As part of our stay in Clarksdale, MS I made reservations at Madidi - the posh restaurant owned by Morgan Freeman. I’ll have to admit I had qualms as we walked to the door. Reviews I read ran either very positive or very negative… not much in-between.
We went on a Thursday night and when we arrived at 7:30pm there were only 3 other tables seated with couples at each. Shortly after we were seated one other couple came in. About 45 minutes later a party of 10 arrived. But that still left the restaurant half empty.
The menu looked delightful. The food was what I would call “Upscale Southern”. We ordered an appetizer of baked oysters (“with spinach, bacon and Pando crumbs, topped with Fontina and Parmesan cheeses, sambuca.) Himself ordered a traditional Caesar salad (made with the anchovy paste).
My entrée was Salmon Grenobloise (“pan seared, with asparagus on couscous with a lemon caper sauce”).
Himself ordered Seafood Cioppino (“Scampi, jumbo shrimp, scallops, fresh fish, and lump crab in tomato seafood broth served with crispy Arborio rice with ciabatta”)
For dessert I had peach cobbler.
Himself had dark chocolate molten cake.
My review? It’s in-between.
The food was excellent. However, it was in several instances NOT what was listed on the menu and we were not told of substitutions.
The oysters, although delicious, had neither spinach nor bacon on them.
The salad was perfect.
My salmon had green beans instead of asparagus, and yellow & red bell peppers in the couscous instead of the asparagus. The fish was perfectly cooked at medium rare. The couscous was light and fluffy.
The cioppino was a VERY small serving for the price charged. Himself told me he did not detect any crab in the dish and there was very little rice (perhaps 3 tablespoons). However, it was very flavorful and the seafood well prepared.
The dessert selection was very limited and average, with the only thing offered that was listed on the web site menu being the molten chocolate cake. That being said, Himself said his cake was the best he had ever had…perhaps the best dessert he’d ever had. My peach cobbler was excellent.
Would I go back? Probably not. While our orders were “close”, it was not what we ordered.
And a restaurant with the reviews Madidi has gotten and the prices charged needs to do better than “close”.
Teri, that's an honest review. How sad it was not what you ordered. Thank you again for the post on David's spices. My google account if finally working-so I can comment.
ReplyDeleteYou are a dear!
I love an honest review...it takes guts to do so, especially when the restaurant is owned by a celebrity.
ReplyDeleteThe food LOOKS great, and that plate your peach cobbler is on is definitely unique. Maybe this is one of those places that believes presentation is everything.
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