El Toum — Restaurant in New York

I’ve had good Lebanese/Mediterranean cuisine, and it is not at this place.

I had tried El Toum a few times shortly after they opened and wasn’t impressed — the food wasn’t good and the interior felt a bit grimey. I never understood all the rave reviews this place seemed to get. Since I live down the block and the restaurant is always bustling (and constantly written up by sites like Gothamist and Eater), I decided to give it another try.

We asked to sit outside and were told menus would be brought over. After about ten minutes of waiting, my husband had to go in and ask for them. The staff apologized, but it wasn’t a great start.

We ordered the artichoke appetizer, hummus with cauliflower, and the chicken mushrooms. The artichoke dish was disappointing — it seemed like jarred artichoke hearts tossed with walnuts and golden raisins, microwaved, and served with a thin, over-toasted pita. The hummus was creamy and the roasted cauliflower and tomatoes on top were nicely seasoned, but again, served with that same unpleasant pita. Of the three dishes, this was the best, but not enough to make me want to return.

The chicken mushrooms entrée was underwhelming. The chicken lacked seasoning, the balsamic tasted harsh rather than smooth, and the sweet potatoes were just dry, unseasoned chunks on the plate. The zucchini and carrots were fine, but nothing memorable.

On top of that, the wine glass I was given had dried food crusted on it, the interior still feels skeevy, and even the table we sat at was sticky.

Overall, I can’t understand the hype. While the hummus was solid, the rest of the food, atmosphere, and attention to detail fell...

Don’t come here if you want some quiet time to work on your computer. He doesn’t allow people to sit with computers.

I loved the food and the experience of sitting there quietly enjoying delicious food prepared with much love and dedication. But I didn’t love being kicked out. I am a mom and a law student and the times I have for myself are very limited. I also like to write and today I was writing about Palestinian liberation as much of this has me feeling sad and angry. So I sat down and enjoyed my lunch. Just me and my thoughts and some nourishing food. Just as I was about to put on my headphones to play some music because another table next to me we’re talking and I wanted to give them privacy and focus on my writing the owner came to me and asked me for the table.

I understand if the restaurant was full and there were no other tables. But there were three tables available. Then a customer told me he doesn’t like computers. I get it.

I just wish his tone wasn’t so rude and arrogant when I approached him to tell him asking me to leave didn’t feel so good. I’d get it if there was people waiting for a table at the door. But this wasn’t the case. He just was like don’t like it well leave a review. I think it would be good if there was a sign that said NO COMPUTERS ALLOWED. There would be clarity on what to expect. And if we tried being a little kinder to each other in the way...

My wife and I went there because we were craving some nice shawarma. After quickly looking up best places near us and reading the reviews, we chose to go here. They had chef’s special menu written on blackboard outside but we were set on having a nicely toasted, juicy shawarma. The dine-in space is tight which is understandable and entree prices are on the higher side. But our main disappointment was the “shawarma” which consisted of 4 pieces of cold pita bread, some salad and tomatoes on the side served on the same plate as the chicken which lightly doused in some white sauce. Needless to say, we were massively disappointed especially after we had an awesome experience in Astoria not that long ago. This was more like a chicken salad with few pieces of pita bread that you get at any Trader Joe’s. Maybe Shawarma isn’t their strong suit.

Side order of thick cut French fries (more like potato wedges) were...