Victus Members enjoy the following perk when visiting this restaurant:
Half Off on All Bottles of Wine
If you’re looking for a some great tasting, rustic but innovative eats close to the action of Midtown, The Marshal is definitely the way to go. Located in Hell’s Kitchen, The Marshal is close enough to all the activity, while still allowing you to enjoy some quiet ambiance, away from the hustle and lights of Times Square.
The Marshal itself is small, but inviting, with exposed brick and rustic wooden tables. There’s also some outdoor seating, perfect for lunch on a spring afternoon. When I stopped by, there was ample seating available, but I imagine at certain times it can be hard to get a table –so I’d make a reservation just to be safe. Even though the ambiance is delightful, it’s the food that really takes the cake (food puns!).
The Marshal prides itself on being farm-to-table, with an ever-changing menu of seasonal ingredients sourced completely from local New York farmers. They even tell you exactly which farm each dish’s ingredients come from. The menu is filled with warm, interesting takes on classic dishes –like the DLT sandwich (that’s duck-bacon, lettuce, and tomato) or the BBQ shortribs served with cranberry and NY cheddar polenta. There’s also a large selection of farmer’s sides that all looked really yummy –we had a hard time choosing just three. We eventually settled on the Roasted Bulich Farm Snowwhite Mushrooms cooked in herb butter and white wine, the Creamed Kale from Norwich Meadows Farm with Tonjes Farm Ricotta and Parmesan, and the Pork Rind and Brown Sugar Braised Heirloom Bean Medley from Baer Bean Farm. They were served on a wooden plank in individual little cast iron skillets (which, of course, served the double duty of keeping our food piping hot and looking really cool at the same time). All three of the dishes were totally yummy, especially the creamed kale (my cohort’s words on the subject: “they made kale actually taste good” –the highest of compliments considering the source, folks, I assure you).
We also tried two of their sandwiches. That DLT we mentioned earlier, which was a great, more mild, less greasy version of your typical BLT, and the star of the meal, a butternut squash grilled cheese sandwich. You guys, I’m fairly confident that this is the sandwich that Zeus eats atop Mount Olympus. It was warm and gooey and sweet and salty and utterly fabulous with just the right amount of crunch on the bread. It was also quite substantial, I was full after half (though I’d be damned if I wasn’t gonna eat that whole thing …I regret nothing). For dessert, we tried the Bittersweet Chilled Chocolate Fudge with Vanilla Blue Marble Ice Cream and Andrew’s Honey, NYC Honeycomb. Though normally I find fudge too sweet, this stuff was awesome –thin slices of fudge topped with ice cream, honeycomb and crunchy bits of bee pollen. It was the perfect, sweet (but not heavy) end to a great meal.
If you can’t tell, I was a huge fan of the Marshal’s food. And though I’d certainly recommend any of the dishes I tried, the menu was chock full of other choices that looked equally mouth watering. Oh, I also had a great cocktail – Earl Gray iced tea with peach vodka, raw honey, and orange cream bitters – so be sure to check out their bar menu as well.
Lauren is a New York based actor/singer/writer. She is a graduate of the American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater School Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University as well as the College of the Holy Cross. She’s a fan of beer, pasta, and academic establishments with unnecessarily long titles. Find her on stage, or online– she’s there often.
