Limani

Normally we have Friday plans in the evening for a dinner restaurant after work. We didn’t plan for anything, so this restaurant was a decision at the whim. My partner always prefers either Latin based restaurants or Mediterranean because there they love hummus. This restaurant was on 51st right next to Rockafeller, so it was easy to access even on a rainy day. When we arrived at 6 PM on a Friday night, we were able to walk in without reservations as the restaurant was pretty empty.

Ambiance

This has similar ambiances and vibe to other Greek restaurants around the area such as Estiatorio Milos and Nerai. They have seafood on ice in the corner to show how fresh it is. In the center of the room, there is a luminescent blue fountain that looks nice and calm. The decor has a lot of white around, so it felt very open. Lastly, the music reminded me of modern European club music and was not too loud.

The service was very spot on. They have a ton of wait staff standing around and eyeing around to keep themselves busy.

Food

The complimentary bread came room temperature and was good.

The VIP-Tini ($19) came with Ketel One vodka infused with fresh pineapple. This was pretty strong and could’ve been more smooth.

The Greek Meze ($28.50) came with tzatziki, tarama, ktipiti, and skordalia. This came with warm pita bread. Starting at 3:00 and going clockwise:

• tzatziki - this is typical Greek yogurt dill, but it was quite delicious because it also tasted super fresh and had more of a paste texture than yogurt texture.
• skordalia - this is normally a Greek potato dip with garlic. The texture was also very paste like, and reminded me of hummus with not much salt in it.
• tarama - this normally has fish roe, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic. The olives added a nice salty counter balance to it.
• ktipiti - this is red pepper and greek feta. There seems to be more salty flavors to it, and it also was very pasty.

In all, my favorite dips were the tzatziki and tarama. Price wise, I thought this was rather expensive, but the flavors were fresh and genuine.

The Scallops ($26.50) came from Canada, grilled on 2 skewers. The 2 skewers had two scallops each for a total of 4. They tasted delicious, but I cant help but feel it was pricey. I found it odd that the waiter served the scallops between myself and my partner and set them on our plate. I was expecting them to set the plate down and for us to pick out the scallops ourselves.

The Halibut ($44.50) came from Canada as a grilled steak-cut and was served with seasonable vegetables. The halibut was very fresh and delicious. Quantity wise, it’s pretty light. It was seasoned with salt and capers. The vegetables had a light drizzle of olive oil and salt.

The Crab Cake ($31.50) came with Maryland jumbo crabmeat served with piazzi bean puree, mustard, and mayonnaise sauce. This was normally an appetizer, but it was ordered by my partner as an entree. This was decent, but I think I prefer other Maryland crab cakes. The crab cake stuck together, but I think the bean puree created this gluey and pasty texture that dried out the crab a bit.

Final Verdict

The Greek food was decent flavor wise, albeit a little basic and plain. The seafood was fresh though, but it was just a bit too pricey to recommend for dinner unless you really don’t care about value. Like other Mediterranean places, it seems if you go to lunch, they have a more affordable prix fixe menu that could be worth trying.

Yelp Jabs

It’s a very popular restaurant so make sure you get a reservation a couple days in advance.

Um… no.

The food was fantastic and the service was the best we have had in NY !

I don’t think these Yelpers have eaten out enough to make these claims.