Marson’s is a sure bet at any time of the day
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, September 14, 2006
EVERETT – My dinner companion and I arrived at Marson’s Restaurant about an hour before the dinner hour, which was the reason we had stopped by.
This new restaurant inside the Club Casino has a four-course dinner special for $9. If a glass of wine is added to the order, dinner costs $10.
The night we visited, the specials were three-cheese ravioli, pan-roasted chicken breast with spinach and mushrooms in a sherry-laced cream sauce over linguini paired with a chardonnay, or braised lamb and sausage risotto served with a cabernet.
The standing dinner menu offers enticing selections such as pan-seared scallops with linguini, roasted game hen with rosemary potatoes, or granola-encrusted wild king salmon with asparagus and jasmine rice (all $19.99) plus steaks and chops ($20 to $21).
We were just too hungry to wait 90 minutes for the dinner menu. Our outgoing and accommodating server apologized for the dinner menu not being available, even though we were the ones who arrived too early, and guided us toward the dining room.
Everything in the dining room looks new, from the comfy booths along the parking-lot wall to the shiny dark-cherry wood table tops to the cream-colored leather couches that do double duty as seating and a room divider. We considered a booth but opted for a couch. After all, how many times do we get to go out to dinner and sit on a couch?
Lunch lasts 11 hours at Marson’s Restaurant, which is much longer than any of my winning streaks, and includes soups, salads, burgers, sandwiches, pizza and baskets, plus a short list of breakfast favorites ($4 to $11).
My friend selected the 1/3-pound burger ($4) and added caramelized onions, tomatoes and lettuce (50 cents each) plus mayo and ketchup. The burger came with a hefty helping of fries and a dill pickle wedge. I ordered the fish and chips ($7.99). We both added diet sodas to our lunch, then commented on how the burgers, sandwiches and pizzas are build-it-yourself selections.
Our server kept our soda glasses filled and told us a little about the restaurant while we enjoyed our wait on the couch. She easily managed that difficult territory between being too friendly and too aloof.
When our meals arrived, she served them with a smile and a compliment to the chef. And she was right about the skills of chef Sam Crannell. My friend indicated his burger was just like home, but maybe a little better because the meat was high quality and cooked exactly to his request.
My cod was dipped in beer batter and deep fried to a rich brown, making the coating extra crunchy and the fish quick-cooked so it retained its moist, flaky texture. It was one of the best fish and chips baskets of 2006.
We may have missed dinner, but we had a great lunch.
Herald restaurant reviewers accept no invitations to review, but readers’ suggestions are always welcome. Reviewers arrive unannounced, and The Herald pays their tabs.
Contact Anna Poole at features@heraldnet.com.
