Levantine - Mediterranean Cuisine — Restaurant in New York

Recently I visited a place in Brooklyn that offers Middle Eastern cuisine in a casual setting. We are all familiar with hummus but they offer quite a variety of food and drink choices. They have indoor and outdoor seating as well as the whole back patio (where I decided to sit). The tables inside are spaced apart accordingly but there are not too many. The seating in the back is actually quite nice and the covering does protect from elements such as rain. At one point I forgot I was outside.

I was greeted by a very enthusiastic and polite employee named Jonathan when I arrived. He was packing orders to go as well as taking care of dine in customers. All the staff, including the ones I saw prepping food were all wearing masks and taking proper safety precautions.

The menu is available online via their website or through a QR code on the tables. I was originally planning to get a few things to try along with the hummus of course but they have such an extensive offering of things that I have never heard of or have not ordered in a while. So I asked Jonathan for the best recommendations of dishes that represent Hummus Market. He went above and beyond.

For the drink, I usually shy away from alcoholic beverages unless I am with a guest or friend. Even though I was dining solo this time, the cocktail menu had some intriguing sounding items. I decided on the "Moroccan" Spiced Gold Rush which consisted of bourbon, spiced honey, lemon and a cinnamon stick.

Now onto the food! The first wave consisted of appetizers - Moroccan Cigars (mushroom, eggplant and cilantro "spring rolls" served with tahihi and harissa), Market Mezze 3 (you pick three items out of at least 6 or 7 choices for a set price) consisting of roasted cauliflower, falafel and lebnah along with pitas. The cigars were quite unique and I think I ate those up pretty quickly. The cauliflower and falafel I was familiar with but it was the first time I had heard of or seen labneh. It differs from the yogurt we are all familiar as it is thicker. It worked well as pita spread.

The next thing was their hummus, as you cannot go to a place called Hummus Market and not try their signature dish. It was a platter consisting of garlic, tahini, mushroom and white. The pita was definitely utilized for the hummus dipping.

For the main entree, Jonathan brought out the chicken schwarma, which was one of their most popular dishes. The chicken fillet is on a bed of tahini and amba with peppers, cilantro and paprika oil. I just stuck with the pitas instead of getting rice. I finished this dish off as well. So tasty but I would recommend to eat it quickly as the chicken tends to dry out fast. You can dip in hummus or labneh as an option. Another dish that he recommended was the Siniya, which is another one of their top dishes. This one consists of roasted vegetables cooked in spicy tomato sauce and baked in tahini. It is topped with warm chickpeas, mint cilantro and pine nut. This is served with rice on the side. This is something I would have normally stayed away from but I am glad that it was recommended for me to try. Very flavorful and a nice dish to have on a cold night.

Now for dessert. I was looking at that portion of the menu earlier out of habit. I was almost at my food limit. It was decided that the classic baklava would be one choice (three modest sized pieces of flakey filo and crushed pistachio). So very good. I took some home with me for later. The other dessert that caught my eye was the Chocolate truffles (walnuts and coconut flakes). Jonathan informed me that all desserts were made in house. The chocolate was very rich. As I write this review the memories of all the good food almost make me as sad as looking at an empty plate. My compliments to Mr Idan and his staff who prepared all the food and came out at one point to check on me and bring out the food.

If you get a chance to travel to that part of Brooklyn, definitely check...

UPDATE after owner's response:

Idan, your reply is even more insulting than the incident itself.

You’re still claiming I “left no tip” despite the fact that I have receipts clearly showing tip amounts ranging from $7 to $11 on each of my past visits. I’ll be attaching these receipts publicly so everyone can see the truth. The fact that your manager confronted me after seeing the tip amount appear on his screen proves his complete incompetence—or worse, intentional dishonesty. He knew I tipped, yet chose to humiliate me anyway.

Your excuse about "service not included" is not only condescending but also irrelevant. Tipping is never mandatory for small parties, and I had been tipping generously out of my own goodwill. Suggesting that guests “from Europe” don’t know how tipping works is another tone-deaf, patronizing remark that reflects the arrogance of your staff.

But here’s the real issue: if your workers’ entire livelihood depends on whether I personally tip them or not, you're admitting that Levantine pays its employees poverty wages. That’s not my fault. That’s YOUR exploitative business practice. Don’t guilt-trip your customers because you refuse to pay your staff a decent wage.

Instead of acknowledging your manager's mistake and apologizing sincerely, you chose to double down with this smug, dismissive response. You are not just being defensive—you are gaslighting a paying customer who went out of his way to support your business.

This is the last dollar you’ll ever see from me, and food is meaningless when it comes served with arrogance, lies, and disrespect.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

I’m beyond furious with my experience at Levantine today. I had discovered this place recently and actually liked the food, so much so that I’ve visited 3-4 times just this week, spending over $300-$400 in total. Every single time, I made sure to tip generously—almost $10 on each visit, even though I absolutely didn’t have to, as I was never part of a large party.

But today’s visit was utterly unacceptable and disgraceful. After adding a $10 tip through the Blackbird app (as I always do), the owner approached me with an outrageous tone, accusing me of not tipping. It was an utterly embarrassing and disrespectful confrontation. He didn’t even bother to check his own system properly before making these baseless accusations. His lack of competence and arrogance turned what was supposed to be a nice meal into a humiliating experience.

First of all, tipping is not mandatory, unless it’s a big party, which I wasn’t. I have been voluntarily tipping generously, supporting this local business, only to be talked down to and disrespected like I was trying to cheat them.

The way he talked to me—condescending, accusatory, and downright rude—was unacceptable. It completely ruined my evening. I had been planning to become a regular customer, but after this display of terrible attitude, they’ve lost me permanently.

I don’t tolerate false accusations, poor treatment, and unprofessional behavior—especially after being a paying and tipping customer. Levantine should seriously reconsider how they treat the people who support their business. You don’t accuse your loyal customers because of your own incompetence.

They lost a valuable, repeat customer today, and I hope others are wary of the arrogance and lack of professionalism here. Food alone doesn’t make a good restaurant—respect and decency toward...

I’ve been to this place before and specifically came back today because of the great experience that I had with the quality of the food and the service… to the point that I told my server at the time that I would be back.

But today, it was all different. I’m writing this because had I made someone feel the way that I felt dining here today, especially working in the food and beverage industry, I would want the proprietors of the business to know.

Initially was sat at this table that was at the meeting point of where the restaurant curves in and therefore being in the way of all the restaurant traffic. Not ideal, but since the restaurant was full, I understood. As tables cleared up, I asked if I could switch to the one of the tables from a 4-top (which is made of two 2-tops). I hadn’t gotten my food yet and told the server I would most likely be doing their 2-for-1 cocktails so I figured it was a safe bet to ask since I’m staying a little longer. "No sorry."

I understood. I get it. You want to make sure that you’re saving space for larger parties.

A 2-top walks in… they’re sat at the 4-top. Still somewhat understanding of it. Another 4-top clears up. Then a solo diner walks-in… the same guy that told me no, I couldn’t sit at the big table (after I’ve been hit and nudged along a good ten times by the servers, the delivery drivers and the other guests) tells the solo diner he could sit and take the big table. The two-top next to it is cleared up which he is then moved to. Then a single woman, says she has 2 people… gets sat at the 4-top.

So, clearly diners don’t have to completely fill the tables here. And I just wonder why then I was not allowed to take the 2-top that I had initially asked for? Why did these rules not apply to these people? Is it because they were white or is it something else… because that was the only difference that I could see plain as day.

Because as I told the server, I’m pretty sure, after overhearing the single guy’s order that I was already spending more money than he was at this establishment and had intended to do should this entire thing not have happened.

So, please tell me exactly, what prejudice applied here so that I can make sure not to allow it to show again so I can expect some decency in the service should I ever decide to come back to this place. Or at least, for the sake of others in my demographic, just take this uncomfortable table out of your dining room since it doesn’t seem like it’ll be a pleasant experience for anyone that sits there.

Oh and I’m pretty sure I was charged full price for my happy hour...