Reviews for Mediterranean Exploration Company in Portland, OR

My new favorite restaurant in Portland, I'm sorry LeChon. I had to do this to you. MEC is phenomenal. The flavors, presentation,... THE PITA... its heavenly. After visiting 4 times in the last month with another reservation scheduled for next week I've had myfair share of the menu and can easily recommend this lovely spot to anyone. If you haven't been to MEC, you must, and you won'tregret it. The crispy lamb hummus is my current fav, the baked feta is a show stopper. The most recent one had peaches and ittasted like a dessert. You truly can't go wrong here. Current favorite drink is the curry favor! Read more

Delicious experience but I think portions were small for the price. Service was fast and good. They don’t have happy hour on... Sundays which is a bummer. Read more

Wow. What a great first Mediterranean experience. As if I needed more reason to travel to the Mediterranean, I’m now in love... with the food as well. The food was great. I’m not sure where to start or where to stop! Hummus was out of this world.Calamari; cooked wonderfully, breading didn’t stick too well though. Snap peas were so delicious with the whipped fetapistachio cheese dip. Can’t forget the fresh pita bread! Sheep cheese on the menu. Amazing. So delicious. If you liketequila.. try the Pepina drink, FABULOUS! Read more

May give left pec to eat this fresh inventive food again. Service was impeccable. Obviously tasted the fresh high quality... ingredients, love and artistry in everything we tried. Nearly shed tears to have falafel that did not taste like rough groundgarbanzo. It has been a while since I had a decent falafel. Soo skillfully seasoned and cooked to perfection. The lamb I wouldhave gone cave person if there was nobody around...nom nom nom. Drinks were refreshing... Was worried because we were dressedfor housecleaning not public, they were very nice about it and server didn't treat us like we did not belong even though we werevery funky and did not have time to change. At the time we needed vaxx card. I actually do not mind because it means staff andpatrons are a little safer. All over great experience..kudos. Read more

We've been wanting to come here for awhile, so glad we finally did! The drinks were amazing and the dessert at the end, my mouth... waters just thinking about it, an amazing caramel tart. I recommend you try the crispy lamb hummus, I didn't know you couldelevate hummus, but they did, it was DELICIOUS. I recommend you make reservations, we were extremely lucky to get the last 2seater. The service was on it, never an empty plate at the table, extremely courteous, and gave great recommendations. We willdefinitely be coming by again! Read more

We went here for a birthday celebration and the experience greatly exceeded our expectations! The sumac spiced confit chicken... leg, kale salad, and house made labneh were our favorites from the night. We’ve had a lot of Mediterranean food before andthis place is definitely at the top of the list. Such wonderful, unique flavors, and the pita bread is fluffy and delicious. Weweren’t able to make a reservation online ahead of time, so showed up around 4:45 pm on a Saturday to get on the waitlist forbar seating. We were told it would be about an hour wait, but our seats were ready within 15 minutes. The service at the bar wasfriendly, quick, and attentive. Our food started showed up within 10 minutes of ordering and our plates were cleared promptlyafter finishing each dish. Reading other reviews, promptly clearing the dishes could have been viewed as rushing one out, but wedidn’t mind it and frankly preferred it since the table space at the bar was limited. We’ll definitely be back and wouldhighly recommend this place to others! Read more

Phenomenal flavors, textures, presentation, and great recommendations from staff. Drinks were lovely too. The sweet potatoes... blew my mind!! Worth the expense for how delicately and exquisitely the dishes were prepared. Read more

MEC is a Portland staple. It is one of those spots that you take anyone who is in town visiting. Every time we've gone it has... been a delicious experience. Missed writing on our visit back in the summer, so I am doubling up... Due to COVID - you are onlyallowed to dine in with proof of vaccine. Back in the summer they had a nice outdoor seating area. They have 5 main sections totheir menu; Salads, Mezza, Roasted, Grilled, and Tosafot. They have their staples within each section, but rotate a few disheswithin each depending on the season. They are ALWAYS delicious. It is a great restaurant to pick a number of plates to sharewith the table. We've had a few iterations of their hummus, including their new fried brussel sprouts & pomegranate. Werecommend their Hummus Abu Hassan - hands down the best hummus we've ever had! So silky and delicious; paired with homemade pitathat keeps you coming back for more! We've had the Baked Feta & Peaches, Roasted Carrots, Lamb Kebab, Cod, Bureka, and ConfitChicken Leg. We've never been disappointed and enjoy trying new dishes. On our recent trip we tried their homemade Ginger Sodawhich was so good! Every time we've gone, we've been delighted with service. Our servers have been knowledgeable, kind andfriendly. We highly recommend checking it out for a great date night! Read more