MINA Ristorante — Restaurant in Presnensky District

We had a light dinner at Mina. While the food was generally good, the overall experience was affected by disorganization.

There was a lot of confusion with the terrace seating. We were moved three times within minutes due to poor communication between the staff, which was surprising considering the restaurant wasn’t full.

Service was polite, but not always helpful. I asked for a Campari Spritz a simple and common request but was told it wasn’t possible, even though Campari bottles were clearly visible at the bar and a Negroni was on the menu. The rigid approach felt unnecessarily dismissive.

As for the food, the “pizza” should simply not be called pizza. It was a crispy flatbread with toppings. That said, the vitello tonnato and pasta were excellent.

The dessert menu was disappointing. It’s peak berry season in Russia, yet there was barely any sign of that on the menu. Like in many Moscow restaurants, the dessert section lacked inspiration and didn’t feel inviting.

We appreciated the complimentary sweets at the end and the fact that management came to check on us and acknowledged the earlier issues. That said, please stop serving mignardises in paper cups it’s not a takeaway. You have beautiful plates, use them. It felt dated and out of place.

In summary, the kitchen shows promise, but the front-of-house service and dessert offering need refinement to meet the...

I'm not sure why they mixed Lebanese and Italian. If you want a Lebanese food experience this is probably not the place.

We had hummus, labneh, kefta and some pasta. None of the dishes were impressive.

The hummus had zero lemon juice and too much tahini. Tasted dry and boring.

The labneh was quite good, but it's labneh. Very simple.

The kaftan flavour was very flat. It certainly was not Lebanese kefta.

The pasta was just OK.

In summary, this place has no clear identity, and the confusion shows in the dishes we had. If I want Italian, I'd go to Probka or Bottega Siciliana, and if I wanted Lebanese, I'd go to a proper Lebanese restaurant.

To close on a helpful note, for Mina and anyone thinking of opening a Lebanese restaurant... please, please go to Lebanon and taste the food first. It's famous all over the world for a reason. The flavors should be big and bold. You should get tastes lemon, garlic, olive oil and grilled meat.

P.S. I'm Lebanese and still looking for good Lebanese food in Moscow. If you know of one,...

Очень странное отношение к гостям в этом заведении. Несколько месяцев подряд мы с группой товарищей (в среднем приходит 10-15 человек) каждую среду в 10-00 собираемся чтобы обсудить новости рынка недвижимости - мы эксперты элитного рынка недвижимости Москвы, работаем с самой всокобюджетной аудиторией. Всегда бронируем один и тот же стол. Причем бронируем его на месяц вперед - нам там комфортно и мы никому не мешаем. Никогда не было проблем с бронью. Но в последнее время, несмотря на подтвержденную бронь, нам отказывают в бронировании стола, под смешным предлогом, что, мол, мы конкретные столы не бронируем. Всегда бронировали,а. тут вдруг решили, что нам лучше размещаться у прохода в сортир за длинным неудобным столом, где мы не слышим друг-друга, не видим и в целом нам не комфортно. Менеджер на вопрос, почему нам не сказали об этом сразу и не отказали в брони, ничего вразумительного ответить не может. Очень жаль, но придется искать другое место, так как такое отношение никак не соответствует уровню и ценам (высоким)...