Cleopatra's Needle

Wish I had read the previous reviews.. I agree. Overpriced with boring and bland food.. ordered coffee and waited 15 minutes for it to arrive.

I moved around the corner about 6 months ago and was curious to try it, so I went in with my visiting mum and a friend of hers this evening. When the time came to order, I made sure to specify I wanted the moussaka with meat. After the server brought our food and we started digging in, I quickly realized that the horribly over-cooked piece on my plate was the vegetarian version of it (with mushrooms and cabbage, which are not in the meat version, and no meat). I decided to stick with it, but I called our server to let him know of the situation and to ask him to charge me for the vegetarian moussaka only (about $3 cheaper). Once I had finished my plate, he came back and told me that the chef had stated that today the meat moussaka had mushrooms in it and that the meat was under, which was complete bull. I can tell when I eat meat or not, and there was not a speck of it in the piece I got. The rest of our meal was mediocre (chicken marsala was completely dry, the vegetables were straight from the freezer as was the cheesecake, which was as compact as a brick. And since when does béchamel sauce have tomato in it?!). They still charged me for the meat moussaka, at which point I just paid for it and barely left a tip. Looking around, we eventually realized that there were way many more people drinking at the bar than eating at the tables, and now we know why. The jazz was OK, but that's beside the point. The food was a total disaster, the service non-existent and the attitude when confronted with their mistake despicable. There are enough very good restaurants on the UWS to be able to say to Cleopatra's Needle: Never again.

too expensive and the music while good is incredibly annoying after a short while

This place has a good atmosphere and is a great place to go for a drink, some good jazz and a midnight snack. But don't count on the food to be good. Go to dinner someplace else - then try Cleo's for an after dinner drink and jazz.

went to cleopatra tonight with a friend - I ordered the grape leaves - inedible - so I got a basket of fries. My firend had the chicken tenders- couldnt even get our teeth into those - the drinks were straight up 99cent vodka. As we were still hungry tried the baklava - it was frozen - when the wiatress tried to explain that we're probably not used to baklava - I had to explain to her that i was actually middle eastern - I jsut never had baklava made out of peanuts!

OK food, the only reason to go there is live music, but I wouldnt travel any distance to this place for their jazz. Service, especially the bartenders, was really really bad the three times Ive visited. Stuck it out tho' to hear the trio on stage.

The food was only mediocre, there was nothing exceptional about it. The drummer seemed more concerned about flirting with the girls in the audience and showing off than he was with his music. The real redeeming quality, however, was the atmosphere. With candle lighting, we were both at home. The server was forgetful and slightly neglectful. They might try using fresh vegetables in their vegetable medley next time instead of frozen.