Morton's Power Hour revisited:

You may remember one of my first posts about Morton’s power hour deal. David and I were unhappy to find no drink specials, no taps, and worse, the audacity to charge 12.00 for the “house” martini made with Smirnoff vodka.

Yes, seriously.

What is Stoli doing on the top shelf?

I seem to have ended up on Morton’s marketing companies email list, so I’m happy to report either my post or the fact that people don’t want to pay $12.00 for crappy vodka has finally percolated into Morton’s management and they have now introduced a few drink specials.

Here’s the lowdown on the new and improved power hour—taken from the press release recently received:

$5.00 "Bar bites":

Mini Prime Cheeseburger Trio – Morton’s USDA Prime beef, topped with cheddar cheese, tomato slices, iceberg lettuce and onion, and served on silver dollar rolls.
Four Petite Filet Mignon Sandwiches – Morton’s signature filet mignon sandwiches with mustard mayonnaise sauce, served on seeded ciabatta dinner rolls.
Chicken Goujonettes – Crispy fried chicken strips served with mustard mayonnaise.
Jumbo Lump Crab, Spinach & Artichoke Dip served with toasted bread croutons.
Blue Cheese French Fries
Iceberg Wedge Bites
Three Mini Crab Cakes.

During Power Hours, fresh Oysters on the Half Shell are available for just $1.50 per piece and Colossal Shrimp are $2.50 per piece.

Power hour runs from 5-6:30 PM and then continues from 9-11 PM, Monday through Friday.

The new drink specials introduced include select wines and beers (bottled, still no taps) from $4-7.

The (still overpriced) beers for $4.00 include Sam Adams seasonal, Budweiser and Bud Light. Wine includes $5.00 Coastal Cabernet, Canyon Road Chardonnay, Cavit Pinot Grigio and Columbia Crest Merlot.

There is a Morton’s spritz being featured for $6.00, Lunetta prosecco, Aperol and orange juice.

The special $7.00 cosmo is still made with loathsome Smirnoff, but at least it’s not quite as expensive. There is also a regular Martini made with Finlandia or Pearl vodka and blue cheese olives, and the power hour palm beacher, which is sky vodka infused with pineapple and mint.

David and I decided to give power hour another shot, and bring the camera along for pictures.

After a rocky start running down to Radio Shack to get a set of replacement batteries, I decided to start with a Palm Beacher while I waited for David. They were very pleasant, though I did not taste any mint, mostly pineapple.

David arrived shortly and decided to try the Pearl vodka martini, also $7.00.

We decided to get four different “bar bites” .

The mini crab cakes:

Filet sandwiches:

Mini cheeseburgers:

And a few oysters, with one colossal shrimp.

I also was offered the Morton’s spritz, which I was curious about. I could taste the procecco a little bit, and the orange was nice and refreshing.

OK. Now that you’ve seen the pictures—when we ordered our sandwiches and burgers, they asked how we wanted them cooked, which surprised me. We said medium. I don’t know why they even bothered asking, because the sandwiches were rare and the burgers were medium well. C'mon guys--I know you know how to cook meat. Or at least I hope you do.

Morton’s likes to toast their buns, which I approve of....although someone got a little too enthusiastic on this one.

We were talking about Scotch with the bartenders when they mentioned they had some Lagavulin 16 year scotch around. David was curious, so he ordered it. However, what we didn’t find out until later was that this scotch was $15.75 a glass. With Nicholson's, which offers a multitude of very similar scotches for more reasonable prices down the street, you think Morton's would take the opportunity to be competitive.

For dessert, I ordered a brandy Alexander ($9.00). I was curious. It was very tasty.

David also tried the Rye 1 whiskey ($11.25).

After the scotch, we decided to stick around for dinner. David ordered two other appetizers, the bacon wrapped scallops ($15.00) and the lobster bisque. ($14.00)

We thought the lobster bisque was incredibly bland for a place of Morton’s caliber. The sea scallops were served with some sort of fruit chutney that was simply awful. Way too much black pepper and horseradish, which does not mix well with fruit at all.

Morton’s really didn’t do much to redeem itself, unfortunately. They were not very busy while we were there, and it’s pretty easy to see why. They seem to be making some concessions with their drink specials, but if they still are going to mark up their spirits the way they do, not cook food to order when you specifically ask the customer, and serve bland, overpriced bisque and terrible chutney, I would not be surprised if they eventually had to close.

Sorry, Morton's, David and I are just not feelin' it.