Miss Ada — Restaurant in New York

I have been to Miss Ada's many times and have loved it whenever I'm there however last night was disappointing. Last night I was on a date with my partner and our waiter (tall, short hair, with undercut) was very harsh and abrasive as soon as we got there. Before she took our order she was hounding us about only needing an hour to eat. We completely understand that there is a time limit when dining there, however it was the way she was delivering these pieces of information to us that killed the mood of what was supposed to be a celebratory dinner. Also 90 minutes is very different from an hour and if the restaurant is overbooked with too many reservations how is that the customer's fault? I asked her what wine she recommended and she couldn't give me a straight answer, just made me feel dense for not already knowing the wine list like the back of my hand. She took almost twenty minutes to bring us our drinks and before we could begin to enjoy the night she was already rushing us to order our food, eat, and get out the door. Admittedly we could have been choosing what we wanted to eat during those 20 minutes it took for our drinks to come out however, I've been to Miss Ada's so many times before and they've always been nice about wanting to add more items to our order if we still haven't decided or wanted to try some more food. We put in an order for two small plates and an appetizer and asked if we could start with that before deciding on the entrees. (Again having dined here so many times in the past we didn't think this would be an issue). Our waitress basically said no and that what we order is what we're going to get. So we hastily chose two other menu items that we honestly weren't thinking about ordering to begin with, but we felt pressured and ordered them anyway. After holding our tongues my partner decides to say something to the hostess (blonde curly hair). To which we didn't get the best response either. My partner told her that as someone who works in the food service industry and has many family members who work in the food service industry that they respect the policy of the restaurant, and understand the necessity to uphold restaurant policy however, the way our waitress was relaying the information and making us feel like our date was basically over as soon as we sat down was very off putting. The hostess definitely didn't show any sign of concern and met us with "well she's just doing her job" and it's basically not her problem. After we had voiced our concern we definitely noticed a change in how we were being treated. Had to ask multiple times about certain items coming out and what not. Definitely didn't feel very celebratory after that. Just rushed and stuffed with food.

TL;DR - Our waitress was very rude, we told the hostess, she didn't care. We ate, we paid, we left as fast...

wow, i cannot speak highly enough about this place. i feel like i hear a lot more about theodora than i do miss ada but i personally think miss ada was better on all fronts. for food we ordered the whipped ricotta, salmon belly skewer, kofta kabab, octopus, branzino, chocolate babka and the kanafeh. all the savory food was executed to perfection! the whipped ricotta was better than theodora’s in my opinion, i think not being on top of bread allowed the dip itself to shine through and i felt i could taste the ricotta more here. the pita they use is also insane, so soft and pillowy and has a sweet undertone (similar to pancake batter?). both skewers were amazing and i still cannot choose a favorite but i think it might be the salmon belly. the kofta was on top of labneh and another spicier dip. i think the sauces paired so perfectly with the meat and there were so many flavors coming through. the salmon belly was also sat on top of labneh. the salmon itself was so rich, soft and almost buttery because it was a fattier piece. the cook was perfect it was not dry whatsoever. as for the octopus i am not always the biggest fan of octopus because it can be chewy but this was amazing! the octopus is lightly fried so it’s super crunchy and it is sitting on top of a eggplant puree which was very fresh. i don’t think it was my favorite thing of the night but it was such high quality. for the last bit of savory food we had the branzino which is a whole branzino. if comes with some greens which were actually very good. greens are not normally talked about much but they were very good and had nice citrus to them. the fish itself had a really good sauce son top which gave it a nice saltiness. i personally could have used more salt on the fish itself but i think that was a personal thing. the branzino was my least favorite savory item but i think that’s because it seemed simple in comparison to everything else. as for desserts i think this is where they fall a bit, neither really did it for us. the chocolate babka was ok but had a stale aftertaste. the salted caramel gelato it came with was great but the babka wasn’t anything special. the kanafeh was not for us at all. it had almost like a lavender broth at the bottom which was odd to us. the gelato that came with it was good but the kanafeh itself did not taste good. the goat cheese was bitter and did not feel to work. as for service and atmosphere both were great. our server was very attentive and gave great recommendations. we definitely felt like we were less rushed here than at theodora and our server was much friendlier. the atmosphere feels a lot less pretentious and we were much more comfortable here. overall i think i would recommend and return to miss ada over theodora. it is now one of my favorite...

Miss Ada is a Mediterranean restaurant from the same team behind the popular new bakery Thea and sister restaurant Theodora in the same Fort Green neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. The service was incredible, the team was super nice and attentive. The restaurant itself was vibing with a great crowd and ambience that got us excited to try the entire menu. The food really stood out with each dish bringing unique flavors that worked incredibly well together (Rec. Combo: Whipped Ricotta and Short Rib on Pita). The dessert was a standout highlight of the meal and we highly recommend ordering the Babka w/ Caramel Ice Cream.

Rank: 8.2/10

Short Rib Hummus 8/10 Incredible meat flavors coming out of the hummus in great combination with pickled onions and pickles. However there were moments where it was too spicy or that the short rib got lost in the sauce and you were missing it

Short Rib Skewer 10/10 We ordered this after we got the hummus. We needed more and this delivered. Melt in your mouth flavors that paired perfectly with the acidity of the pickles and onions. The sliced jalapeño added a nice touch for the spice lovers

Whipped Ricotta 9/10 As opposed to most restaurants in the city this Ricotta does not come on toast but I love that it didn't. You can mix and match it with Pita or any of the other skewers or meats which is exactly what we were looking for. The sweet brown butter honey and sage dressing worked well with everything

Kofta Skewer 7/10 The first bite of the Lamb Kofta with the labne was divine. However the Harissa overpowered it very quickly. When paired with the Ricotta there was a nice sweet and spicy balance that worked really well

Falafel 9/10 3 balls might not impress on value however the flavor justifies it completely. Perfectly crispy and hit the spot. Takes 2 bites to finish each one so don't fret you can mix and match it with the hummus, ricotta, and any other sides. Although the green tahini is comes with is also well worth it

Chicken Thigh Skewer 10/10 Juicy, smoky, and incredibly spiced. Harissa here was not overpowering at all. The spice from the harrisa and bitterness from the tahini paired with the chicken for the perfect juicy bite

Halloumi Skewer 10/10 Not many places ever get Halloumi right but Miss Ada was the best I ever had. Had a crisp bite of sweet from the sauce and tangy from the cheese that made you want more. There was a slight smokiness which we loved. Highly recommend ordering this

Babka w/ Caramel Ice Cream 10/10 Hot Babka with high quality chocolate paired with a sweet cold ice cream. Not much to say here. Gives what you always want from a lava cake but never get. The babka...