mussel bar & grille - bethesda

the service was great. we received the wrongdishmistakenly, but the correct one was brought out immediately and then they comped us both dishes.

disappointing, disappointment and more. despite numerous bad reviews, my friends and i decided we'd give it a try last evening (3-8-11). having been pre-warned of the nosiy environment we chose a week night for our dining experience hoping to eliminate some of the racket. think twice. did not make one iota of a difference in the noise level. cannot imagine what a friday or saturday night might sound like, but can bet your bottom dollar you wouldn't be able to hear yourself, let alone a companion. why so noisy? this does not add to the ambiance or at least it didn't for us.

we began with two neat scotch drinks and one bloody mary made with premium vodka as we waited on a table. expensive drinks.
not long after a table became available and the host led us to what looked like the back of the restaurant but lo and behold there were two other separate dining parties already seated and eating. we squeezed in to our allotted space and began with a pork and mussel tart which my friends liked a lot. once done we moved on to order three distinctly different mussel dishes hoping to savor each other's selection. the table right beside us had asked for bread continuously and we asked our wait staff to honor their request before we placed our order.
the mussel dishes came out simultaneously and very hot, which is a plus in my book. we had to ask for bread again as our wait staff had forgotten to bring ours.
we shared our mussels with one another and it was hard to tell onedishfrom the next. they were flavorless. my choice had been a hot spicy musseldishand the only heat came from the stove the mussels had been cooked on. truly could not distinguish any particular spices among three different dishes. sad.
when leaving i turned to my friends and asked how they would rank their dining experience? one gave it a possible four, the other a six and my ranking is yet to be configured because it is difficult to separate my personal disappointment from downright outrage after spending as much as we did for our tasteless mussel dishes.
robert w. please tend to the bethesda kitchen and help them live up to the reputation you've built at your other establishments. bethesda deserves better.

i so wanted mussel bar to be good! it wasn't . the decor and ambience is that of a gastropub which by my book is a good start. the restaurant offers a deep selection of belgium beers priced from $8 to about $30 typically for an 11 ounce glass. the vast majority of beers are in the $12 to $15 a glass price range. our waitress was not very knowledgeable about the beers which was a disappointment. the menu is small and very mussel centric. my guest and i both ordered them. we ordered the classic version (white wine, garlic herbs etc) and the shroom (mushrooms cream etc). we waited about 50 minutes for our food to arrive. the presentation is great - a saucepan opened in front of you to reveal the steaming mussels. in both cases the broth was a huge disappointment. the shroom broth was bland missing the rich notes of pancetta and truffle promised in the menu. the classic had a sharpness to it which was not pleasant (too much lemon and an imbalance caused by the white wine). normally the broth is the best part of this dish. not here. to make matters worse, thedishwas served with a warm bread that tasted like it was purchased in the freezer section of the local supermarket. where was the delicious crusty baguette that i was expecting? this was bread that no self-respecting european should ever serve. accompanying the mussels was a serving of "frites" (french-fries). unfortunately, all though nice and crisp they were over salted. mussels and "frites" is one of the most common and popular dishes in belgium. there are plenty of restaurants in the area that do a good job with this dish. mussel bar, which specializes in thedishdoes not. even over looking the wait for the table, the wait for our entrees, the glass of ice cold water that the waitress spilt on me and the expensive beer i would still skip this place!