Reviews for Mandrake - Small Plates + Libations in Yorkville, IL
Wonderfully curated experience; you will not regret! The food and handcrafted cocktails are artistically presented, thoughtfully... prepared and full of amazing flavors! This is what dining out is meant to be! What co-owners, Chef Jarrod Johnson and WineDirector Adrian Frost, have created is magical. Marvelous service provided by Cheryl, who is incredibly knowledgeable aboutevery menu item and detail! Looking forward to my next experience at Mandrake Small Plates + Libations. Read more
Love the atmosphere, craft cocktails, excellent wine selection, creative and delicious food and attention to public health... protocols. We will be coming back more often to support this beautiful, locally owned and sourced restaurant. A real joy to finda place of this quality in this area! ?? Read more
I had an extremely positive experience here! Our waiter Adrian was so sweet and very attentive! He creates a very warm,... welcoming environment for his guests. The portion sizes for each course was perfect for two people. everything tasted amazingand felt very upscale! I can?t wait to be back! Read more
Second visit, first review, It has been a few months but eager to return. Glad we came out tonight. We enjoy the small semi... intimate environment. Wonderful date night and amazing food. Staff is amazing friendly and welcoming like last time. Thewaitress remembered us and were she sat us last time. We were shocked that we weren?t forgotten. Tonight was New Year?sEve. Second time getting the Muscles. Just as delicious as the first time. DO NOT take them off the menu. They are our favoritethus far. Next up was the Crab Cake this was my favorite the cake was very flavorful, I really enjoyed the pairing of thecrunch of the slaw with the cake it was a very good but different pairing. The flaw for me was the sauce it could have usedsomething maybe some heat, but all and all the plate was delicious. Then the Duck Brest the wife?s favorite of the night. Itwas well cooked, seasoned perfectly. We are not sure what the bed was that the duck was on, it had a bit of spice to it and veryflavorful. Last up the Lobster, personally this was our least favorite of the night, maybe we were to full. I felt the Lobsterwas to chewy there was some spice in the melted butter that we didn?t care for. The French potato lasagna thing was the wife?sfavorite part of the plate. I got a small pumpkin flavor I didn?t like. The asparagus was cooked perfectly and my favorite partof the plate. We look forward to our third visit and many more. Keep up the amazing work and we are excited for the futuresurprises to come. Read more
Went to Mandrake for a date night and definitely wasn?t disappointed. It?s a small place so definitely recommend to make a... reservation. The food was delicious, perfectly seasoned and packed with so much flavor. The drinks were great too. Sweet but notoverly sweet. All of the staff was great and very knowledgeable about the menu, from the person who took our reservation to ourwaitress Nikki. It is pricey but I felt like it was worth the money spent. Definitely want to come back as the menu changes withthe season. Read more
First, double check their hours. As a newer establishment, they change from visit to visit. Second, they only have outdoor... seating so you can?t eat there in inclement weather. Third, portions are small for the price. Finally, for the food: WarmBreaded Chevre ($12) - It had good flavor but wasn?t served with anything on which to spread it. We had to ask for bread. Theyonly had crostini which was toasted so much that it was hard to bite. Shrimp & Avocado Toast ($16) - It was very under seasonedand didn?t taste like a true ceviche which is normally cured in an acid. Seared Sea Scallops ($19) - The best dish we tried sofar. A great bite. It only comes with three but you can pay a premium for a fourth scallop. Coconut Crusted Lamb Lollipops($21) - Again, this was severely under seasoned. We couldn?t even finish the meat. Skip the mint yogurt. The classic pairingof lamb and mint is misplaced with the yogurt. Steamed Prince Edward Island Mussels ($13) - A solid dish with a nice amount ofheat. Read more
Skatewing was really prepared well. The citrus and candied serano were perfect with it. We also had the scallops which were... done perfectly. Read more
We really could not have been more impressed. From the more complicated dishes like quail and foie gras, scallops, and lamb to... the rice sitting below the chicken thigh everything was honestly perfect. The 40 year port for only $13 is also a steal! Weordered the whole menu which was perfect for the four of us to share. This place should be packed every night. There is somehowonly one person cooking in back and it all still came out as good as it possibly could. We will be back! Read more