Meli - Baltimore, MD Review

Meli, the latest offering in Fells Point dining by the owner of Mezze, is a tremendous disappointment.  Mezze is one of my favorite restaurants in Baltimore (or anywhere, for that matter), so I went in to this new restaurant with high expectations. 

Meli bills itself as a Patisserie and Bistro, and indeed when you first enter the building, there are glass cases housing gorgeous pastries.  The restaurant is in the back, and has an interesting setup.  The decor is conflicted--it is partially upscale, and partially IKEA (orange wicker chairs in the bar?). 

I ordered a martini, which, at $12, is pricey for Baltimore, even though it came in a large glass.  My friend and I split the tomato and haloumi salad to start, which was delicious.  While we were enjoying that, the chef sent out a complimentary shot of tomato vinagrette with faux caviar that was surprisingly good.  The service was attentive at first, but less so when the restaurant began to fill up. 

My entree, however, was a complete disappointment.  I ordered the pistachio encrusted lamb chops, which came with sides of asparagus and butternut squash risotto.  The dish was very bland, with little to no seasoning at all.  There was no salt or pepper on the table, which one does not need if the chef knows what he is doing, which did not appear to be the case here.  And I could not get the attention of our server to get some brought to us.  While I was waiting for her to come back around, a busboy tried to take our plates, even though we had not finished eating.  He didn't understand the language, and so I had to engage in a tug of war with him to get it back.  Of course, that was for naught, since by the time our server brought me salt, the risotto was cold and congealed.  The chef also plonked a giant crayfish on the side of my plate, which was not on the menu and was completely out of keeping with the rest of the dish.  Overall, between the lack of seasoning and the incongruent side of crayfish, I felt like I was eating a dish from Top Chef's reject of the week.  To be fair, my friend really enjoyed the salmon entree she ordered.

After dinner, we took a look at the dessert menu, which has a large selection of brulees, tarts, and mousses.  I ordered the Tahitian Vanilla Creme Brulee, which was fantastic.  It came with a side of berries and cookies, and it was well-presented and delicious.

All in all, I would suggest Meli is a better place to go for an after-dinner pastry than for dinner.  Meli's sister restaurant, Mezze, has much better food for a smaller price tag.