Max Soha — Restaurant in New York

My partner and I went here for lunch today. At the end of our meal, we were stared at by the female waitress whom we had while paying. She proceeded to throw my card on the table after seeing we weren't tipping more than 15%. It was unprofessional and made everyone involved uncomfortable.

There were zero to little service interactions, so what did she expect? She didn't offer us water when we sat down. We asked and poured our own water after waiting a while. She didn't bring out our food. Someone else did. Heck, we don't even know her name 'cause there was no introduction! If there was barely any service, why would we tip more?

It was also just plain rude to stare while a customer is paying, not sure if it's an NYC thing because I haven't seen it in Cali or elsewhere. Anyways, we won't be pressured in forking over more than what's fair just 'cause we're getting stared at. It only incentivizes us to tip less next time 'cause tipping is not an obligation, and it's really been getting out of control in our country.

Just a shame since the food was pretty good, but we probably won't dine...

Ordered the Rigatoni Siciliana (eggplant, mozzarella, tomato sauce & basil). The pasta was cooked al dente and the tomato sauce is spiced well and is very good. I would've loved a better eggplant ratio-to-past in this dish as I was expecting but what eggplant there was, at least was good and not mushy. My wife had the Chicken Marsala which was much better than mine. The sauce makes that dish! Other's at our table had the Chicken Parmigiana which I sampled and it also, was delicious and the rigatoni with meat sauce was very good. Their meat sauce is fresh with plenty of meat, crushed tomatoes, and well spiced. We started our meal with the Caprese and Bruschetta al Pompodoro and both appetizers were very good. The house wine tonight was a California cabernet that was well priced and went well with our meal. They only accept cash here so that's one thing to consider when visiting. It makes the visit a little...

Had a reasonably good meal at Max Soha. What really stood out was the coffee ($2), which was strong and good tasting, and the diced eggplant in tomato sauce and basil ($6.95). That was a scrumptious dish. It went well with the nicely toasted bread that came with it. The grilled mixed vegetables ($9.95) were OK. A bit thin and not much to munch on. They were in a good tasting oil. That dish was not worth the money. My dining companion had the spinach pappardelle con funghi ($13.95) (crimini mushrooms & truffle-cream sauce) that he said was OK and at moments good. The bread that came with the meal was good. It came with a salsa. I was disappointed in the salad offerings which for $11.95 didn’t offer much. I would have liked to have ordered a dinner sized salad, but they had maybe 3 ingredients.

Nice setting. Attentive staff. Has a...