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| - To put it succinctly, the service at Mijana bordered on the comically absurd.
Before weaving this narrative, I will disclaim that it blows my mind that after years of being in business (and countless reviews attesting to the sub-par service) that there has been little to no improvement in that department.
Our party arrived for "International Night" at 7p on a Sunday night. (The second Sunday of each month this restaurant hosts a few performers/acts from varying parts of the world. Tonight we got to enjoy Brazilian Samba, Egyptian Bellydance, and Spanish Flamenco. The entertainment was wonderful!
Upon our arrival, the restaurant was less than half empty. I noticed three servers and the manager/owner in attendance. As we were seated we immediately asked for a high chair for our toddler. That high chair arrived about an hour and a half later. It probably took 15 minutes before we received menus. No drink orders were taken, no waters brought to the table (They arrived about a half hour later).
We had been seated for about twenty minutes before I flagged down a server and asked if we could order. Her reply was, "she has not come, yet?" and took off to find our server. When our gal arrived, there were no apologies or explanations. We pre-empted our order with the disclaimer that we were all very hungry and wanted to order right away. So our orders were finally placed after we had been at the restaurant for nearly thirty minutes. The beer I ordered never arrived, but I had to get up and let the server know once my third appetizer plate came to the table. No apologies.
I ordered seven hot appetizers. The first three arrived about thirty minutes after they were ordered. The Quail, Fatayer, and Foul Moudamas.
Quail (sautéed over hummus): Perfect portion for one person, absolutely flavorful and delicious. Crisp and spicy/sweet on the outside, juicy and flavorful on the inside.
Fatayer (four spinach pies with onions, sumac, and line nuts): Nothing to rave about, basically a lackluster version of Spanakopita without the feta.
Foul Moudamas (fava beans cooked with garlic and lemon juice, topped fresh diced tomatoes, cilantro with drizzle of olive oil): Loved this, fresh and packed with flavor.
I had to get up and get more bread for our dips, as server was nowhere to be seen. I had to constantly clear the table of plates as no one came to the table to do so. At one point, about an hour and fifteen minutes after we arrived, the owner came to the table to ask how the food was (the music was so loud I was virtually screaming at him and I barely heard him). I handed him a stack of plates that I was just clearing from the table and mentioned how the food tasted great, but we were all still hungry...hint hint.
The server never came to follow up on our food, to ask if we wanted refills, or just to see how everyone was doing. Around 8:30p, one hour after our orders were placed, I had to once again get up and find the server to ask about the remaining dishes I ordered. At that time she informed me that they were out of two of the appetizers I ordered. No Sambusek, no Makanek. No apologies. Fine, but the appropriate thing to do would have been to come to the table and inform us about this, and offer something else instead. Long story short, she mentioned that my Chicken Shawarma Hummus was on its way, more than an hour after I ordered it. The final appetizer I ordered, would arrive an hour and fifteen minutes after order was placed.
Hummus Shawarma (chicken over hummus with pine nuts) My favorite dish of the night, tasted exactly like Pita Jungle's version (Just costs more). The chicken was outstanding. Soft, succulent, and savory.
Garlic shrimp (sautéed shrimp in garlic cilantro) Second favorite dish. Generous portion of gorgeously plump prawns, well seasoned and very flavorsome.
We snickered collectively when the hostess of the evening announced that the entertainment was coming to a close, and that there would be Samba lessons. I quote, "I hope that your food has settled so you can enjoy some dancing lessons." Everyone's entrees literally arrived an hour after we had come to the restaurant, right when the hostess opened up the dance floor for some lessons.
The music was so loud that I had to stuff mine and baby's ears with tissue - we were literally yelling in each other's ears so we could hear one another. Our sweet baby had an amazing time, though! She loved the music and the dancers and was captivated the entire time. We were so lucky to have the entertainment to keep our minds off our growling (roaring) bellies.
Our bill arrived close to 9p, after I once again made the journey to find our server and request the bill. No thank you's, no smiles, no apologies from her.
However, I would love to return for future International nights. I will likely sit at the bar with no expectations of food or service - maybe a cocktail and some shisha.
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