Fandi Mata — Restaurant in New York

Went for dinner with a friend. We made a reservation and there was no wait for our table to be ready.

We had arrived early and grabbed a drink at the bar first. I found the happy hour options to be very limited considering how extensive their drinks menu is (it's longer than the food menu). It also took some time for the bartender to acknowledge me, get me a menu, and take my drink order. He didn't really speak to me, didnt offer a menu when I sat down, and I wasnt even sure he heard my order because he didnt say anythjng before walking away. The bar wasn't busy at the time so I wasn't sure what was happening. When we were ready for our table, he did say he would transfer our drinks and food to our table so we didnt have to check out at the bar so that was very helpful. The sparkling wine and hummus were very good.

We did have to move our initial table because we were closer to the kitchen and for some reason, we would get hit with a very strong, not so great smell. The hostess was very pleasant and moved us up to the front and we were grateful, not only due to the issue with the previous table but also because the staff in this section were way more attentive and friendly than the ones in the previous section. It really improved the experience. As the night went on, the restaurant did fill up and they had a dj playing music. The vibes were great, the space looked as wonderful at night as it does during the day.

The food and drinks were amazing. There wasn't a single thing I was disappointed with. My friend said that the smoked beets were just ok. I didn't try them but I did try the cabbage on that plate and that was good; she agreed. The lamb chops were absolutely delicious. The flavors, the presentation, the portion....all excellent. My French fries were crisp and delicious. The Brussel sprouts were good as well, wouldn't be my first choice for a side next time but still good.

I was so happy to see that they had mocktail options since I was driving. I got the Eye of the Tiger. This was my favorite thing of the night (sorry lamb chops). It was so refreshing and flavorful; as complex and well thought out any alcoholic cocktail. I really appreciated that. I could have drank 10 of them. And speaking of drinks...this is small and weird but I really liked it...they offered us sparkling or still water and I opted for sparkling....not sure why but I've never drank so much water in a restaurant before. It was sooo refreshing for some reason.

Bathroom was clean and adequate. With the style of the doors, it is hard to tell which ones are occupied.

The dessert options were great. I liked both the pudding and the Tart.

Gratuity was automatically included in the check.

Would like to come back to try their...

Made an 8pm reservation for 4 on Valentines day. Arrived and the hostesses were friendly and told us we could be seated once our entire party arrived. Perfectly understandable. We waited at the bar until the rest of the party arrived and were seated at our table around 8:30pm. When you make a reservation, they notify you that parties have an hour and a half time block, which is reasonable. What was not reasonable was not having our order taken until an hour and a half after being seated. We ordered a bottle of wine that we had to remind the waitress to bring over. It was busy that night, so we remained patient, but lost patience when we noticed that couples that were seated after us had received their drinks, food, and had even paid and left. We ordered a good number of small plates between the four of us and after a long wait the food arrived and only 1 of the many dishes was luke warm. Since the food was taking so long, the waitress offered us a round of drinks which didn't arrive until after our food arrived. We ordered two entree dishes at the same time as the small dishes, one of which came out last and the other did not make it to the table until we asked the waitress about it. She said she was waiting to put it in after our pizza arrived, which did not make much sense but we let it go. After being disappointed by the wait time and the food we asked to speak to the manager. We politely stated that we were looking forward to the dinner and had high expectations due to all the reviews and atmosphere, but were sadly let down by the delivery. He apologized and said he would take care of part of the bill and send a round drinks over and said that our next visit would be on him. We waited for the round and it never came, nor did the manager return to say anything else. The waitress offered dessert, but at this point we were ready to leave and find dessert elsewhere. By the time we received the bill it was midnight. I will say that the atmosphere itself was very nice and the bartender was attentive while we waited for the rest of our party. As for the rest of our experience, it fell very very short. I would recommend this spot for drinks at the bar and probably only this. I do understand Valentines day is busy, but I don't understand why they were not adequately staffed or prepared especially being such a popular establishment. Unfortunately, my friends and I will not...

I had a birthday dinner for 10 people on Feb 10th. The positives were: • The food was delicious and very appetizing. Every single guest enjoyed thoroughly their meal. •The tablescape and decor were beautiful.

These were the challenges we incurred in regards to the service provided: •The service was subpar. The main server often seemed confused as he had to be told the same request multiple times and he often made mistakes with those requests. For example, a couple of my guests do not drink alcohol, and they asked for plain ginger ale for drinks. Both guests received what they believed to be ginger ale only to drink it and taste whiskey in their drinks. Not only were drink orders incorrect but also slow. I understand that weekend evening service is busy but the server could have communicated any issues with the table explaining why it was taking 20 minutes to receive a drink order. The server also seemed distracted as he was floating around to many tables and we had to flag other servers/staff to place our requests for drinks and other things. •The servers had to be instructed multiple times by my guests to clear dirty dishes and empty glasses. Given the fact that the table we had was too small for a family-style dinner for 10 guests, I would expect the servers to be proactive in clearing the table. The table and space were inadequate for 10 guests. Our table was all the way in the front of the restaurant by the glass doors where there was a consistent cold draft. The size of the table could not comfortably fit 10 people. It was a tight space and my guests had to sit very close to one another which can make eating uncomfortable, as people’s arms are bumping into one another. Also, the table was TOO SMALL for a family-style dinner. We had to remove the centerpiece and candle decor in order to fit the food, plates and glasses.

Although the food was great, the service was unacceptable and did mar the dinner experience. For the amount paid for dinner (nearly $2,000) I was expecting attentive and proactive service and unfortunately it was lacking.

I provided this feedback to the events manager Ivana since Monday and it’s Thursday and I have yet to receive a reply or acknowledgment of...