Barbounia

My boyfriend and I came here last night, excitedly, for his early birthday. We had heard of the restaurant and figured it must be good. Boy, were we mis-led. The place is so overhyped it is almost a joke. The only thing that was good the whole night was my mojito. His salad was drenched in dressing, His lamb and rice tasted like a cheap tv dinner, and my eggplant dish tasted like shampoo. The lemon dessert reminded me of something a kid would make for a bake sale. We came to test out the "restaurant week" menu, and let me tell you-if that is what they serve for restaurant week when they are trying to drum up more business....I'd hate to see what they serve on a regular basis.

The moussaka was not good. I've had better in a million other places. I ended up peeling the congealed layer of cheese of the top to make it edible. My friend's sole was good though. And the spreads were really great. Oh and our $40 bottle of wine was a screw top which was sort of surprising.

I have been 2 times and both times it was great. The service was great and the food even better. There is something for everyone on the menu. Great wine list. You must try the fried feta cheese! Bad for your diet but what a treat!

We enjoyed an early mother's day brunch there. They accomdated our big group and were courteous at all times. The food is delicious and their brunch selection is fun. We got a sampler of hummus, babganoush and spicy feta (at least get this one side dish) which was great. Everyone enjoyed their meals.

great brunch, really delicious. the atmosphere would be great if not for the other customers... totally obnoxious bitchy people. i went with a friend and we were very uncomfortable -- everyone kept staring at us and each other... looking you up and down and all that. also the service was not great.

The ambience, cute decor and deliciously comfortable seating really did outweigh the food. My biggest problem with this place was it never seemed to try very hard in terms of flavor, plating... anything else you'd expect from a relatively expensive establishment. My boyfriend ordered a $27 lambchop dish that was tiny, undercooked and with potatoes that tasted like the chef had boiled them, chopped them and that was it. I had a red snapper, which is supposed to be one of their best dishes, but it also lacked any kind of umph. It was resting on a heap of cooked veggies marginally flavored by some kind of broth. I got the feeling I could have cooked it myself, and trust me, I'm no chef. The plate of saganaki, which cost $12, came with four tiny slices of bread, and the cheese was surprisingly untasty. It was cheese! How do you suck the flavor out of cheese?? Karavas in the Village's saganaki was half the price, twice the size and ultimately, more delicious. Oh, and a bottle of Stella took 20 minutes to come. A bottle. The waitress said the bar was backed up, but jeez... is it that hard to pop a cap off? So yeah, Frank Bruni was somewhat right in his NYT review from a year ago... but for a high and mighty Times critic, he was waaaay too gentle on this place.

We just got back from Sunday brunch. The service was fine but food was subpar. A burger ordered medium rare came charred on the outside and absolutely raw in the middle. A chicken sandwich was burned so badly it was black. They didn't have pizzettes (pretty much the reason we came in the first place) or Steak and eggs.