Emerald Mediterranean Restaurant and Hookah Lounge — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

UPDATE: In response to the “owner”reply, I’d like to point out that I was not in error. My wife and I did in fact go here. We did in fact meet and speak with a female server while someone’s (an employee or owner) small children ran through the restaurant playing on the stage and around several tables. When I ordered a beer that was listed on the menu as one exclusive to the country or origin of this establishment, I was told it was unavailable “I’m sorry, we’re out of that.” This happened several more times before we finally were offered a bottle of wine. After that, we ordered our food, only to hear that same excuse from the nice young lady serving us for three consecutive items before we decided to take a different approach. We asked what your business did have in stock. Having been a chef for over a decade, I remember places like yours and offer second and third chances. You failed every time. The food we did get was good and we both enjoyed it. We just didn’t get the items we’d originally wanted. This included the food and dinks listed in plain English on your own menu. This review is spanning months of visits. Perhaps your female server from the original visit is not there any longer. Okay, but that does not mean she was not there on our first visit or our second. She tried to take care of us. It was management that failed, and you should take ownership of your mistakes and know what it is that happens in a restaurant you run that on two separate visits in the middle of the dinner rush had only 2 tables filled aside from ours. Then think about the fact that on every visit your restaurant only had a maximum of 5 (FIVE) paying customers NOT 5 tables but only 5 people aside from us in the dining area for the duration of our visits. Every visit was during the dinner rush. When more than 75% of your tables and chairs are sitting unused, it would be more prudent to find out why people are avoiding you and going elsewhere to wait in line just to get into the building. Instead of attacking those who are telling you why. I may revise this one last time after I’ve had the time to calm down from being called a liar. 1 - Your business most certainly had a female server at the time of our first and second visit 2 - The items on your menu were out of stock due to poor management and poor planning 3 - When you insult people who write a review after taking due time to collect their thoughts and not just blast you from a place of emotion, be smart and use that honest review to your advantage and repair the issues before responding to let them know that their assessment was read and understood and the problems have been rectified so as to allow another chance to visit and change the review to one of positivity. 4 - NEVER under any circumstances call a reviewer a liar unless you are prepared for their rebuttal and angry announcement to the public and their friends to avoid your place of business. 5 - I did NOT review this restaurant in error, as suggested. I knew exactly who I was writing about, and gave you 3 chances to fix it before you chose to call me out in this very public manner.

Sadly, most things we ordered they were out of. The server could tell I was losing my patience by the end. The food we did get was fantastic, but it wasn’t even our fifth choice from the menu. We basically ended up settling for dishes we didn’t really want, just to give the place a chance. The same issue happened with the drinks we tried ordering. Overall, what we did get was not what we wanted, but it was good. The server looked pretty embarrassed and frustrated by the situation which was not her fault. It’s a shame really. It looked like they tried really hard to start out strong, but then they stopped ordering the food they listed on...

overly pretentious, and ghastly over priced when they can't get the fundamentals right. I went to this location on friday evening, as they are not open for lunch. i was sat at a table with hookah burns in the table cloth, I opened the napkin and there were a stains all over it, I perused the dirty menu and asked the server if any thing was fresh he assured me that everything was fresh! picked out some apps to get it started, Rolled Grape leaves, and fried Kibbeh, upon arriving the grape leaves were clearly from a can as when the grape leaves are canned they are backed in there so tightly it squeezes all the life out of them and they clearly look and feel like a slimey pressurized lump. the Kibbeh was clearly frozen and served burnt on the outside and cold on the inside, another item not made fresh or from scratch. For my main course i order a chicken shawarma, with fries. Something so easy that anyone can make right. . . Except for these people. the main dishes were bad the chicken in the shawarma was extremely dry and grainy and the flavors were bland at best, the Fries were completely devoid of seasoning, let alone a sprinkle of salt. Desert From a good Middle eastern restaurant can be captivating the warm blend of of fresh ground cardamom and ginger clove and all spice, can be a life changing experience it is truly what the spice melange from the dunebooks are based on. I asked the chef if they hand make the baklava and he assured me that he hand makes it every two weeks with a family recipe. so i gave it one last try and my heart sank as i ate it with as the chef's secret family recipe doesn't have any spices in it, not even a dash of finishing salt. If he did make that, may have been the worst desert i have ever had.There was One good thing served to me there, there was one item that was palatable and that was the mint tea, and it was served with a broken stolen a pancake syrup container stolen from dennys, and a tea pot with a melted handle and that is as good as it gets. The bathroom also had sinks that had fallen off the wall broken mirrors and...

I had the pleasure to find a hidden gem near SeaWorld and the Convention Center: Emerald! Moroccan restaurant and hookah.

The family restaurant serves fantastic and authentic tea Moroccan food and a peaceful and serine atmosphere throughout the weekdays. Saturdays the venue turns into a more exciting scene. Wit with lights and music or great for anyone, having a party or night out. Or the quiet time for feeling “at home.” I had the honor meeting Youssef as host. Ask for him anything you need!

I love the Moroccan Salad, of vegetables with vinaigrette. Fan of teas, they serve true flavorful and minty Moroccan Tea.

My favorite at Middle East and North Africa foods is Shish Kabab and Shish Kafta. Emerald knocks them out of the park, served were hot, delicious seasoned deliciously and served with rice and salad.

The best dishes on the menu were the true ‘authentic’ Moroccan Tagines. I had never had traditional clay pot cuisine, and the Lamb Tagine was absolutely delicious with sweet aromatic fruit flavors with apricot, dates and almond complimented with delicious spices. The lamb fell off the bone, and I devoured the pot!

If you are nearby the hotels or resorts, you can take the wonderful food to go!

Finally, it’s not all about the food, they serve tables use hookah Shisha in different flavors. Youssef was in charge of the Hookah sides and prepared it the “proper” way well packed, heated, and customizable. Very different from very “rap-style” or nightlife commercial lounges visiting tourists may only know. There is great food, a bar, music to relax vibe to also with your hookah.

Anyone who wants to experience both exquisite homemade and authentic food in a peaceful environment. I recommend Emerald to anyone. As for Youssef, who is absolutely spectacular, or any of the kind...