Mobay New York (CLOSED)

A business this poor would not be able to survive any place outside of Harlem, because Harlem has so few good semi to upscal eateries. I've been here several times, but assuredly I'll never be back. Here I've received the worst service that I can remember receiving at a restaurant in recent memory, and I dine out very frequently. My party of three sat down on a weekend afternoon, the place was nearly empty. Our food took an hour and a half to arrive, one of us ordered a salad, I ordered two vegetarian sides, and the other diner ordered a mock meat. They waited an hour after we had ordered to tell us that the salad one of us had ordered was 86'ed. We would've gotten up and left, but we were so hungry by that point we stayed. To make matters worse, it appeared that our server was hiding out in the kitchen away from us, or at least doing his best to ignore us even though we asked where our food was several times. That is my biggest pet peeve...how can you compound the insult of making a diner wait for an hour and a half for their food by ignoring them nearly entirely? When the bill came, they told us that they were 'happy to take the salad off the bill'? Excuse me?! We waited an hour and half for our food, the only thing you'll take off the bill is the salad that my companion didn't even want to begin with? Ludicrous! I was able to speak with the manager however and had both the salad taken off and half of the rest of our meal comped. I usually avoid making a big stink in restaurants because I am very sympathetic with service industry workers but the service that day was so remarkably poor I would've been remiss to let it slide. I will never eat there again.

I have never ordered from this place and gave it a shot. A good one at that after spending 90 dollars on 3 different dishes between me and my friends. 3 Dishes = 90 dollars, we thought at the time of ordering the food must be worth it being so pricey, but no. The food is unappetitizing. I'm no cook yet I could be making a ham sandwich much more appealing. Fish and rice are subpar, Ribs are bland, Shrimp is small, Yams... I don't know how I'd do it, but they've figured a way to, so this is quite an accomplishment.

I usually come here with my husband because we love the food. However, the last time we were there a few months ago they started adding $10 to the bill for the live band from Thursday to Saturday. It used to be that they would go around collecting the donations. Don't get me wrong the music is good, can be a bit loud when you are trying to talk to the person across from you at the table but if the owner chooses to have a live band, why should $$$ be added to my bill. It's really not about being cheap, I just don't feel they should have made that decision.

At first glance Mobay seems inviting. The actual eating experience was not good. I had to wait 10 minutes to be seated during the middle of the week when the place was empty. It took the waiter another 10 minutes to bring me a beer. The live jazz band was good which is the ONLY thing that kept me there. I ordered Curry chicken with rice and peas, and sweet plantains. The peas were undercooked and hard, the rice tasted as if it was scraped from the bottom of the pot. The plantains were chewey, as if they were microwaved. The curry chicken was decent. Bottom line, you come here for the music and nothing else.

I have been to Mobay several times. The food is always excellent, but the service is hit or miss. The last time we went there we had to wait for ever for the waitress to take our order, then the food came out before the corn bread appetizer (which is excellent). We then had to flag down the waitress to get our check after waiting at least 10 minutes only to find she charged us a mandatory 18% gratuity. I tell people about this place all the time and take all of my out of town guests there, but it is disappointing when thing like this happen. I think the owners need to change the quality of their service.

The following review is not about deterring customers, for me it's more about giving the owners valuable feedback. Ok, after walking on the crowded streets of 125th street, Mobay was a nice cozy refuge. But the food was very ordinary and was over priced. I had Blackened Salmon, but it was just grilled with little to no seasoning. Since this was Really a Jamaican restaurant, I thought it was gonna be very spicy, instead blackened was just in color. If you're gonna charge $21 for a 3 inch piece of Salmon, at least bring it out pipping hot. The little cornbread appetizer was hotter than my food. And although the cornbread muffin was a nice free thing to offer, it was too sweet. I felt like I was eating desert before dinner. Also, I like a cozy low lit joint, but it should be reserved for clubs only. But when you're eating there, it conceals too much. Now I had to strain to see the menu because it was so dark, but I was able to clearly see that my napkin were dirty. I wonder what else I would have seen if the lights were brighter. Now, my server was very nice but I didn't get the impression that he ate the food there. Lastly, I love caribbean food but when I'm in the mood for some authentic roti or curry chicken, I don't go to a Soul Food Restaurant! Just stick to what you know!

i have been here a million times, and the food is great. but don't ever go there on a sunday. last time i was there for takeout, i waited 20 min before the bartender even put in my order and another whopping 45 min for my order to come. apparently sunday is their busiest day, but even when the restaurant was not close to capacity you had dozens of people being held hostage bc their checks/change werent being delivered. But if you have lots of time and arent really hungry when you get there, it's a safe bet. the staff, while they are really nice and polite, seem to have no clue what theyre doing. anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant will be completely shocked and amazed at just how bad at their jobs the staff really is. 20 min after i had ordered, i heard the bartender ask one of the waiters if they even had the menu item i had ordered. he said, "i think so" and that was that. 20 min later when i still hadnt gotten my food, she finally went back to check on it and came out 5 min later, missing an item. but when I got home, i hate to say it... but it was worth the wait... so good.