Mēdüzā Mediterrania New York — Restaurant in New York

Not the greatest experience. Careful who you treat and how you treat them. I work for one of the most popular hospitality groups in Manhattan right now and don’t like using that flex often so that I can have an unbiased dining experience from reservation to exit.

Day of ressie was a massive rainstorm, enough so highways in and out of Manhattan were literally flooded causing traffic buildup and delays from highways to subways. Ressie was for 5pm, 6 people.

Keep in mind restaurant and bar—- TOTALLY empty.

Roughly about 5:48pm hostess informs that we’ve already lost an hour out of our 2 hour dining experience and suggested to seat whoever WAS present but we needed to be a HARD out by 7pm or opt for bar seating and order there. This was a birthday dinner- so NO I’m not sitting at the bar to celebrate a birthday like a bunch of hobos. Not happening.

We sit, waiting tends to us right away, we place drink orders immediately. We saw our drinks more than 30 minutes later, AFTER our dinner hit the table (more on that below). Remember.. bar and restaurant completely empty.

10 min later we’re ready to order apps. Waited stops us and attempts to advise us to order entire meal at once. So we do.

Blue Fin Caviar, Oysters on Half Shell for apps.

Ok fine I paid for the caviar on the tartare, BUT tuna portion was so skimpy. Could’ve added another ounce of meat. Literally not to mention, it needed salt. Lacked flavor. The ponzu they pour tableside great idea but did nothing for the dish. Didn’t provide any flavor whatsoever. Super bland. Overpriced, under portioned.

Oysters… laughable. Again expensive. The oysters we got were the size of a literal booger (not to be graphically gross). Where was the rest of the meat? After what I’d seen in photos through platforms and social media I expected a much larger shell and oyster than the size of my nasal booger. Common. Where was my mignonette? Horseradish? Hot sauce? Cocktail sauce? Anything? Again lacked flavor and got a mouth full of broken shells instead. Even the lemon lacked flavor but even the wedge was so short barely any juice came out. They cheapened out on the lemon wedge 😂😂

Dinner- 2 orders full size branzino, skirt steak and eggplant rollatini with roasted market vegetables, charred broccoli and potatoes.

By the way drinks arrived AFTER we started eating entrees.

Branzino- lacked in appearance. Overpriced and under seasoned according to my friends. Said they found other high end “med” restaurants in nyc to provide more flavor for literally HALF the price. They’re not wrong.

Skirt steak. Menu said 8oz portion but that seemed like 5oz and arrived sliced, no bone and ramekin filled with sauce for $60+. Where’s the starch? Veg? Literally came with nothing. Again under portioned, overpriced. Flavor was good but sauce was way too intense. Flavor of the steak got lost which was disappointing. Again famous steakhouses serve prime cuts of aged beef with more composed plate and portion and half the price. You’re not a steakhouse. Do more. Add more. Try a lighter sauce. Chimichurri or red wine reduction maybe.

My friend enjoyed the eggplant in particular the crispy Parmesan around the edges of the plate.

Roasted market veg… laughable. 2 thin sticks of roasted zucchini not even a FULL zucchini vegetable $12. 😂😂😂. Whole Foods sells for $0.98 just saying. Very flavorful but wow oh wow. Talk about cheapskates. Come on. Splurge. For that $12 price point you can afford to give 1 full whole zucchini.

Broccoli- same thing 2 florets and the MOST disappointing part of it… broccoli was undercooked. Needed to be roasted longer.

Potatoes were delicious.

Dessert- waiter gives us list of 4 items I say give us 1 of each with a candle. Olive oil cake was dry and chocolate cake did nothing and I’m a chocolate fanatic. Check drops with it at 6:46- exactly 1 hour after we sat and before 7pm— restaurant and bar STILL empty. That pissed me off. That could’ve been way more accommodating and not rush us. If restaurant was full, fine I’d understand. Never saw a...

I’ve been dying to come to this place. And, I must say it is absolutely beautiful. The only thing negative that I just have to say is when it comes to the food, it was. MID… now I have over 15 years of experience working in restaurants, especially high-end restaurants. So, trust me, my attention to detail, and quality of food and taste matters the very most to me. I was running a few minutes late, contacted the restaurant, and the staff was absolutely amazing when it came to giving us the grace period time and seating my friend who had already arrived there. She sat at the bar, ordered a drink that she wasn’t too fond of, I think it was the lychee rose. to me, I thought it was a good drink, so that’s on her. Now when it comes to the ambience, the decor… Absolutely give it (5) stars. The vibe feels like a mixture of Tulum in Mexico, and a California feel. they also have a violinist, that played exceptionally beautiful when it came to the music. I love live music, so I was already sold. Our waiter, Don was very attentive, recommended a lot of good dishes for us to try since it was my first time there. I had asked a lot of questions, I also loved the fact that he had an allergy because that’s a very good thing to know. For drinks, I started off with the fig and honey, which for me, I’m an old-fashioned type of girly, so it was similar to the old-fashioned, came out of a beautiful display of a smoky glass box that I thought was amazing. The taste of the drink was buttery as it stated in the menu, and very good. Now let’s get down to the food for appetizers. We ordered the chicken meatballs, and the prawns. The chicken meatballs for me was not that flavorful, could’ve been seasoned a little bit better, I could cook this. The prawns was absolutely delicious, fresh, with a little kick to it. And since I love spicy food that didn’t matter to me. When it came to our entrées… My friend she ordered the Bronzino, and I ordered the Lobster Arribiata … the Bronzino was cooked to perfection. I should’ve ordered that. Crispy flaky skin, seasoned with salt and pepper and butter… I could tell the flavors on Bronzino was cooked exceptionally well. The temperature of the fish was medium, which is a perfect temperature for fish. As for my lobster pasta, I could’ve cooked this, it wasn’t that flavorful… The pasta had no flavor taste like a box pasta, and coming from a person who loves Italian food… Also working in Italian restaurant… I can tell you straight hand it probably was. The lobster was fresh tender, and that’s it, that’s all I can give you about the dish. It was not meeting my expectations. Again… I love Italian food so much. I know good pasta. Especially from scratch. I ordered another drink which I enjoyed, which was the party in Santorini (I think that was the drink, I don’t think I took a picture of it because I was in such a heavy conversation catching up with my friend… That it slipped my mind. That drink was actually very refreshing, and I enjoyed it a lot. as for birthday, we picked the berry buttered cake. Now I love a butter cake, especially from Mastros, this butter cake was not as buttery to be honest. On top of that we had to pay for the birthday cake. Normally majority of restaurants they usually comp a dessert for a birthday, so it’s not that big of a deal, but if someone celebrating their birthday, wouldn’t you like to just give them some thing free for dessert? IDK?!?! you’re going to spend a lot of money here… I spent almost $400. The plates are small. And maybe that’s another complaint that I could talk about especially with my chicken meatballs. They only gave us (4) chicken meatballs. You would think you deserve a little bit more than that for the price. Like I said… I probably wouldn’t go back for food, but I would definitely go back for drinks. Maybe I’ll try their other appetizers. But, the place to me was nothing to brag about. The decor is absolutely amazing though. They have a live DJ playing in a separate room which I thought was cool. I hope this...

If you're a person of color, especially Black, I strongly advise you to reconsider dining at this establishment. Last week, my friends and I went to celebrate a birthday, and what should have been a joyous occasion quickly turned into an experience that left us feeling unwelcome, disrespected, and targeted. Here are the two major concerns of the night (Also notice how a lot of the poor Google reviews are from Black ppl*) :

Confusing $200 Per Person Charge Upon arriving, we were informed that the table wasn’t ready and asked to wait for our full party. Once everyone arrived, we were seated, but a few minutes later, one of our friends joined, making our party seven instead of six. Before she could even take off her coat, a waiter rushed over and informed us that if we were adding another person, we would have to pay a $200 charge per person. Given that the menu prices ranged from $45 to $60 per person, this $200 charge was completely out of the blue and felt unreasonable. Interestingly, the original reservation had been made for seven people, and at no point had we been informed of this bizarre charge. No mention of this policy was found on the website either, which only added to the confusion. The entire situation caused frustration and confusion, and the atmosphere immediately shifted from celebratory to uncomfortable.

Disrespectful Handling of Our Belongings When we arrived, one of the waitstaff asked to take our coats. After I chased her down to hand mine to her, she took it without comment. At the time, I thought it was strange but didn’t think much of it. However, after we finished our meal and were preparing to leave, I noticed the same staff member standing nearby, clearly waiting for us to leave. When everyone else stood with their coats by the door, she didn’t approach us, so I walked over to ask for my coat back. What I received was shocking: my coat was handed to me in a literal ball. Not only was this unprofessional, but it also felt deeply disrespectful. There’s no way she would have treated my belongings this way if I weren’t Black.

The Turning Point When my friend realized that we would be charged $200 per person if she stayed, she gathered her things and considered leaving. However, I decided to go to the greeter’s desk to talk it through. At that moment, the other manager—who was Black—noticed the situation and kindly assured us that we didn’t need to worry about the charge and that we should just enjoy our meal. This was a refreshing moment of kindness, and he was the only person who made us feel truly welcome. After witnessing the unfair treatment, he even graciously brought us shots on the house, which was a lovely gesture. However, it only highlighted the contrast between his hospitality and the treatment we had received from others in the restaurant. His act of kindness was a stark reminder of the targeted mistreatment we had endured.

The Bottom Line The way we were treated at this restaurant was nothing short of disheartening. Apart form the two mishaps discussed above, the staff and managers were glaring at us the entire time and it just felt like we had to beg for any form of pleasantry. From the random enforcement of the $200 per person charge to the dismissive attitude toward our belongings, it felt as though we were being forced out. The kind intervention of the Black manager was the only moment where we felt any genuine warmth or hospitality, but it shouldn’t have to come to that. I can’t help but feel that our race played a significant role in the way we were treated. If you are a Black person looking for a welcoming environment, I would strongly suggest skipping this restaurant. If you want a pleasant dining experience free from discrimination, this is not the...