Mill Creek Tavern
Mill Creek Tavern heats up this stretch of the North Shore. The high-spirited spot, spawned by Mim's in Syosset and Roslyn, boasts plenty of favorites from the originals. Consider MCT Mim's upscaled and toned-down. "Land" and "Sea" become "Chop House Selection" and "Market Fish Selection." Exit most pizzas, enter more mussels; bye Marvelous Marvin's Meatballs, hi Marvelous Maria's. Are you here for the escargots, too? Anyway, no meat loaf. Improved service, better drinks.
ORDER THIS
Bar-food alert: chicken wings via "Mim's classic" hot sauce-blue cheese-celery stick version or deboned and juiced up in crunchy spring rolls - both good. Nibble on a blackened chicken quesadilla to complete the big-bird trifecta. Mango salsa and spicy mayo do no damage to the tuna "martini." Two-pound pots of mussels merit their box on the menu, where the simpler "au vin blanc" prep highlights the catch. Also worth it: pecan-crusted sole. Lighter entrees include a homey lobster BLT wrap and the burger on brioche. A thick, grilled sirloin and Australian rack of lamb head high-end courses. If it's a full-beer-night - kielbasa with sauerkraut. And that messy macaroni-and-cheese does awaken your inner kid. Apple crisp, brownie sundae and make-your-own Smores-for-two trail the sweet spin on bananas Foster.
DON'T BOTHER
"Three cheese spinach & artichoke fondue" looks like an accident scene, and the taste is Gerber-for-adults. You'll become a risk-taker after settling on the anemic shrimp cocktail and saline-solution onion soup. Chicken pot pie comes across like cream-of-chicken stuck between puff-pastry tortillas.
THE BOTTOM LINE
American bar and grill, 50-50 split. -Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti
