Ideya Restaurant

09/18/08

YES!

by DrGeis

There's absolutely NO reason NOT to go to this hip Cuban-fusion SoHo storefront. Get a table in front of the mid-restaurant bar, get the mojitos (light or dark rum, both terrific) and ceviche started, and chill. It's not flashy, or overly atmospheric - they're not trying THAT hard. Gets crowded on weekends, if you're into that, but weeknights are mellower. The food ( I happen to LOVE Cuban, growing up in SoFla) is very good - most iems being updated versions of Caribbean classics.

08/19/08

Deliious mashed yucca

by hpena

Ideya is an interesting little place... A little expensive, but tasty food. If you crave an empanada,

07/23/08

OH Ideya, you USED to be so great

by firestar515

A few weeks ago, Ideya was an amazing way to spend money like it was going out of style, and it was worth every cent. The mojitos were UNBELIEVABLE, the food, flavorful, piping hot and with excellent service, especially if you ate at the bar.

I went last Saturday. The Mojitos, weak and BITTER. If the mojitos just two weeks ago were a perfect ten, they're now about a 3, maybe a 4. Even the flavored ones couldn't be saved, the mango mojitos tasted bitter like you can imagine nail polish remover tasting, YUCK! The food was dry, especially the tostones rellenos (the whole, dish, not just the plantain) terribly disappointing as I was really looking forward to recreating my last wonderful meal there. Service was not even passable, even when the restaurant emptied out, I had to hail my waiter every time we needed something, which was everything: drinks, water, food, bring out the cake, could I have a spoon. Each time we ordered a drink (even when the restaurant was empty!) it took him forever to get it, I remember waiting 25 minutes for my first mojito. Water, something that any good waiter knows to have on hand for his guests, our entire table had empty glasses of water for over 20 minutes before I had to, yet again, flag him down to bring us water. One member of our party ordered a simple hard liquor, neat, and was brought some other hard liquor that was obviously wrong (like rum instead of scotch, what!?). Our plates were empty, again like the restaurant, for about 15 minutes before he came to pick them up. For some reason he could not be found before then. The only time he actually came to our table to check up on us was when he asked if we wanted the bill. I had asked for everything at this point, so for him to offer the bill seemed like he was eager to get the tip he clearly did not earn. Thank god we were just under the 8-ppl party limit or else we would've been charged a 20% tip. I still tipped 15, having been a waitress myself but he deserved 8.

• Pros: Mngr sent shots for the Bday girl, Thanks!
• Cons: Bitter, weak Mojitos, HORRIBLE service, mediocre food (food is usually fantastic), would've been good for groups but unattentive service