As we were seated at our table in the new Chelsea Mermaid Inn in the old Red Cat space on Tenth and 23, the waiter rushed over to share that happy hour would end in three minutes. That welcoming enabled us to save $6 on each of our well-made cocktails and to order the fried calamari ($11) only on the HH menu.

Instead of Prosecco, they use blanc de blanc for the Aperol spritz bubbles; and olive juice and hot sauce for the “dirty” martini. I liked the peppadew garnish in the latter. Both those drinks and the squid were good. That Happy hour runs from 4:30 to 6:30 at all four Mermaid Inn locations.

The menu here is reminiscent of New England seafood shacks. Skip the chunks of lobster served in garlic butter, escargot-style. It’s hard not to overcook those small pieces of usually succulent meat, and it would have been easy to use less unnecessary breadcrumbs.

My crisp-seared Chatham cod ($31) came perched atop shaved Brussels sprinkled with pepitas (pumpkin seeds) alongside butternut squash puree. Their lobster roll ($35) was typical New England style. That’s as a chilled salad on a grilled bun; theirs is brioche. The Old Bay-seasoned fries came with that. I recommend their crispy smashed-fingerling potatoes covered in salsa verde ($9).

And they served each of us gratis a tiny portion of pots de creme for a finale.

The Mermaid Inn is welcoming from start to end.

Mermaid Inn
Chelsea
227 10th Ave
New York, NY
themermaidnyc.com/
(212) 999-5939