After a a very disappointing birthday dinner at what has been one of my local favorites, I am compelled to offer insight for both yelpers and Lithos management. I have been here over 10 times throughout the years with friends and family alike. Based on my dining experience detailed below, I have no plans to return any time soon.
We arrived this past Friday at 8:15pm to a fairly full dining room. The hostess seated us at a nice booth in the front room adjacent to the bar. It took our server nearly 40 minutes to take our drink order. Another 30 minutes later (after he had tended to the foursome next to us-who were clearly very high maintenance-judging by their requests) he got around to taking our order. Side note: our server is someone we have had several times before and has been good, but tonight he seemed overwhelmed and disinterested in providing the quality of service we are accustomed to.
Right from the start, we noticed changes-the menu font was different as were some of the offerings---but not in a bad way. Our bread basket was different. The bread came sliced, was not the usual loaf and came with a small dish of olives but no usual spread. For group appetizers, we started with the Lithos chips and Assorted spreads. The zucchini and eggplant arrived on a plate (not in the usual paper cone) and were completely soggy and flavorless. They either weren't properly fried or the batter was just a fail. The spreads were chunky, not the usual luscious hummus we are used to. I make better hummus at home and can purchase better babaganoush at the grocery store. The only highlight here was the accompanying pita triangles.
I decided to have the grilled calamari appetizer over a shaved brussel sprout slaw with a side of sautéed bok choy and brussel sprouts. I usually opt for whole grilled fish but wasn't feeling it tonight. In front of us was the fish display on ice and it looked unusually meek. The fish were small, there were no prawns or langoustines--in fact our waiter didn't even describe the special fish that night. It was as if they had the five fish on the menu and that this had become the norm. My husband ordered the pink snapper to be shared with one of our friends. Her husband had a steak dish.
The fish arrived Whole which is the way we ordered it but the filet job was terrible. The server turned it over to split it for two. Apparently the fish was cold inside but at this point we were hungry so no one complained. My calamari was rubbery and completely flavorless, and glazed with a clunky lemon aioli that was not nearly the same finessed dish I had come to love. The brussel sprout slaw fell flat and the dish just didn't look very appetizing. The bok choy was soggy, and tasted like lighter fluid. It was oily and very unappealing. The brussel sprouts side was serviceable, but at this point I was just so over the food.
When the server arrived to ask how our food was, we literally said "not great" and he grimaced and walked away with no follow up inquiry or effort to remediate. The next time he came around and I asked him point blank if there is a new chef and he said yes, there has been someone new the past few months. He seemed hesitant to admit there was a new chef and offered no other compliments or words to address my question. It was as if he resided to the mediocrity under the new chef.
I so wanted to speak to management and let them know how truly disappointed we were, but I didn't have the energy at 10:45. We passed on dessert--there was no way we wanted to stay for coffee or risk another disappointment. (I usually get the fig crusted feta cheesecake which is out of this world, but I just didn't have the appetite)
Decided to go back and give this place another chance. We used to really like it and I heard they revamped the menu and have a new chef. Took our 7 year old nieces with us on a Saturday night and it was a very civilized quality dining experience. My one niece has celiac disease and they were so accommodating with ensuring her dishes were gluten free-everything from the Greek salad to the salmon entree to the Greek fries.
My husband and I split the calamari special appetizer. It didn't exactly look super appealing and not what I expected which made it all the more noteworthy given how tasty it was. I had the branzini whole fish grilled with Brussel sprouts. Hubby ordered the chicken scarpiello which was really very good. The broccoli rabe side sautéed and mixed deftly with feta was simply delish.
Service was on point. One thing I learned, you can call two days in advance and request high end items like the tiger prawns if you know you'll want them ahead of time. Perhaps this is the way they're managing the demand for fresh high quality fish without offering everything all the time. Lithos will go back on my list especially since it's really the only seafood game in town. read more