Blue Fig Cafe — Restaurant in Moorestown Township

My husband suggested we come to Blue Fig Cafe after I suggested Moonson..Since we hadn't been in awhile I agreed.  While everything started off great,things quickly changed. Our server Kyla was very nice and attentive at first. After we ordered and our food arrived we never saw her again, well not at our table. She never asked if the food was okay if we needed water, or anything else for that matter. We watched her come in and out and not once did she stop by. We were baking in the sun . There are no umbrellas which is okay..But it's May 2nd and 89 degrees at least come refill the water!  While I was definitely annoyed with the service that started out great and fizzled out like flat soda. I was even more annoyed that a woman (possible manager) hair in two braids and chatty which was okay. Asked if we needed a take out container for our left over appetizers ..While we said yes, one of our appetizers( mutabel) had one of there plastic frame like menus touched by staffs hand fall directly into the appetizer. The menu was covered in the tan colored appetizer. My husband spoke of this to the woman with braids and her reply was " I can't control the weather!" I just bit my tongue. Seriously.  I would've offered another appetizer especially since it's placed on the table without gloves. We didn't use that menu I asked for a paper one. The plastic frame menu that needs to be scanned was wiped off by us. If never even crossed her mind. Like, it's 7.99 barely touched. We left it on the table. I enjoyed my husband's fries, halloum cheese, and the falafel. We ordered lamb chops my entrée (bland and wasn't enjoyable)24.99 Kufta Kebab husbands entrée..better than my lamb chops..like I mentioned his fries were good. My son had shish kebab ( filet mignon) if that was filet I'm Queen Elizabeth.  I've had better after leaving night clubs at 3am from vendors on the corner. I had one bite of the rice . The appetizers and fries minus the mutabel were good. Falafel, halloum,burak all good.  After roasting in the sun and watching our server , serve everyone else I was DONE! I threw my hands up and caught the eye of another woman named Alex. She knew what was up. Definitely aware we weren't happy.  While she checked on other tables, she took a to go order for us for my daughter..Got us water another soda came back with the check. And while all this happened no one came to take the check!  She managed to still help everyone else and when she said " All set, they took the check?" We replied "nope they forgot about us...That was me being nice about it. I wanted to leave nothing, but I left 10% on a 127.00 check. I am a great tipper and I honestly went back and forth struggling with the idea of leaving 12.70 on a 127.00 check . 18% would've been 21.45 and the more I sat there and NO ONE came or ever showed any concern..The more I cared less, just like they did. Alex is also the reason for 2 stars. Although she deserves a 5 for recognizing what the others did not. We will not ever come back. There was table of two seated when we showed up . 5 people total and than another two after our entrées came out . 7 people and you can't handle that!! Go chase the bee! We should've went to Moonson Meat was dry and WAY overcooked....

We tried Blue Fig Cafe for the first (and most likely last) time tonight. Our experience was underwhelming in almost every way possible.

We got to the restaurant around 7 PM on a Saturday, without reservations. We expected it to be busy. When we entered, there was nobody waiting ahead of us to be seated. There were no empty tables inside, but many on the patio so we asked it we could be seated outdoors. There had been a recent cloudburst, and the young man who offered to seat us said he'd be out in a minute to dry off a table and chairs for us. He, along with an older man who appeared to be the owner, were the only ones waiting tables and it took nearly 20 minutes for us to be seated.

We were able to order promptly and got our beverages quickly. After that, it was a full half hour until soup and an appetizer were brought out. My partner had a lentil soup she said was excellent, but lukewarm at best. We shared a "Tour of Lebanon" appetizer (mutabel, hummus, and baba ghanoush) with pita. The baba was quite good and very smoky, but the hummus tasted as if baking soda was a main ingredient. The mutabel was good. The pita served with the appetizer was disappointing: obviously not baked on-premises, barely warm, and slightly stale. But without the pita, we wouldn't have been able to eat anything, as our waiter had left us no utensils and had run back inside before we could ask.

It was another 40 minutes until we got our entrees, still no silverware. This time we pointed it out to our waiter, who said he'd be right back. 5 minutes later, we could see him through the window bussing tables indoors. I went inside to ask for silverware, he went into the kitchen, and came back with two knives and two forks wrapped in wax paper. I asked for napkins, and he took back the utensils he had just given me and replaced them with utensils wrapped in napkins. By the time I got back outside, the food was almost cold. I had the vegetarian moussaka, which wasn't moussaka at all but a runny vegetable stew covered with a big piece of cheese and no bechamel sauce. It was not even particularly flavorful. My partner had a chicken kebob and said it was just OK. We also ordered a Zatar flatbread which didn't come out until our meal was almost done and had way too much oil. We waited another 20 minutes and I had to chase down the waiter once again to get a box for our leftovers and ask for the check. By that time they were closing up, our waiter was visibly having an argument with the owner, and we were never offered coffee or dessert.

To his credit, our waiter did go out of his way to light a patio heater for us as it was getting dark and chilly. He was a nice young man, I think he was just inexperienced and overwhelmed.

The best thing about the Blue Fig is the atmosphere: the patio is pleasant and leafy, and the inside is very cozy. But if you want Mediterranean food, there are so many, many other restaurants to choose from...

The beef shish kebab was delicious for lunch. It was cooked perfect, tender and juicy. They also have a Lebanese mint tea that is very good to sip.

The service was terrible. I entered and was not welcomed by anyone, just stared at awkwardly by one of the employees. I finally said “1 for lunch” after the staring became awkward. I was motioned to a table without one word spoken to me. I ordered and received my food. No one checked on me once. I finished my meal, plates cluttered on the table. My waitress was too busy playing on her cell phone behind the counter to notice, and the man who motioned me to my table was too busy giggling at his cell phone while standing on the dining floor to notice either. So there I sat for about 7 minutes waiting for someone to get off their cell phone and offer me a check. The man finally glanced from his phone, noticed me, and said across the dining room “check?” He then asks the waitress, still playing on her phone to bring me a check. She brings it over, leaves it on the table and mumbles “There you go.” The bill was around $28. I left $2 for the poor service. The tip would have been $7 if I would have received even mediocre service.

The food was good enough for me to return, but I probably won’t anytime soon because the service experience was so poor. I felt neglected and unwelcome. Maybe I’ll try again in 6-8 months, and if the experience improves I’ll re-write my review.

I don’t understand how front of house employees think it is acceptable to sit and stand directly in front of guests that need service and just play on their cell phones, especially when the guests are completely ignored as a result of this behavior....