The Mediterranean Review

The food is amazing!
I've been several times with large groups and service is great, food is the real winner here though.

Baked Egg was delicious! Muhammar dip, Hummus with mushrooms, and just-from-the-oven pita bread were a good starter. Baked Eggplant with ground beef was OK. Salmon steak was a bit of a disappointment. The service was excellent.

Good service and food. Nice rate of food coming out as we did tapas. Expensive fot the quantity of food u get..u probably need at least 2 dishes a person.

TOO LOUD!!! Completely destroyed our family experience together. Needs some sort of sound baffling before I go back. If you don't mind a sore throat from yelling or ringing ears the next day, the food is actually on point!! But the noise level is despicable.

Placed an order for 5 items. Order had 3 items, and 2 substitutions that I did not request and cant eat. Called restaurant, told "We don't actually work with Uber Eats." Explained they are listed on Uber Eats, and I ordered from the menu listed. Was told "Yeah, that menu isnt correct." No one offered to credit me or send me items I would like. Just some cheery "Yeah, that isnt our fault" from Meghan. Thanks Meg, appreciate paying for food I dont want.

Their hummus is incredible. Also try the fennel salad. But you really can't go wrong here.

Oh my. The drinks. The food. All if it, I'm in wow. From the falafel to the lamb chops to the orzo to the wine, so delicious and great. I want to go back here!!

This is a place you will remember. The food is excellent and there is a decent wait if you come later on a busy day, but stay. You won't regret it. Most the if the food is for sharing so indulge and try something new. As a retired chef of 15 years, I was on cloud 9. All the flavors mending together perfectly. There's so much good food in PDX and put this one near the top of the list.

When I leave my child with a babysitter to go out for a date night with husband, this is what I am hoping for, EVERYTIME. I am so glad I chose this for our 10th anniversary dinner. I was bummed that we didn't have a reservation and was not looking forward to wasting our precious time just waiting for a table. To my surprise, we were seated right away and on a saturday night! Granted that it was bar-side seating, which I generally always decline, but this actually was very comfortable and provided for easy cuddling ;)

We ordered shalosh, broccolini, chicken kebab souvlaki and the Israeli meatballs. Everything tasted heavenly, except broccolini which I wasn't in love with (although I could see what they were going for). Their menu had a lot of similarities to Toro Bravo, their sister restaurant, but MEC was clearly the winner for me. The service was great, the ambience was spot on... oh yeah, and their moroccan mint iced tea was so refreshing! Can't wait to come back with a bigger group to try more delicious goodness. See you soon!

Great food. Inventive small plates, explosive flavors from intense Mediterranean spice blends. Decent drinks and wine selection. Only thing I was missing was a madiera option to pair with dessert. Kind of splitting hairs though... Octopus was cooked to perfection, nothing was overly heavy, high grade olive oil added the perfect finishing note to a couple dishes as well. A great busy atmosphere too. Highly recommend.

Sat at the bar, excellent service despite being packed. Food is amazingly good, and $3 Peronis on happy hour are an excellent accompaniment.

Absolutely amazing. I would go back again and again if I lived in Portland. I appreciated that they not only focused on their main dishes, but also their desserts. Our dessert was perhaps the best I ever had. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

A preferred spot for quality Mediterranean food. Filled me up. Had a friend come into town and asked me to take him here again. Food is similar to a place in San Francisco I liked.

Good food. Wouldn't call it the best Mediterranean food, but it was tasty. Portion sizes are very variable, so ask your server for advice. Single glass wine selection could be better and it would be nice if the offered a 1/2 bottle selection.

Food is good and wine list is better than usual here in Portland. They have wines from all over the world and some countries where you wouldn't find the wine any other way. Its an open area but it gets pretty packed and you will usually end up waiting for a table if you get there later in the evening

Couldn t reserve ahead of time since calls were going to voicemail. Had a 45 min wait time on Friday evening (not too bad, multiple bars near by). MEC is a perfect place for a date night mainly because of the awesome food. Ambience is great, but the place itself is a bit tight, so can get loud at times. Our food tasted great, we got four dishes for two people and we were super full. To me Greek potatoes and broccolini were the star of the night. Desert was ok, nothing too special.

Great shared dishes , good service. Downtown Portland location in Pearl District.

Happy pleasant environment and delicious Lebanese food.

Delicious. Great atmosphere, great service. Neighborhood gem

My favorite restaurant in Portland. Often very crowded with locals. Tapas-like selection of smaller plates with Mediterranean focus. Selections are tasty with interesting twists on standard offerings. Quality of food and service had always been excellent.

Perfectly assembled flavours and ingredients on small plates. Loved the salmon tartare, Israeli meatballs, fennel salad and scallops recommended by the waiter.

Another success in this family of restaurants. The food, service, drinks and efficient kitchen staff are top notch. Try the octopus! Yum!

Undeniably one of the best restaurants we have dined in PDX. Walk in only so go about 1hr ahead and get your name on the list. Then go walk around the groovy Pearl district and wait for their text. Order the "chefs choice". You will be dancing with delight with exquisitely prepared Mediterranean servings of incredible flavor and presentation. Vibrant atmosphere and excellent service. This one is on the top of our list!

Great service and the food was terrific with lots of flavor.

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Portland. After a client first told me about MEC, I ate there twice in one week because the food was so good! I would give it 5 Stars if the price to value was a little better but I still love the food and the service has been excellent each time I've been in.

One of our favorites. A best restaurant in Portland on many lists.

We try to sit at the bar. It is the same menu. The other tables are common which we like a bit less.

Fast pace, excellent food and friendly staff. Goodo all around! Lamb chops were melt in your mouth good....

The food was amazing. This was high end, a little expensive but worth every penny. Ask for local wine and the very nice servers will direct you to a dang good bottle

We went during Covid Precaution time, and there was adequate precaution present. We had to make a reservation a week in advance, and all the settings were outside. The waiters always wore masks and stood about 6 feet away. They were put the dishes in a tree next to the table, and the customers Bus their own tables.

In terms of food by the way does recommend it more food and we could eat. Overall, this is a really good Mediterranean place by West Coast standards. The service is great, I will definitely come back. Below is detail review.

Fennel salad - that was highly ranked on yelp, therefore we got it. It is a Salad with mandolined fennel and celery in a light lemon dressing. the candied pecan tied everything well together. I wish there was just a bit more flavor in the dressing. 4/5

Hummus - I ve never had hummus that smooth and delicious. The pita was thick with the perfect chew, freshly out of the oven. 5/5

Chicken meatball - this was a let down. The flavor was perfect, it has a nice kick. However the meat with dry. The sauce with it was fantastic though. Overall 3/5.

Grilled eggplant - 5/5 just get it. It was fantastic, perfectly Charred skin, soft flesh and wonderfully marinated with what I presume a balsamic sauce.

Confit Chicken leg - the kale and carrots were perfect. The crust was sweet and crispy. However the leg did taste dry. So 4/5 instead of 5/5.

I would come back 100%. Get the hummus and grilled eggplant. Skip the chickens as both dishes were dry even though the flavors were wonderful (what a shame, if it wasn t dry I would give it 5/5).

Food from around the entire region: Greek, Lebanese, Moroccan, Israeli, Palestinian, Turkish . . . delicious, elegantly prepared, textured, varied---an exploration of the best of regional cuisine. A surprisingly successful, politically-correct food adventure.

The food is excellent. Second visit and my only complaint is price and portions. $18.00 for one octopus leg, $18.00 for four ounces of Cod, $16.00 for four sashimi slices/carpaccio of yellow tail. Hummus, pita bread. Food and service is excellent.

If you like unique, flavor-filled food, this is the place. Literally almost every dish is excellent. A party in your mouth.

Additionally, the Toro Bravo, Inc restaurant management group, has offered opportunities for customers to chip in a few dollars to help with flex-spending and for families that are in a hardship, and they are currently offering foods, graciously weekly to families. Information on this can be found on there website. nice

I love MEC! In my opinion it honestly has the best mediterainian food in Portland!

Delicious food. Tasty drinks. Friendly and helpful service.

Oh my gosh! Possibly my favorite restaurant of all time. I can not say enough good things about the chef. The food is impeccably cooked. I highly suggest getting the chef's menu, it is not too expensive and they give you so many plates and options. The salads are amazing. ...salads? Yes even the salad is good. My favorite is the beef tartar!! To die for. Don't come here if you are afraid of flavor cause they pack it into each dish.

great food. Loud. Service can be a little snobby. They only seat a full party.

Bit of a mixed review. We came here for our anniversary, heard great things. First, don t get me wrong, the food was AMAZING! Service on the other hand was somewhat lacking. We came in quite hungry and everything sounded great. We ordered some hummus with no egg (wife is vegan) as an appetizer along with our dinner/drink order. We get our drinks and start looking for our hummus. We see neighboring tables getting some and it looks delish. We are REALLY hungry now and dying to try this hummus. After 20-25 or so minutes, our dinner arrives, but no hummus. We ask the server delivering our dinner if the hummus is still coming. She says she ll check. We start eating our dinner and the server swings by shortly after, drops the hummus off, and takes off before we notice that it has the egg all over it that we didn t want. We should have just scraped it off because it takes me 5 for more min to even see one of our servers and flag him down (which I hate to do) and point out the mistake. He says he ll rush it for us. We finish our dinner and wait another 10 minutes and FINALLY our hummus arrives. We are now completely full and no longer care for the hummus. I did taste it and it was delicious, but the fact that the first thing ordered ended up being the last to arrive was pretty annoying. We thought they might comp the hummus for the mistake, but no such luck. It was a bummer because it detracted from an otherwise amazing meal and unfortunately became a sore spot for my wife who no longer wants to go back now.

Excellent food and ambiance! The food is so fresh and flavorful. I ve been here many times and have never had a bad dish. We did the tasting menu about a year ago and were so glad that we did. Highly recommend.

Love this place so much any time I'm in pdx I try and make it

We easily got in on a Friday night around 6:15. We had kitchen bar seating which was fine because you could see all the food going in and out. Super clean kitchen! Tight running. So many things look delicious. FYI, plates are on the smaller side. We shared the fennel salad, which was very nicely balanced, the hummus, lehbney (both nice and served with thick, fresh out of the oven pita), and we shared the octopus (cooked and seasoned just right). Combined with to drinks each the bill was about a $115. We could have done without one of the plates .

I love this place. Great vibe, excellent food and the name says it-- "Exploration".

Can't believe how long it took me to try this place. Fantastic cuisine you cannot find elsewhere. It is clear that a great deal of time and effort go into every dish. You'll be making another reservation in no time.

Great representation of Mediterranean style food. The governor group at 6 order lots of plates and enjoy the menu.

Good food, price is a bit high for the level of food you get but over a nice place to eat, clean, and good atmosphere. Great hummus and awesome falafel!

I love this place so much. A must whenever I travel to Portland

Great cocktails and the bacon wrapped dates were to die for. Excellent falafel too.

Small, shareable dishes of food that is fresh and flavorful. Menu changes daily. We had four dishes between three adults and it was perfect. We had the falafel which had a crispy outside and paired well with two condiments provided. The second was basic hummus, but it was packed with flavor and had a great creamy texture paired with warm pita bread. Then we had the Greek potatoes that also had a nice crispy outer texture with a sauce over the top. Last was a chicken kabob that was perfectly cooked, tender and full of flavor. We also had craft drinks that fit the food perfectly. Service was excellent. It was quite noisy for a mid-week evening but was still within moderate talking range. A mid-week evening became quite packed by 6:30 pm. The menu is extensive and quite varied. I would definitely eat here again and take friends!

Great food, great vibe, great drinks. Their small plates are amazing. Their food is seriously amazing!

Very long wait and little to no reservation options. Fried chicken was good, but the oil was reused once too many times and the octopus was mediocre. Baked egg, pita, humus and their complimentary baked egg plant was outstanding!

Not a lot of Vegetarian options and craft Beer in the town of Portland.
Warm Pita Bread is really tasty along with Hummus.
For meat lovers, Lamb chops is really good.
Staff and Service is wonderful.
Enjoy the cold evening with Warm Pita.

My caveat is that I only had an app and a glass of sparkling wine during happy hour. But they were great. The app was the sheep milk feta with pita. Delicious! I'm sad that I have to wait until a future trip to Portland to be able to sample the main menu.

They don't answer their phone and they don't do takeout. Not sure what they will do, besides separate you from too much money.

Food and drinks were great. We sat at the bar and Ashley was very friendly.

Went here to celebrate a special occasion. This is another John Gorham restaurant and the menu items are very reminiscent of Tasty & Sons. In order to properly sample more of the menu, we decided to get the chef's tasting menu, which is $40/person and includes several courses (six or seven?) including dessert. We ended up with a lot of seafood, which was amazing. The service was attentive and friendly and the food was pretty tasty. There was one dish that was overly salty, but it was still eaten. Large space in the Pearl. Recommend it!

The food was fantastic! Service is great. Tables are mostly in communal dining format. There were very accommodating to a person in our party who had a nut allergy as well.

Apparently, if you look like you don't have money they'll stick you in the back corner where you get blasted with cold air causing one to have to wear a jacket for dinner. Food is nice, hostess less so.

Very delicious, wonderful atmosphere and staff. Be prepared for long waiting times, but at least you can stand with a drink and hunt for spots at the bar.

This restaurant is obviously one of the finest restaurants in the region. Whenever I come to this place I am deeply pleased. They manage their high level service and the highest level of dishes they give. You definitely will enjoy this this restaurant. Highly recommended.

The food was simply fantastic! They even sent out a free salad which everybody enjoyed. definitely need to go back and try some of the other menu items.

We had the tasting menu and it was fantastic. Every dish had new interesting flavors and it was a lot to eat. Would definitely recommend it to anyone. The kids had separate plates, the calamari was a hit.

Outstanding restaurant! Service and kitchen we're so friendly, food was to die for! Offered as small plates, they suggest 2 plates per person and recommend sharing. Each plate comes out when ready! For two of us we paid under $100 for 5 plates, not including alcohol. Would return often if we didn't live a continent away!!

Awesome dining! First time here at John Gorham's spot in NW. It was as expected phenomenal. I can't wait to come back!

Chose this place because of an excellent review on Foursquare. They recommended it for dates. Brought my girlfriend here and was in no way disappointed. I recommend their mushrooms and octopus. Definitely worth a try. Their cocktail menu was expansive and their quite delicious as well. My favorite was the Turkish Delight. Parking wasn t too bad as well on a weeknight.

I was going to give this place a 4 star because the octopus salad didn t look alike what they have on their website - I actually decided to visit this restaurant after seeing the menu photo but was dissatisfied with the actual amount of octopus they gave us.

I decided to add one more star because I feel they do an excellent job protecting the diners and their staff during this pandemic time compare to the other restaurants nearby.

We all want to dine out, so I appreciate their extra efforts to provide a safe dining environment for everyone!

Our waitress Nicki was perfect! The staff was great! The food, food timelynes, seating was all fantasic! We are from Colorado Springs, Co. But when we are back we will be sure to eat here again. Thank you, Larry & Elaine

Dates were excellent. Food was really really good. The portions need to be larger.

Good selection on drinks. Food is tasty all dishes sounded delicious.

Good food, fast, very friendly service. Somewhat pricey.

The kitchen guy "the one with thick blond beard" was very rude. Also, he delayed my order because I am a foreigner. It was the worst time I spent in Portland.

Great place for Mediterranean. It's easy to over order and isn't cheap but that's because it's hard not to want everything on the menu. Food is amazing and the space is great. Get the baked eggs.

The restaurant space is great. I appreciated the lighting and seating. I was comfortable during my meal. Like many restaurants some items are better than others. The kofta and kubaneh were my favorite.

Lamb and fennel salad are bomb.....great atmosphere

Fun to go there with a large group to share amazingly good food.

Serious decline. Ordered the chefs menu after not having it for 7 months. Was served the exact same thing we had before...but then we noticed other tables who had ordered the same were given dishes we had never tried or seen before. They rectified this with a gift card but next time, we will stick to the bar and order small plates.