Marx Cafe is one of the most popular restaurants in Mount Pleasant. It bills itself as specializing in Greek and Italian cuisines, but the thing that caught my eye was the “Appetizers of the World” section – small plates, something close to tapas but not all Spanish.
This restaurant, with all its woodwork, has a wonderful, warm feeling to it, and the staff is very friendly – it’s a welcoming, comfortable place for a casual dinner.
My friend and I started with drinks – I had a Bombay Martini ($7.46 for some reason), and she had a Stoli Cosmo ($7). They were both pretty much as expected. Curiously, a second drink of each was $2 less on the check ($5.46 and $5, respectively).
I really wanted to like the small plates here, but I’m afraid I thought nothing was better than ordinary:Â Humus alla Marx ($4.95), made with “the chef’s secret recipe,” was fine, and could have used a few more wedges of pita. Pinchitos Andalusia ($5.95) were mini grilled beef kabobs in “Andalusia sauce,” and were a miserly portion. Stuffed Peppadew ($5.95) sounded fascinating, the sweet and spicy African peppers halved, and stuffed with kafteri cheese, but again, this was just such a terribly small portion for the money. Still hungry, we split a Gambas Ajillo ($6.95) which was simply not a good rendition although the shrimp were thoughtfully deveined.
As I type this, my memory of the food is better than when I was actually eating it, if that makes any sense. It really wasn’t all that bad, but the portions were small and it was expensive for what you got. I don’t know much about this restaurant, but nothing I had on this particular night calls me back. (Would someone start a thread on donrockwell.com and tell me I’m off-base? I want to like Marx Cafe, I really do.)