First Impression

John: You might have noticed over the past couple months that Copsey has dragged me out to a couple of British and Irish Pubs. Now, I love my British friends, but come on, I can only eat so much corned beef and cabbage. Seriously, there is a reason Americans only eat that stuff on St. Patrick’s Day. Anyway, the long drawn out point here is that we went to what could be called an American Pub, Marlow’s Tavern. Now even though I only live 5.3 miles away (thanks Mapquest) from Marlow’s, I had never been there or heard of it. I think that has to do with the fact that my roommates are on the Atkin’s diet, but instead of not eating carbs, they eat peanut butter sandwiches all day, so maybe its not really the Atkins Diet at all, but it means no restaurant visits, ever. After 30 seconds inside of Marlow’s I have this to report: it’s clean, the booths are comfortable and our server knew the menu inside and out. Let me put it this way, remember when Ken Jennings was on Jeopardy for 11 straight months because he knew everything? Our server Joe would win every round of menu Jeopardy and he would crush Ken Jennings.

Copsey: Joe was incredibly helpful and was obviously a fan of his own food. I guess it’d be like working at McDonalds and actually liking their food (not that Marlow’s is anything like McDonalds- it’s called an analogy, not a comparison). The place was hopping with families and couples, so there was a good mix. I was a little annoyed at our seating – we were sat in what must have been the corner furthest away from any TV and I wanted to watch the golf highlights. Oh well, I was there for the food not the TV.

John: A
Copsey: A

Appetizer

John: I’ve only been alive for 27 years, and in that time, I’ve only found one thing to be absolutely true: if you put bacon and blue cheese on something, it’s going to taste good. Take for instance Marlow’s J.T.’s Kettle Chip appetizer. It’s kettle chips smothered in blue cheese and then covered in bacon, tomatoes and scallions. It really was the perfect complement of flavors. The tomato toned down the blue cheese and the scallions kept the bacon in check. I wanted to call everyone I know and tell them about this appetizer, but my phone didn’t get any service inside Marlow’s. And in case you’re wondering, I blame T-Mobile, not Marlow’s. Somehow they can afford to hire Catherine Zeta-Jones for commercials, but they can’t fix any problem I ever have. Sorry about the tangent. I should note that I was a fan of the firecracker shrimp also. It’s fried shrimp, except it’s spicy. You’re not going to think it’s spicy, but it is, trust me. It’s going to catch you off guard, like the ending of the Sixth Sense.

Copsey: We also had the Shrimp and Crab nachos. Think of these not so much as nachos, but as little pizzas. That’s what I did and I loved them. The seafood taste wasn’t very strong (a good thing) and there was plenty of spice, including a large jalapeño slice in the middle of each piece. 

John: A-
Copsey: B+

Entrée

John: The Dining Duo loves controversy, which is ironic because there never seems to be any in our section of the paper. However, we did have a disagreement this week. For the main course, we went with Steak and Eggs (If you’re mouth isn’t watering, you’re probably a vegetarian), Southwestern Grouper and the Buffalo Chicken Wrap. When I saw the Steak and Eggs on the menu, I searched everywhere for the fine print that said, ‘only served until 11 a.m.’ Then I noticed that Marlow’s doesn’t even open until 11 a.m., bingo, it’s served all day. First let’s talk about the eggs. It’s three eggs and they’re cooked any way you want. We ordered them over easy and the Chef cooked them so well, it actually looked like one giant egg. Seriously, our egg was the size of an ostrich egg. The steak was filet mignon and you really can’t go wrong with that. If I live to be 110 and I have no teeth, I will still figure out away to eat filet mignon. Let me skip to the Buffalo Chicken Wrap. Our server Joe put on his chef hat and redesigned the dish for us. Instead of ranch dressing and fried chicken, we went with gorgonzola cheese and grilled chicken. Copsey and I both thought the ingredients tasted fresh, especially the tomato. However, I didn’t think it was spicy enough for a Buffalo Wrap and Copsey thought his tortilla had the texture of a brick. Seriously Copsey, please don’t be anti-Mexico, they give us two things, tortillas and tequila, let’s just be happy about it.

Copsey: I can’t help it that my first bite of the wrap was a bad one. Maybe I had an unusual amount of tortilla in my wrap, I don’t know. I didn’t like it. But, having said that, when I excavated the chicken from the brick-wrap, it was light and tasty and the ingredients must have been really fresh. The grouper was my favorite dish of the night. This thing was a decent sized fish-chunk that was so tender it pretty much dissolved as soon as my fork touched it. A good start. It was lightly breaded and served with a black bean salsa and corn grits. I still don’t understand grits (not being a Southern Boy) but they were good, with the salsa adding just the right amount of kick to the fish. 

John: B
Copsey: B

Dessert

John: Sometimes I think I was Bugs Bunny in a past life and I only say that because of my penchant for carrot cake. When I was about 7-years-old, my mom told me that carrots have phytonutrients in them, I still don’t know what a phytonutrient is, but it made me like carrots and carrot cake that much more. The cake is delivered from a bakery in Norcross and you can certainly tell. The moistness of the dessert was uncanny, every bite melted in my mouth. The cream cheese frosting wasn’t too cheesy or creamy, it was soft and delicate, like a really tasty rose petal.

Copsey: Maybe I was Elmer Fudd in a past life, since I’m not a huge fan of carrots or carrot cake, but I do like rabbit. However, I loved this dessert. Like John said, it was probably one of the most moist and tasty cakes I have ever eaten. Amazing.

John’s Grade: A
Copsey: A

Final Impression

John: If your week was half as stressful as Jon and Kate’s last two weeks, you’re probably going to want a little bit of alcohol. Marlow’s has you covered; they have an extensive drink list with several original recipes. By the way, do you think it’s awkward for Jon or Kate right now, I mean trying to work eight kids into a first date conversation can’t be easy. Generally, I’ve found that the more kids you have is directly correlated with the amount of second dates you’ll go on. It’s an inverse relationship. Alright, I’m done with the pop culture math lesson, let’s get back to Marlow’s. It’s not too often you visit a place that has grouper, Panini’s and hamburgers all on the same menu. This is called diversity and I love it on a restaurant menu. Marlow’s creative and tasty menu will have me coming back in the future. Copsey, you voted in the last parliamentary election, so vote now, British Pubs or American Taverns? I’ll take number two please.

Copsey: It should be noted that I had an “All American Gin and Tonic,” at the server’s recommendation. We were told that it’s so good because of the All-American ingredients – Philadelphia-made gin and American-made bottled tonic. While I was incredibly impressed by the freshness of the drink, the tonic was actually made in England. So much for All American; maybe it just applied to the gin? I don’t know, but it’s certainly worth a taste. I still prefer my pubs, but if I have to go to an “American Tavern” I‘d have to go to Marlow’s.  

John: B+
Copsey: B