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All the negative reviews about service must be coming from waiters from other restaurants that dont want the competition. The waitstaff and bartenders at Marea were excellent. Between 6 of us, we sampled many dishes, all of which were fantastic. The portions are big and cooked properly. We all walked out with smiles from ear to ear. So, dont listen to the haters.

Did the tasting of six courses raw fish and six pasta. Runner up for the best meal I've ever had.

I expected a lot after reading the rave reviews and the food reached my expectations. The pacific snapper crudi was very good and fresh as was the lobster antipasto. However, I did not care for the sea urchin spaghetti and am not quite sure why others raved about it. On another note, the service was pretty bad. Nobody appeared at our table to even give us a menu until at least 10 to 15 minutes, which I think is unacceptable. All someone needed to do was hand us a menu. In addition, upon arrival at the restaurant, we felt very unwelcomed by the reception staff. There is more to be said about the lack of service, but in a nutshell, customer service is lacking here.

Michael White, chef partner has another winner. The atmosphere is modern, artsy, pure Milan. The sevice is inteklligent and attentive without being over the top and all over you. Tried several courses - each fresh well cooked and attractive. The pastas are over the top - the best I have had in NYC. Skate was a small portion but very well prepared. Desserts were only OK and we were told that the chef had recently left. Clear *** ( not ****) experience. Pricey but not crazy.

For the price and location I expected more. Not worth the time effort or money to travel to CPS. The meal was fine but nothing spectacular. Poor service. Had to ask for our waiter several times. Save your money.

My food expectations are very high at these prices. But at Marea it tasted very institutional. Crudo trio was well done but my pasta tasted warmed over. It was definitely not made to order. And at that price they should have added more than 3 shrimp. The service was abominable. We waited for 15 minutes for anyone to come to the table at the start. Once we ordered, the starters arrived at the same time as our oysters eventhough I had specifically asked to enjoy the oysters on their own with champagne. Very poor.

First the food: My rating scale ranges from poor to great, the expectation being that at a multiply-starred restaurant the food will range from very good to great. Unfortunately, there was only one even very good dish, my wife’s octopus. The worst was the amuse bouche, a squash soup that was undrinkable. My pasta, described as with baccala (salted cod) and fava beans, was just mediocre, essentially pasta with pureed fava beans and, literally, four one-eighth inch squares of fish that added no taste to the dish. My mushroom risotto was good and would have been very good had the parmesan added to the stock not overwhelmed the mushroom taste of the stock and created an unpleasant oiliness. My wife’s swordfish was just fair, nothing that we could not cook at home. One of the three breads was good; the butter was fair. As regards the poor attitude: 1) When we arrived at the restaurant I gave my last name to the maitre d’. When we were seated, I was called by my first name with the letter S added. 2) My wife ordered swordfish which also is accompanied by potato. She requested any vegetable as a substitute for the potato with the swordfish. The waitress replied, choose one of the “contorni,” which were vegetables, the only items on the menu that, aside from the listed sauces, are not priced. I assumed that this would be a substitution as requested, but knowing how some restaurants work, I mentioned this and was told that the contorni are extra, ranging from $9 to $12. My wife again repeated her request not for an extra dish but simply the substition of some vegetable for the potato. The request was escalated to the chef and the maitre d’ and was categorically refused. This is the first time in memory that such a simple request has been refused by a reputable restaurant. The potato turned out to be a simple cube of potato, nothing integral to the entree as one might have supposed from the chef’s adamant refusal to substitute. 3) When the waitress asked how we enjoyed our first courses, I replied that I did not like the pasta. Her response was not as one might expect, to be dismayed and ask what was wrong with it but rather to say, “but you ate it.” I have come to the 2500 character limit, but there were two other major discourtesies.