Stillwater Detour: Marx Wine Bar

We grabbed lunch last weekend in the quaint town of Stillwater at a new-ish wine bar called Marx. They focus primarily on Pizzas and Pastas, but also have a large selection of salads. I started with a small spinach salad, and while the spinach and (chunks of) parmesan cheese were right on, the apples were actually burnt. You can see the blackened fruit in the photo. And while I like my toast burnt, I learned I do not like my apples burnt.

For my entree, I went with the spaghetti with chicken. There were other ingredients listed on the menu, but honestly, I didn’t see any. And the chicken appeared to be from the thigh, not the breast meat that I expected. But the spaghetti was good. The sauce was hearty and exactly what I needed on a snowy (yes, it snowed again!) day.

Husband went with one of the specials, a Salmon Fillet served with pesto and mashed potatoes. And it was really pretty. But see the green stuff? That’s the pesto. And it was strong. Not garlicky or spicy or anything, just really loaded with herbs. It was good, but the ladle they used to pour it on was a few sizes too big. A quarter of that amount would have been enough.

The in-laws ordered salads, which they were very happy with. The grilled goat cheese salad looked remarkably good, but it’s hard to screw up goat cheese. Then again, it’s hard to screw up apples or spaghetti.

Oh well. We could blame it on the fact we were there for lunch, and maybe the second string was working. I sure hope so, because even the water glasses were dirty, which in my book, is a no-no.