Review - Mambo Ristorante, Little Italy, NYC

      So while I had the pleasure of visiting New York City with a friend one Monday, I decided it would be great to have dinner in the Little Italy section of New York.  I planned on finding gelato afterwards, so yes, convenience was certainly one good reason to be there!

Now, this was a spontaneous trip, mind you, and we hadn't planned exactly where we would be going for anything. Well, to say the least, I wish we had read some reviews on Mambo Ristorante before we decided to eat there.

The restaurant was inviting. It was open to the streets, you could eat by candlelight and hear the piano all while walking by.  There were a decent amount of people eating there, but plenty of tables for us to sit at as well.  It was about 8:30pm, so there was no charming Italian man trying to get you inside like there typically is around lunch time in Little Italy.  Which I certainly prefer, I don't like being pressured into any business. The decision should be entirely up to me, and me alone.

When we got seated I found it to be odd that we were not given any menus.  And there were two glasses on the table.  One was empty, and one was half full, looking like someone drank a bit then decided to leave. I wish I had made that decision!

I was starving, so luckily we received some bread to keep us content temporarily, and the waiter/busboy (whatever he was) gave us new glasses and a pitcher of water. We asked for menus, but I don't think he understood us, for it was a bit loud there with the live music. It would've been nice to get some butter with the bread, but i decided to dip it in some oil and vinegar that was already on the table. I'm unsure if that bread was stale or not, it was unlike any bread I ever received at a restaurant before. Not crispy, but not soft either. Wasn't garlic-y. Just...different. But nothing tastes horrible when you're really hungry.

The staff seems unsure of what they're suppose to be like as well. One man was the host, waiter and busboy. He asked us if anyone took our order, and we said we didn't even receive menus! He apologized, and handed us menus. So about 15 minutes after we walk in the place we were handed menus. Two regular ones, 3 pizza menus, and one beer menu that read "small, medium or large" with no different beers listed on it! Um, do you serve wine here? Because it looks like I'll need some. Actually, just bring me a damn bottle!

They were all courteous, but very disorganized. I don't know who the manager is there, but he should seriously consider appointing the staff specific duties and assigning them tables, because this was avoidable chaos.

I ordered the lobster ravioli, and my friend ordered some grilled tenderloin strips that came with potatoes and broccoli.

I was surprised to find that i only got 5 raviolis in my dinner. And that was it! No soup or salad comes with it- no vegetable, not even a sprig of parsley. Thank heavens one of the busboys brought me more of that strange bread over.  At least the ravioli tasted good. But for $19? Not worth it at all. No big chunks of lobster as described in the menu.

My friend's dish was significantly larger than mine, but disappointing in a different way. The meat was not good quality at all. It was too chewy and sinewy.  And it was a warm meal for about 1 whole minute.  It appears they overcharge here for food that is not top quality, and for service that is lacking.

And on top of this, they have the nerve to include a 20% tip into the bill. Let me tell you, if the tip were up to me (which it should have been) , they'd be lucky if they got 15%. But I played nice.  I'm just happy I didn't drink anything but their tap water nor eat any of their appetizers.

Would I come here again? Absolutely not! The only reason this place is still in business is because tourists come in hungry and don't read any reviews on it before entering! I will not make that mistake ever again.

0 stars



P.S.-  Since I was still hungry when we left, we got that gelato I was looking forward to at a place called Ferrara's. It claims to be America's oldest Pasticceria, and in it are sweets galore. I got a large cup of gelato in 3 flavors- Nutella, chocolate, and stracciatella.  All were delicious. A good ending to my night in NYC.