Mallards – Inver Grove Heights, MN

I love going to a restaurant that changes my made-up incorrect perception of a place – Mallards did just that. I’m not sure what I expected, honestly. It was somewhere between Oceanaire and Applebee’s – but no one could give me a good description of the atmosphere, nor the food, so I thought I’d better check it out.

D.Rough and I were out on an adventure and decided since it was on the way home, we should pay Mallard’s a visit. There was a short 20-30 minute wait, since it was a Saturday night. Thankfully, it gave us some time to take in the whole atmosphere I mentioned before and then also, there a pull tabs, so D got to win us some money – which then she used to buy more pull tabs which were NOT winners. The inside of the place is much nicer than Applebee’s and is really well-lit inside. Sort of a nautical theme without being like a pretentious yacht club (my apologies to those yacht clubs who aren’t pretentious). A good mix of dress here, from jeans and sports jerseys to suits and ties. The restaurant is split into a bar area and a dining area, with the regular sports TVs in the bar area and plenty of service in the dining area. I thought I’d point it out, since some restaurants are struggling on staffing – this place didn’t seem to be suffering and al the staff were knocking it out of the park on the service side of things. 

 

We got seated near the bar, so we had a good angle on everything. We had a lovely server and she gave us a handwritten beer/tap list and a cocktail menu. A really great cocktail menu, especially in the “boat drink” department. Tough to decide, so we went with the Island Punch and a Mai Tai. The Island Punch was coconut rum, banana liqueur, and pineapple juice. A little heavy on the banana liqueur, but I was good with it since it wasn’t too overpowering. I'd get it again, for sure – I just like to give people a heads up. The Mai Tai was a really solid showing and even came in a mermaid tiki mug, which gets it bonus points. 

 

The menu is really impressive. Lots of different choices to peruse and in some cases, made it a challenge to nail down. We decided to get a little adventurous and order the Seafood Campechana for an appetizer. This is a Mexican-style dip, with seasoned shrimp, crab, avocado and pico, served with housemade tortilla chips. This ended up being one of the best decisions of the night – top-notch appetizer. It made us want a 5-gallon bucket of the stuff, but it gave us plenty to – as an appetizer should – get us in the mood to eat more stuff. We really liked this a lot. 

 

D is a lobster roll fan from way back, and this is one of the things that Mallards is known for, so that was an easy decision. She was really pleased with this, also. This roll is served cold (but on a toasted warm roll/bun) with mayo and some melted butter – also fries. Butter is a welcome addition to any plate, and D was happy to use it up. The lobster was good and the roll, also good. We’ve had some lobster rolls on the coast that were life-changing, but this one stands up for a Midwest showing. Definitely worth getting again. And, the fries were seasoned and double-fried, so we’re both a fan of those. 

It took me a bit to decide on my dinner – too many things I wanted to try. But I finally went with the Baramundi Rodrigo – seared sea bass with a citrus and cilantro pesto and that was on a healthy bed of coconut lime risotto. The sea bass was much better than I expected, and I’m sure it is because I’ve had some weird versions of this. But, that citrus pesto was awesome and it was perfectly cooked. But, the star of the night for the whole order was the coconut lime risotto. This was almost like a lime curry and light and fluffy. If they offered this as a side, I’d get this with absolutely everything. One of the best risottos I’ve ever had. 

 

Overall, we were really glad we went here. I think both of us were really pleasantly surprised at the service and the quality of the food, and also the choices on the menu (and cocktail menu). One thing D and I both agreed on was that now that we’ve had success with these dishes, it makes us feel more comfortable with some of the other adventurous things on the menu. Time to get crazy! It’s really close to our house, so now that we know how good it is, we may end up being regular visitors to this gem. There are four locations in the metro, so I’m sure you live close to one – go check them out. 

 

Mallards

5681 Blaine Ave.

Inver Grove Heights, MN 55076

www.mallardsmn.com