Happy Hour
Market Grille
Manchester
Feb. 7, 2024
Market Grille is one of those restaurants that I’ve always noticed during my trips to the mall but assumed was too fancy for someone like me. With my recent discovery of the joys of Happy Hour, I decided it was time to finally make an appearance.
The ambiance and decor of Market Grille certainly plays into the feeling that you’re somewhere special and important. The dark wood and brick motif gives the feeling of a smoker’s lounge, and I felt like I was in for a treat from the moment I walked in.
One amenity that Market Grille offers that I haven’t seen in many other restaurants is its heated outdoor dining area. It would be more accurate to describe it as an enclosed space, which offered a beautiful view of the sun setting over the mountains in the distance. The Buckland Hills area doesn’t get a lot of credit for its landscape, probably because it’s dominated by commercial buildings and multilane highways. But the view of the mountains is something I’ve always loved about going to the mall.
I started off my visit with a gin lemonade. Gin has always tasted like pine cones to me, but I like that it has a drier taste than most alcohol without the syrupiness of rum or vodka. The gin lemonade managed to keep the good aspects of gin while masking the taste with the right mix of sweetness and acidity from the lemonade. Plus it was a pink lemonade, and I’m a fan of the color pink.
Next I ordered a white sangria. It was exactly what I wanted: the heaviness of wine jazzed up with a little fruitiness.
My first food item was the soup of the day, tomato. I’ve been on something of a tomato soup kick lately, so I was eager to try the Market Grille rendition of it. The soup was thick and hearty, with a good amount of salt, pepper and other seasonings to balance the tanginess of the tomatoes without overpowering it. I liked the additional touch of two large croutons and let them soak in the soup until the end of the dish before I ate them. So far, Market Grille wins for having my favorite tomato soup of the winter season.
Shortly after I finished, the waiter brought out the tomato bruschetta crostinis (can you tell I love tomatoes?), a dish consisting of fresh diced tomatoes with garlic, basil, a dusting of parmesan cheese and balsamic drizzle. The softness of the tomatoes was a great contrast to the crispy bread, and the zesty flavor of the ingredients made the bruschetta a very close second to the soup.
The one literal sour note of the meal was the chicken wings. The only choice available was boneless wings, which is not the way I usually like my happy hour wings. Boneless wings never have the right crunch, despite how they’re fried or breaded. I order boneless wings when I want something easy to eat, and that wasn’t the mood I was in. But I figured I’d order buffalo wings and give them a shot, in the name of trying something different.
The wings were cooked well, but the taste was sour. They didn’t taste as if they were spoiled or otherwise inedible, but an aftertaste lingered on my tongue after I took a couple of bites. It tasted like the wings had been dipped in vinegar before they were cooked.
I ended up sending them back. The waiter was gracious and apologetic.
Overall, I would say that Market Grille met the expectations I had built up in my mind about the experience. Everything was great but the wings, and I should have known better than to order boneless wings in the first place. If nothing else, go for the view at sunset, because that alone is worth a $6 drink.
NEXT
Jamil goes to West Hartford to learn from the best of the best in journalism.
