Medusa Authentic Greek Cuisine — Restaurant in Vaughan

My girlfriend came across this place on social media. Took us three weeks to get reservations. You'd have no idea how poor and mediocre the food and experience is for being so popular and having such a high rating. We left underwhelmed and disappointed.

Overall the wait staff was pretty standard friendly. Once entering the restaurant you immediately notice how small, cramped, and loud it was. There were way too many tables set and people in that small of a space. The decor was well done and the live music would have been a nice touch had it been quieter, but in this case it just made the overall volume problem worse. Highly recommend using some sound absorbing panels on the ceiling instead of the metal ones they have now which just makes the sound waves bounce all over the place.

The food started off ok. We had the Calamari and Shrimp. It took too long to come out for what was ordered but the restaurant was at full capacity. For a surcharge of $12 for Shrimp, I was disappointed to find only 3 Shrimp mixed in with the Calamari. We also had a Diet Coke with one refill each which came to a total of $17. That is probably the most I have ever paid for Diet Coke at a restaurant - ever - even ones where you have to pay for refills. The value is just not here with this restaurant but not sure that's what they're going for. I was shocked to find the bill came out to ~$130 for an app, two entries, and non alcoholic drinks.

I ordered the Gyro Dinner. Definitely not a traditional Gyro Dinner. It is made with steak slices, not Gyro, which were served cold, but still cooked, like it had been sitting out for a while. It's also served on a pita, not on a bed of rice and potatoes which is what a "dinner" traditionally means. Unlike the Souvlaki dinner, it is not served with a salad, presumably because the salad was essentially on top of the pita. However, this again doesn't follow the norm of a traditional Greek dinner. It was served with seasoned fries with feta on top which were delicious. The fries were the best part of the whole meal lol. This dish should be renamed "Steak Wrap" or should be redone to be an actual elevated Gyro Dinner.

To top it off, after our plates were taken following our dinner, the manager quickly rushed over to apologize for not having enough time for dessert, telling us he'd throw in a free slice of the cheesecake in our to go bag, essentially kicking us out. He definitely saw the confusion and displeasure on our faces and followed by confirming it was because we were a walk in, which we were not. Fine, mistakes happen, and he did end up giving us that free cheesecake slice. However, I found it extremely strange and rude to be rushed out so quickly after my expensive dinner, especially when I had to wait so long for the courses to be served, without even being shown the desert menu. It doesn't matter if I am a walk-in or not, it is not acceptable to do that to a paying customer in any restaurant. Don't accept walk-ins if you cannot accommodate them within your reservations. Simple and basic restaurant management logic. As we were walking out, it became clear why we were rushed out, they had a line out the door and...

Our visit started with a bit of confusion and inconsistency in service, but there were some redeeming moments along the way.

We were initially greeted by Jonathan, who took our drink order and offered a dozen oysters, explaining that they’d take some time to prepare. This was a nice touch as it set expectations.

However, things started to go downhill when a second server, Cynthia, took over. We were unclear about how their team structure worked, and Cynthia’s tone came across as somewhat condescending when she mentioned that everyone helps each other out. At this point, we weren’t sure who was actually in charge of our table.

We placed our order for the seafood platter with Cynthia, but after 30 minutes, there were no oysters in sight. We asked Jonathan, who was nowhere to be found for a while, and expressed our concern that they might have been overlooked, especially since Cynthia was setting up the platter. Jonathan followed up with us three times, saying the oysters were coming in 5 minutes, but that never seemed to happen.

Here’s where the experience took a turn for the better: the manager stepped in. He brought over glasses of prosecco, which was a kind gesture. However, at that point, we were more focused on getting our oysters, as we were already done with our drinks and didn’t want to keep drinking without eating.

I asked the manager what happened, and he explained that he had just found out the shucker had left. While that may explain the delay, better communication could have prevented a lot of frustration on our end.

Eventually, we did get the oysters, and they were of good quality. The seafood platter followed shortly after, and both were tasty and well-cooked. The manager also offered us free dessert, which was a thoughtful touch, especially since it was my friend's birthday. It helped salvage the mood.

Finally, we did appreciate the increased check-ins towards the end of the meal. However, as we were leaving, the manager made an unnecessary comment asking, "Are we all good, no one's hangry?"

Given the experience up until that point, it felt like a bit of a tone-deaf remark. While we came in hungry, the service and delays made us more frustrated than hungry.

In summary, the food was great, but the service had some serious communication issues that were only addressed when the manager got involved.

We left with mixed feelings—appreciating the kindness from the manager but still feeling the sting of an experience that could have been...

Enjoyed a nice meal at Medusa recently.

Ambiance - The restaurant was nicely decorated and had a charm about it, although seating seemed cramped but not uncomfortable. It had a bustling vibe and there was a girl playing guitar and singing but you couldn't really hear it.

Food- The lamb chops were truly amazing. They were the highlight of the night. Cooked perfectly to medium rare with greek potatoes and tzatziki, oh so good! Friends ordered the seafood risotto and branzino. Overall, the food was good. We also had the grilled calamari which while super tender and delicious, still had pieces of the vertebrae inside of it which was kind of a turn off because it had the look and texture of plastic (i didnt even know that was possibile to find in calamari). We still finished it because the dish was great, but they really should make sure it is removed. I love grilled calamari and have had it in many restaurants and have never come across this before. Not a deal breaker by any means. We had the baklava cheesecake with the pistachio ice cream. It wasn't what I expected. It was basically 1 piece of cheesecake, a separate piece of baklava and 1 scoop of ice cream, seemed like 3 separate desserts. I've enjoyed a really delightful baklava cheesecake from Petros82, downtown and that had culinary excellence to it. But hey, if you like all 3 of these things in their own way, have at it!

Service - server was polite but on her own and therefore it was slow. We learned at the time when the bill came they were short staffed. The young gentleman who comes and clears the table, cleans off the table between the courses only to wipe and brush it all onto the floor which is just gross. If you step out from your chair to go to the washroom or whatever, you are stepping into food scrapings or liquids wiped off the table. That soured things slightly for me.

Final thoughts - we drove from whitby to eat here, we deliberately chose to come here to experience this place. While I liked the food, the couple bumps would not make us drive out there again. If you live in the area, I do...