Mediterranean Exploration Company

Fantastic food. Great wine selection. Top notch service.

I SO enjoyed MEC. We were seated in front of the chefs and it was a great addition to the meal to get to watch them prepare food. My friend and I shared lots of plates so we could sample a lot of items. Not a bad thing to be had. Our server was very personable and helpful in making suggestions for food and beverage. I will be back!

I couldn’t be happier that I found this place. We walked in without a reservation on a Friday night and we lucky to get a table but I would definitely recommend reserving a table in advance.
Extremely friendly staff, they put a smile on my face from the moment I walked in :) for a recently converted vegetarian like me, it quite hard to find a decent meal at a Mediterranean place especially since you know how good the meat tastes… so when I walked in I was almost certain I would be disappointed with the food. But guess what this restaurant totally changed my views. I ordered the falafel which was amazing… little tip ask for the extra tahini sauce. I also ordered the hand made spinach pie which blew my mind. The pastry was cooked to perfection and the spinach was delicious.
My boyfriend got the lamb pie called the El baboor, he was very happy with it. He told me the lamb was cooked just right and the tomato paste complimented it very well.
We also ordered a round of drinks. The turkey delight was smooth and yummy. You can hardly taste the alcohol but you definitely feel the kick. The bartender was nice enough to make us a bailey’s based drink that wasn’t on the menu, she even added her own twist of cinnamon powered n orange syrup… turned out very well.
Overall excellent experience… can’t wait to come back

The food and drinks were good but overpriced and the place was very noisy. We couldn’t have a conversation and in the end I had to leave to give my ears a rest.

The wait was an hour and 20 minutes on a Saturday night, which isn’t bad on Portland standards. Mediterranean was packed! My fiancé took me here to celebrate my birthday, a good spot, but i recommend getting there earlier then you actually want to eat. The service was great, the restaurant was clean — tables were cleared immediately and another party seated ASAP.
We had the tuna tar tar — i was disappointed, it was just so sour and the fish didn’t taste fresh. I REALLY wanted to try the bone marrow, i don’t see it on many menus here. but they were all out. it was only just after 8pm, a little early? or it was just that popular that evening — a good sign, but i was sad.
We also had the, damn i don’t remember the name, starts with a C, its fried and has tentacles, they are good not great. Also had the bacon wrapped dates, good, but i have had better. We would have gotten more to eat but after just ok, or good others we decided not to continue tasting on.
I plan on giving this place another shot. I enjoyed the atmosphere.
The Grimm cast was there this evening which was pretty exciting for us.

Food 2 – 4 stars
Some of the dishes were unique and delicious while others were unremarkable.
Grilled octopus was cooked perfectly but no flavor or seasoning were discernible. Tartare was marginal with huge hunks of shallot/​onion and whole pine nuts. Rather bland. Fareek (?) salad was interesting with nutty sunchokes but a bit greasy. Oddly the roasted carrots were the star dish with great spice and tahini/​yogurt sauce.
Drinks 4 stars
Smoked gaucho was novel, delightful, cold, and refreshing.
Service 1 star
We entered the restaurant and were treated as cattle. No hello no welcome. Just a blank stare. I said there were two of us and were immediately sat at the bar (no mention of we’d like a table instead). We were approached by a waitress who then disappeared. Some other individual took our order (which always concerns me). We got our food in a reasonable period but no drinks. Once prompted the original waitress did finally round them up. To their credit they comped the drinks.
Overall nothing exciting. I won’t be back except maybe for a drink. With all that Portland has to offer you can do better elsewhere.

Loved it. Best place I’ve gone to in Portland so far. Wine bottles and liquor from all over the world. Exquisite food. Everything I tried I liked. We ordered a lot of food and everyone was happy with what we got. Waitress made sure I knew what the vegan options were and also everything that could be made vegan. I have No complains. Very friendly staff. Loved the pita bread. Loved everything. Turkish coffee was the best thing ever, along with an anise digestif to end the night. Would definitely come back.

Great food, warm atmosphere and friendly service. My favorite foods include lamb ragu w/​hummus, warm pita, warm olives, radicchio salad, orzo with beef ragu.
Favorite drink is the Turkish Delight…

I dig this place. When you order the right thing its delicious, but there are a few duds on the menu. We’ve been here at least 3 – 4 times and have always walked away happy, but its not the first restaurant that comes to mind when we’re searching for a tasty place to eat. For the restaurant itself its certainly much easier to be seated here within a reasonable amount of time (vs Toro Bravo or Tasty and Alder where the wait time can push 3 hours).
The noise level is pushing pure cacophony. The last time we ate here, we tried to see how loud we could yell before we started to look crazy (apparently pretty loud). For a boisterous dinner with friends/​loved ones its great, for a quieter dinner out/​first date, this could be awkward.
The salads and Israeli pita are delic. The kebobs are too greasy for my taste and the mejadara is a big miss. Drinks are delic and service is usually spot on. Really I would just check it out and experiment with the menu. There’s a lot of delicious sounding options and its a fun place to eat.

This is easily in my top 5 restaurants in Portland. The food here is beyond exceptional.
My personal favorites are the Palestinian Beef Tartare, the Youvetsi, the Lamb Ragu, and the Lamb Kebab Pie… that said, every single dish I’ve been served here has been truly delicious.
They also have a full bar with a great selection of specialty cocktails.

Great happy hour menu. Delicious cocktails. Had the falafel sandwich which was super filling and had piquant eggplant included.
Great bartenders and nice Pearl vibe. The castelverano olives, warmed, were soft and flavorful.
Come early for a seat. Thurs. nite was pretty packed at 5ish. Super attentive.

Who knew i enjoyed eating warm olives and sipping orange wine? Well Mediterranean Exploration knew.
The appetizers such as the warm feta and olives… well… It gives me life… !
The warm green olives are also a craving i have in the middle of the night ! They are just SOO GOOD!
Great place to bring friends… Sip orange wine… Enjoy Cheese and Olives and well Life !
Love this place i recommend it to all of my clients and friends !

Man do I love this place! So good… The flavors are amazing. I love their chutneys baked eggs everything… Every single dish is awesome. Please try the appetizer platter. The baba ganouj and the beet dip awesome. Falafel decent. We had something like a pilaf! Bursting with flavors. And some baked eggs and cheese… Yum! Must try!

We came here as a large group for a friends birthday — about 16 of us.
The atmosphere is cozy and modernish.
They have a full bar with a few beers on tap.
The menu is more of a tapas style — reasonable prices.
Our group opted for the Chefs Choice deal — $ 40 a person. That is WAY more than you would spend just ordering a single thing from the menu.
We were provided with course after course of fantastic foods — appetizers, salads, four or five different entrée’ dishes and a small plate of sweetness to end it all. Well worth the price and every single thing we had was delicious — every single thing.
The service was polite and prompt, very attentive and explained every dish so we understood what we were in for.
This location has had a revolving door of restaurants — hopefully this one sticks!

We came here for an early dinner on Halloween.
The service here is top-​notch — 5 stars all the way.
We tried their lebneh with cauliflower, chicken kebab, fried calamari, scallops and Phyllo Chard Hand Pie. Everything was delicious. Would like to come back to try other items on their menu.
Sidenote: the scallops were a bit pricey. 4 scallops for 20 bucks, they were yummy but not too big either.

Party of three at 7 pm Friday night. I called to make a reservation and was told they were not necessary; there is always seating. We showed up and we’re lucky to find one table in the bar area. Make a reservation.
The temperature inside the restaurant is very affected by the amazing wood fire oven. We were seated by an open window in the bar section. It was a cold October evening yet we were roasting. Ask for a seat near a window or bring a battery operated mini-​fan.
The service is prompt; the restaurant was packed and yet our drinks, appetizers and food were delivered quickly.
The restaurant is quite beautiful; it’s an elegant place for a romantic or special event.
The food was exquisite; the photos submitted on Unilocal are spot on. We had the octopus (dinner portion) $ 16.00; absolutely ridiculous. There is one tentacle placed on a big oval plate, nothing else. So one octopus can generate roughly 160.00 — come on!
The lamb chops were juicy and seasoned perfectly. There were two lamb chops on a big plate; once again ridiculously priced.
The hummus was the most creamy, flavorful I’ve ever had and I’ve been to Turkey and Morocco. Three adult men received the appetizer portion for $ 15.00 and it came with one fluffy, moist, steaming pita bread. The only other place to find pits of this quality is at «Two Brothers» located in SE Portland on 39^th. We would have paid extra for more, however the $ 15.00 portion came with one piece of bread. The pricing at this restaurant killed it for me. You have to have no regard for price to enjoy this place. If you are just bothered by your checking account balance, you just have too much money that you have to burn it, then this is a great place for you.
The cocktail specials are small and cost $ 11.00 to $ 15.00. We tried the Tradesmen, Pepina, the Black Ataturk and we’re all below average in flavor and small portions. This is their weakest culinary area; lack flavorful, hearty cocktails.
The bacon wrapped dates were as a big as a cherry tomato and $ 2.00 each. Yes, delicious and the bacon was lean and roasted to perfection.
The Nazareth Kabob is light, flavorful and tasteful. Like most of their entrée it came with nothing else for $ 18.00 and a complete shock for someone that values portion appropriate to price with consideration for profit.
The fennel salad is incredible and surprisingly one of the most delicious mixtures of ingredients.
Our check for a party of three with only one round of cocktails was $ 170.00 and we left hungry. Yes! We left hungry, walked over to Cool Moon and bought Ice Cream.
If I win lotto; I’ll certainly consider returning. However, I’m sure I still will feel swindled when the check arrives.
There are too many delicious restaurants in Portland to have to tolerate this ridiculous pricing. As delicious as the food is prepared, this management needs a wake-​up call. I doubt seriously I’ll win because I don’t play it. I will not return to this place.

Great vibe, strong cocktails, but HOW are you gonna charge $ 13 for a SINGLE PIECE of octopus on your HAPPY HOUR MENU?!? I ran into the MEC with about 5 minutes left on the happy hour. I really wanted to check the spot out, but wasn’t super hungry so I just wanted a snack and a drink. I ordered the Turkish Delight cocktail: Sobieski vodka, ceylon tea, lemon, Reagan’s orange bitters, and orange blossom water. Great drink! Not very sweet, refreshing, and strong. I also ordered the octopus from the HH menu; it didn’t have much description but I like octopus and it seemed popular so what could go wrong? So I was rather dismayed when I was presented with a SINGLE (albeit large) octopus tentacle. What. It was cooked and seasoned nicely, but really? I would happily pay $ 8 for that, even as much as $ 10 (pushing it)! But $ 13?!? I was slightly bitter.
So this is a spot I will have to revisit, when I have more time and more appetite. Both the cocktail and octopus were tasty but the value is questionable.

Mediterranean food? hmm gyro wraps? meats?
we stumbled into this gem just wanting to grab a quick bite. it looked a bit fancy but the space had good vibes and energy so we went for it.
not knowing what Mediterranean food is all about, we were pleasantly surprised to see so many varieties on their menu. their dishes are on the smaller size so you need to order at least 3 – 4 dishes for 2.
we ordered summer vegetables which pretty much amplified all of our other dishes with its rich flavors, their lamb which im usually not a fan of but it was like the juiciest steak ive ever had, and their beef tartare with greek yogurt was fantastic!
everytime we took a bite of our dish, we couldnt stop praising!
i cannot wait to come back and try some of their other dishes. i hear their octopus is one of their best!

Great Greek food! I guess the locals call it MEC… Randomly came here based on a friends recommendation while I was in town for work. It was a great experience. I did not have a reservation, however there were a few spaces at the bar so I ate at the bar. Cool vibe when you walk in. Wood tables and a white industrial ceiling. The lighting was low and gave off a warm and cozy vibe. We did not really know what to order so we told the bartender to just give us a mix of different items family style. You can do a lot of small dishes here and try a bunch of stuff. This is what I had.
— Hummus and Pita w/​tahini, egg, & onion — Great flavor in the humus and the pita was fantastic. Well done.
— Falafel w/​s’hug, pickles, & tahini — This was a great dish. A must have. The flavor of the dipping sauce and Falafel together was amazing.
— Bacon Wrapped Dates — These were typical bacon wrapped dates. They put an almond inside that gave it an interesting flavor combo. Good stuff, but pretty typical for this dish.
— Octopus w/​piquillo pepper and dill — I was really excited for this dish, however it was pleasantly marginal. I was hoping for something a little better. It was good, but not great. The dill gave it an interesting taste.
— Scallops w/​agresto, leeks, & bread crumbs — Deliciousness. Great dish. I would recommend this if you like Scallops. Perfectly cooked too.
— Artichoke — There was nothing too special about the artichoke. I would pass on this.
— Skirt Steak Souvlaki w/​marinated onions and tzatziki — Perfect flavor on this Skirt Steak. I loved the taste. I would recommend this, but if you only want one red meat, then go with the Lamb Chops.
— Greek Lamb Chops — oregano, garlic, & lemon — This was one of the best lamb chops I have had in a long time. We finished off with this dish and it was great. Perfect temp too.

i was so very happy that we were able to get a last minute RSVP. I was euphoric that we were going to be eating delicious food from the same owner as Toro Bravo without the extremely painful wait. Yahoo!
I have to say it was a pretty awesome dining experience. I didnt think it could be more amazing than Toro Bravo but it was. Wonderful and attentive service. All the tapas were fantastic and they reminded me of Harvest Vine in SEA. We loved the grilled octopus that was drenched in olive oil. The lamb meatballs were absolutely delicious and not too gamey. The rotisserie chicken was incredibly moist and seasoned to perfection.
The duck confit was the star of the evening. You will be transported to Paris and back. Tender meat, sweet and savory simultaneously.
A good place to go with a larger group so you can try more dishes.