Meli Bistro, Fells Point

[sunshine]

Woodberry Kitchen and Salt had no availability for a party of 6, so we ended up at Meli Bistro, and we were pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it. Everything I had here was perfectly cooked, some things exceeded expectations, and the service was good. Started with the seared scallops with honey powder and pancetta atop green apple polenta. Sounds weird right? It was amazingly yummy - 3 good-sized Diver scallops seared with a sweet/salty powder made from honey/pancetta ground together, resulting in a unique caramel flavor. The green apple polenta was a smooth, not too sweet, puree that complemented the scallops perfectly. The combination of flavors just worked. One of our party had the veal hanger steak (succulent and tender, served with mushroom ragout and a rich oxtail sauce) with mashed potatoes. I tried the pork tenderloin with spinach, apricot and dates (pork cooked just right, nothing special about the spinach, a few dried apricots and dates thrown in, but what a kick-ass sauce!). Sampled some of the lobster mac and cheese with applewood bacon, panko bread crumbs and crispy onions, another winner, so good that you forgive the fact that there's not much lobster actually in there. Since the restaurant is named for Meli, the Greek word for honey, quite of few of the dishes have some honey component. The cuisine is not Greek, more contemporary American with some molecular gastronomy touches here and there. However, being a Greek-owned place (same owners as Kali's Court and Adela), traditional Greek desserts are offered in addition to more American pastries and an excellent chocolate creme brulee. As a popular holdover from Restaurant Week, Meli was offering a $35 three-course dinner for any of their appetizers and entrees with a choice of one of their Greek desserts. For what you get, it's a great deal. Casual, almost lounge-y atmosphere with a patisserie next door. I wouldn't make a trip from D.C. just to eat here, i.e., it's not a destination type place, but if I were in the neighborhood again, I'd go back, especially for those scallops.

[theminx]

So Meli has started mixing the green apple relish into the polenta? When I ate the dish last year during Restaurant Week, the relish was served separately and really made the dish because its tartness cut the creme brulee-like sweetness of the scallops' honey topping.

The meal was pretty good overall, but I was disappointed in the quality of the pastries. I figured since they had a pastry case out front the Greek-style goodies would be stellar but they were merely passable.