre blanc which was a beautiful sauce that, to be honest, I used to dop the shrimp, calamari, and scallops in.

My entrée was a 16oz New York strip with Burgundy Mushrooms. The service timing could not have been better; my entrée was coming out as soon as I finished the appetizer, not leaving any time for waiting. I ordered my steak medium rare; it came lightly seasoned, allowing the cut’s full flavor to be enjoyed. When paired with the burgundy mushrooms, the steak presented sweet notes and deeper gamey notes than when by itself, and pairing it with the old-fashioned, it rounded out the meal and ended the evening, indeed a celebration.