Mermaid Bar

Mermaid Bar: Inside Neiman Marcus 2442 E Sunrise Blvd, Upper Level, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304

The Restaurant:

First off I must say I had completely forgotten that Neiman Marcus had restaurants in their stores.  It is very reminiscent of how many of the old Five & Dimes used to have a food counter.  Many of you are probably too young to even remember that.   Jerry and I were looking for something new and different like we always do in order to eat food and we had to be at the mall anyway to purchase some new suits.  So we looked for restaurants near the Galleria Mall, and low and behold I ran across this little gem.

Mermaid Bar is located up on the 2nd floor, tucked away in the back of the store in a section that is kind of like and odds and ends section.  There is a counter which seats about 12-15 people and about 4-5 tables.  It’s definitely nothing fancy, but it can be fun depending on who is sitting there with you.  The staff is very friendly with two cooks, a waiter, and occasionally a hostess.  We chose to sit at the counter so that we could people watch.

The Food:

I will admit that I was skeptical when we approached the restaurant that the food was going to be good.  But we were both pleasantly surprised.  Mermaid Bar’s menu is simple, with sandwiches, salads, soup, a few entrees, and desserts.  Tomato Bisque was our starter, and it is a nice hardy soup with great flavor.  We did not get the puff pasty that they offer to serve you with it, many of our friends who have been here said it is very good.

For our main dishes, I chose the special of the day which was meatloaf and gravy, mashed potatoes, with peas and carrots.  I am always weary of meatloaf in restaurants because they are never as good as my own.  But I will say this was not bad for a small restaurant, although it could have use a little less gravy.  They provide three nice sized slices of meatloaf.  The peas and carrots were a bit bland, but it’s a healthy option.  The mashed potatoes were fresh and topped with gravy as well.

Jerry opted to go with a healthier option of the Mandarin Orange Souffle Salad.  A nice bed of spinach was topped with sliced apples, chicken salad, toasted almonds, seasonal fruit, and sweet bread.  Jerry liked the way the salad was presented and said that it tasted even better than he thought it would.  He is not a fan of souffle, but he even gobbled that up.  There is just the right amount of chicken salad on top to make it a filling dish.

Final Notes:

Even though it may not be a fancy restaurant or common place to think about going, we would recommend you check out Mermaid Bar when looking for something a little different.

Pricing: $$-$$$ depending on what you order.