Ayat Princeton — Restaurant in Princeton

I have eaten in Ayat Brooklyn and took some out of state tourists to have lunch here with high hopes and it was a total letdown in all aspects.

Food - we ordered a number of dishes from rolls to platters. I liked Mansaf a lot in the other Ayat but didn't order here although the lamb kebabs were so overcooked and so hard to chew. I probably could have done it myself at home better. DO NOT get the lamb kebab. The chicken kebabs were better for sure. One of us also ordered the falafel which was average too and I can bet it would taste better at Mamoun's falafel right across the street as I have had the same dishes there as well and we would have ended up paying half the price there too. We dined in on Sunday afternoon so I can't even say the main chef/cook was off and someone else cooked everything for us. The Ayat in NYC and Princeton are 2 extremes.

Service - sometimes when food isn't great, I have felt better when the service is good. When the waiter comes and checks in on if we like the food, if we need anything, etc but the service was TERRIBLE. Absolutely pathetic for a middle eastern dine in place. It took 30 mins for the food to come and while that might the norm we couldn't get any waiter to even make an eye contact. They were all busy chatting by the kitchen and didn't give a damn unless someone came through the door. After the food came in, they didn't bother to check in if we wanted anything else, etc. Well this is fine again but WHY are you adding the automatic 20% gratuity??? What is that for when you do literally NO service except bringing the meals over when it was ready?

Atmosphere - Now the seating is good, decor is good but there were mosquitoes flying all over us and our table. This is a huge problem for you as well as when you have food on the table. I wish they did something about it. I can't imagine it was the first day they had mosquitoes in.

Overall I'm sorry to say this is an absolute NO GO. especially when there are tons of places to eat in that square. There are too many options for you to go here pay $$$ for average food and service. I was more pissed with their service than the food because I am sure there are some dishes (like Mansaf) which might be good and the rice and salad in the platter was good...but I'm not dining in again and paying a tip for a service which is non existent. If you still want to eat, just do a...

First of all, the food was great. Great hummus with very high tahini content, great kebabs. Unfortunately we had to eat the food to go because the young waiter at lunch was on a mental break and had to be reminded 20 minutes after we ordered that we were still sitting there and had not even got our drinks. He had never submitted the order. The telltale sign was the table seated 10min after us getting their food before we even got a second look. The same waiter who took our order of hummus and kebabs literally walked right by us and gave them their hummus without a thought. I had to get up and track him down before he sort of woke up and acknowledged we were seated patrons of the restaurant. I am sure he was embarassed, and we were still uber polite, but it took literally another 10min for him to get us our 2 cans of seltzer we had ordered 20min prior. By the time the food came I am embarrassed to say I sort of lost it. We asked for the food to go and the waiter didnt change his expression at all. I couldn't help myself and asked him if he felt bad at all or sorry. He was 95% defensive and 5% sorry. Not sure what came over me, but I had to ask. He was young and I am older and bigger and more imposing, but I didn't raise my voice or stand up however I did feel like I may have been too much. I made eye contact with another waiter that seemed older or may have been a supervisor who could tell we were not happy. He apologized and said there was another large party that had distracted the waiter, however it was too little too late. Our young waiter brought the check, no discount, no apology. We eat out almost every day and for the first time I can ever remember I left no tip. I felt guilty about it, but I really felt I had no option. I would have received better service from a vending machine. On the way out the older waiter gave us a container of free baklava. It was a nice gesture. Also for context there were only 3 other tables seated that day during lunch and 2 waiters on duty. We are also big supporters of the Palestinian people so were loving the idea of supporting a local Palestinian restaurant. I contemplated not writing this review so as to not hurt the business, however I am deciding that it is better for the ownership to know my experience and decide if they want to address the...

We dined here from 4:30 to 6:30, and unfortunately, the experience left much to be desired.

The biggest issue was the wait time. We ordered two appetizers—a cold mixed platter with hummus and a hot dish of minced meat kibbeh. Even these took longer than expected to arrive.

For our mains, we opted for traditional dishes instead of the more common fast-food-style options like shawarmas or kebabs. We ordered the Lamb Mansaf, which was a major disappointment—it was cold to the bone. While the lamb itself had clearly been slow-cooked beforehand, the reheating process was so off that the dish was lukewarm on the surface but fridge-cold inside. Absolutely not acceptable for a dish that should be served hot.

We also tried two traditional chicken dishes: Maklouba and Fattat Jaj. These were served at the proper temperature, and you could tell they were freshly prepared. However, the maklouba’s chicken breast was quite dry. While the flavors were decent, by the time our mains finally arrived (over an hour after ordering), we were already too full from the appetizers to fully enjoy them. The chef really needs to work on the timing of different meats so that all dishes come out together and at the right temperature.

Service was another weak point. The staff was not very attentive to our needs—we had to repeatedly ask for service spoons and clean plates, and despite multiple requests, my child was never given a plate. The service barely earns a 5/10.

Speaking of dining with a toddler, waiting over an hour for food is just not feasible. My child was getting impatient and hungry, which made the experience frustrating.

Overall, the food itself was around a 7/10, but due to the poor service and long wait times, we would only consider coming back for appetizers or simpler dishes the kitchen can handle efficiently. A word of advice to the restaurant—don’t put traditional dishes on the menu if the kitchen can’t execute...