Seray — Restaurant in Vienna

I came here with my husband and couple friends on a Saturday night and got severe, severe food poisoning. We were so violently ill that we both had to take two sick days off work. We narrowed it down to the exact dish because the four of us shared all the dishes except the lamb shank, which my husband and I ordered. Our couple friend had a piece of our lamb, but not her husband (because he doesn't eat lamb). Our couple friend also got food poisoning on Sunday night and had to take Monday off. Luckily she was not as sick as my husband and I who ate the whole dish.

Besides taking two sick days and being the most violently ill I have ever experienced, the part that truly rubbed me the wrong way was when we called the restaurants afterwards as a courtesy call -- not to complain, but just to flag for health and safety concerns. We were respectful in our call, but the manager was extremely defensive and had the nerve to accuse us of "bringing our own germs and sharing it with each other by kissing or something." What?? Kissing with our couple friends?? To be crystal clear, it was basically a controlled experiment: we met our friends at that restaurant and got extremely sick after eating the lamb dish, and it was only the three people who ate the dish who got sick -- not the fourth person who avoided it. The manager said it was "impossible" that we could get food poisoning there because they had never received any complaints until now and the lamb shank was one of their most popular dishes. Sorry ma'am, food poisoning is food poisoning. We have warned all of our friends, family,...

was super excited to finally get a reservation to try this restaurant out but i gotta say i left disappointed. the decor is beautiful and the staff were nice but the food just didn’t impress me for the price point. for drink, we had the creamy rose which was unique and luckily the rose was not too strong. the fried kibbeh was crispy and tasted good but i wish it was served with the garlic whip instead of just sour cream. the beef shawarma hot appetizer was on the salty side. the beef was cooked in such a way that it also felt powdery in my mouth while chewing it with the occasional super tough pieces of beef. the mixed grill was good. all the meat on the plate was good flavor wise but i wish there was more rice generally. the meat to rice ratio was off and it was considerably pricey. finally, we had the lamb chops ordered to be cooked medium rare. long story short, the chops were cold, not medium rare, and the “house sauce” is incredibly acidic and didn’t compliment anything on the plate. we got it remade in which the chops were way better but still not medium rare. i had high expectations of this place from the social media posts and from others testimonies but i would definitely not return. the food just didn’t knock my socks off making it just alright. while i understand vienna prices would make the dishes pricier, this was just not worth the money. worth a try, but...

I’m Lebanese so I’ve been around Lebanese restaurants, both in Lebanon and the DMV area. I found Seray to be a very disappointing experience. Unrepresentative of Lebanese cuisine in every aspect: taste, generosity and ambiance.

The place is generically decorated, could’ve been a fancy McDonalds for all I know. We were 4 people. We ordered 9 plates. I was shocked by how small the portions were. We had to order 3 more plates and then 2 desserts for it to be good for all of us.

Food quality wise, some of the worst Lebanese I’ve had in the DMV. The rkakat jebneh are mozarella sticks. The batata harra is random fried potatoes with a sauce on the side. The makanek had literally 5 pieces in the plate and no pomegranate molasses (even though the waiter confirmed it had it when I asked). The fattoush looked like it was leftovers from another table’s order. And don’t even get me started on the halewit jebneh and knafeh. We each got exactly 1 bite, for 15$ the plate. And all of it, as unauthentic as it gets.

Cherry on top, the owner or manager came to ask for my opinion. I was like if I’m honest there’s work to be done on the quality. He brushed it off and blamed it on the ingredients and their availability in the US.

No one wants to support Lebanese businesses as much as I do, but this one feels like an expensive unethical American trap. Many better options...