Cypriana

"Food was great. I had the pork belly and my wife had the lamb chop special. Both were excellent. Had baklava for dessert, also great. Service was awesome. Very nice restaurant with nice atmosphere."

"Fine dining in the heart of Baltimore. Restaurant private parking across the street. Very safe neighborhood where this restaurant is situated. Nice food and and clean atmosphere. Very good gentry . Prices are okay. Some dishes haven’t lived up to their descriptions, like lamb shank . Overall I would recommend this restaurant to everyone. Owner, she is a very humble and friendly lady and most of the dishes comes from her direct supervision."

"Very disappointed with the food at Cypriana. We had a pleasant experience; our server was very helpful in explaining the menu. All the food was over priced and bland. I don't mind paying a premium for a small amount of food, but it has to be well seasoned and well made. Every dish we had was dull and uninteresting, we've had better falafel at fast food restaurants. We did leave full despite the small plates, but we were expecting much more for the price"

"TLDR: Decent Mediterranean eats in a cozy atmosphere. For Valentines Day a 25% auto gratuity, only wine by the bottle in the dining room and a rushed service rubbed me the wrong way. Vibe: 4/5. Located in Roland Park across from Homewood Field, Cypriana has a lovely location. One major perk is that they have their own private parking lot across the street, which is free for restaurant patrons. Inside, Cypriana gives off wine cellar vibes with its dimly lit interior and long stretching dining room. There is a nice sized bar as soon as you walk in that is perfect for after work drinks. The main dining room consists mostly of 2 and 4 top tables that can be pushed together for larger groups. Service: 2/5. Unfortunately Cypriana had several misses during our dinner, none to the fault of our server, but to the restaurant itself. We had a dinner reservation for 4 on Valentines Day, so understandably this is a special night for restaurants. Leading up to Valentines Day, Cypriana was advertising on social media some "very special things planned" for the big day, so we were extremely excited to see what they had in store. When we sat down at our table, we come to find out that the special for Valentines Day was a 25% automatic gratuity. That was the big surprise! Typically we tip 20%+ regardless, but having this forced upon us due to Valentines Day was irritating. Once our server arrived at our table and began going over the menu, she brought to our attention that just for Vday, Cypriana was only serving wine by the bottle and they were not serving their entire flatbread menu or their signature cocktail The Mati. So not only were we forced into paying more, but we were stuck with abbreviated food and drink offerings. Talk about pay more, get less. Even with all the immediate letdowns before ordering, we decided to trudge on through dinner. Food and drinks came out wickedly fast, sometimes too fast as our table became overloaded with full plates of food. The menu leans heavily towards appetizers and small plates so meal pacing is understandably difficult from a service standpoint. However, there were instances where we felt rushed by service to finish. Several waiters would come by trying to bus the same dish we were still working on which got old after the 2nd to 3rd time. One final thing to note, we had made our way through our dinner and ordered dessert, a lovely baklava. With forks at the ready, we were in the process of scooping up our first bite when one of the staff that we had zero interaction with all night swooped by our table to scold us for using a fork to eat. "You are only supposed to eat Baklava with your hands!" Jokingly we obliged, but honestly I'm paying for this meal, I don't need someone telling me how to eat it. Food: 3/5. As mentioned above, we decided to order a half dozen small plates and appetizers and overall everything was decent. The stars of the show were anything pita dipping related ie. the salad sampler, sesame roasted feta, hummus of constantinople, and the sheftalies. They make all their pita in house and it comes out pillowy soft, pairing well with any dip. The sheftalies were little pita pockets filled to the brim with hand rolled pork and a tomato cucumber relish that had a lovely balance of savory and tart flavors. Some other things we ordered that were forgettable were the falafel, macaronia tou fournou, moussaka of Cyprus and the cheese puffs. All these dishes were perfectly fine, but just missed the mark whether being slightly underseasoned or dry in texture. Overall, we spent nearly $350 for a table of 4, after the 25% auto gratuity. Maybe without all of the Valentines Day stipulations we would of had a better meal, but it will be a long time before I give Cypriana another shot."

"Pretty decent food. I really loved the hummus and pita from the appetizer menu. The pita was fluffy and flavorful, and the hummus was quite creamy. It seemed pretty authentic to me, but I’m also not of Mediterranean descent. I got the grape leaves and some pasta dish I’m blanking on. Both were flavorful but I particularly liked the grape leaves. They came with a tangy white sauce that tied everything together. Portion sizes of the main dishes were pretty small compared to price. The falafel dish came with a measly 5 falafels! This is a high end restaurant, so if you’re visiting, you probably expect that. Service was great. Our waitress welcomed us warmly and was patient while we were confirming our order. The ambiance of the place is also great — makes you feel fancy. I’d highly recommend sampling more of the appetizers if you’re on a budget. Otherwise be prepared to splurge! 7"