Came here about 7pm and was seated at the front. Â The restaurant was all but empty. Â The service started out ok but after the waitress brought my food out she didn't return. Â After I finished my [subpar quality] food, I looked up and noticed she was at the bar making drinks for customers at the bar. Â She made drink after drink after drink. Â I proceeded to stare intently at her so as to get her attention but she didn't even look my way for about ten minutes. Â When she finally looked my way she said "I'll be right over" and it was another five minutes before she came over. Â To top things off, she did not even apologize for the ridiculous wait, and even chose to patronizingly call me "sweetie". Â
Went to the website afterwards to inform the manager what had happened, and after I clicked the "submit" button on the online feedback form, my browser went immediately to the restaurant home page without any acknowledgement that my feedback had been submitted.
Called during business hours to talk to the person in charge of the website and the server that picked up said he didn't know who was responsible for the website. Â I asked for the manager and he said "he won't be in until tomorrow. Â It's just me and the cook right now." Â I suppose I could have asked him to have the manager call me, or I Â could call tomorrow, but honestly I don't care that much. Â I'm writing this review so other people can avoid the complete joke of a business that this restaurant is. Â If it's still in business in a year I'll assume it's being used for money laundering.
In reality I'd give them a 3.5 out of 5.
First visit the waiter was very nice, Â I met a friend there with her newborn for lunch. I am pregnant and morning sickness has not let up. I go through a lot of liquids, from water to iced tea. I get that it's a bit hard to keep up with, so I was thankful for the bottles on the table. Just needed a bit more attention when the bottle got low.
I ordered the tabouli salad and chicken shwarma. We started with pita and Hummus.
The pita is absolutely the best ever. Fresh and warm, and the hummus was really tasty too. Just keep in mind they only give you like 5 pieces of pita for a big plate of hummus and you'll likely want more.
The food came out fresh and although not lightening speed, it was perfect for having casual conversation and munching on the appetizer.
My salad and chicken were delicious.
I noticed when my friend started to breastfeed our waiter suddenly disappeared. She was well covered and no one asked her to stop or leave. But I was a bit annoyed to be out of water, finished with our meal and ready for a check when our waiter wouldn't come around. Hey buddy, just don't stare right at her boob, give us more water, grab our plates, and don't freak out. It's just an infant breastfeeding.
My second visit was similar. Ran low on drinks, had to ask for pita like 4 times. Waited longer for our meal and my chicken was rather dry this time, and spent a lot of time looking around for our waiter..
The food is good, I think the service is just not quite up to my ideal. Â I've only gone for lunch and it's been the same waiter both times, so I'm curious if it's just him or the establishment.
So it's a Thurdsay....and even though it's nearly 70 degrees, it's of course raining...again...
What to do? Â Pull up that Groupon you just bought for Gemmayze, tag one of your best girlfriends for some happy hour fun, and relax the rush hour traffic time away.
Ahhh...cozy, warm, and good food with great company is just what the doctor ordered and it was very therapeutic! Â So much so that I just bought another Groupon for Gemmayze! Â cha-CHING!
just going to write a quick review:
Reason: Birthday Party
Where we sat: Large Lounge area upstairs in the back. Â Couches were comfortable. Â Table is about knee level when seated, it is not made for meals, more for appetizers and drinks. (2/5) Â
Ambiance: Nice, very cool place for large parties or just hanging out. Â (4/5)
Food: Decent, but portions are smaller than what you would expect for a Middle Eastern Restaurant. Â (3/5)
Price: Pretty pricey for what you get. Â But you're really paying for Royal Oak. Â (2/5)
Final Thoughts: Wouldn't be my first choice for Middle Eastern Food, but based on their drinks and drink specials, and accomodations for large groups this is a solid place for large gatherings. Â (3/5)
Had a great experience at Gammayze! Authentic Middle Eastern? Not really but was very good and they do have some authentic items on the menu. Some people prefer the non-authentic. Raised right outside Dearborn I grew up on a lot of authentic middle eastern food and understand both sides of the argument.
We were there on a Wed which is half off bottles of wine night. Bonus!! They also have a full bar with some interesting drinks. We started with Hommus and veggie grape leaves which I was very impressed by. The hommus texture was smooth and you could tell it was fresh because the garlic was not over powering. The grape leaves are hand rolled every days and served warm with a lemon wedge and garlic spread. Â
I ordered the Shish Tawook (chicken kabobs) and they were very juicy and nicely marinated. 3 of my friends ordered the lamb chops and they LOVED them. I was kinda bummed they don't offer lamb shish kabob but heard good things about the chops all night. Another person in our party ordered the shrimp dish (can't remember the name) but she really liked it too.
The building is 2 stories right in downtown Royal Oak. It's very nice inside and a little swanky, in a good way. Plenty of space for big parties with a bar on both levels. The staff we had was awesome. Our waitress name was Dawn and when we return we will ask for her again.
Summary - great location, good food, cool atmosphere, with a variety menu. It is a little pricey but expected for the area. If you have a few people in your party that don't want authentic middle eastern food  and some that do this place is perfect because you can get both.
We had great hope for this place & were very excited to try it.
We were seated right away & they come to your table with a fancy bottle of water...it was gross tap water.
They did not have the same drinks on the online menu as they offered at the restaurant (bummed).
After waiting FOREVER for our meals....they brought my husband the WRONG food. We had to wait for another 15-20 mins. for his food on top of the already 30 mins we waited for our COLD OVERCOOKED food.
While we were waiting for his food he asked for another beer & she gave him the wrong beer.
TERRIBLE SERVICE & only OK food. WILL NOT BEING GOING BACK...EVER!!!!!
EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Â!!!!!
Worse service we have ever received in a Royal Oak restaurant!
This is not the place you go to for authentic Middle Eastern- there are plenty of places in the Detroit area you can go if this is what you want. Gemmayze is a Middle Eastern- American lounge. The restaurant itself has a good atmosphere and the service was average (I do find it funny when asking for a recommendation that the waitress lists off half the menu. Â Does not help narrow it down). They do a happy hour, but you have to sit at the bar which was not helpful to us.
The reviews on Yelp have not been good. What we found was that the food was very inconsistent. Which makes writing a review difficult. We liked the pita but the hummus was not good. Â The shish kafta was good but the swordfish kabob was dry and fairly tasteless. We also had the Mediterranean shrimp flat bread, which was very good. As in good enough to come back again, but only for the flat bread. So a four for the shish kafta and shrimp flat bread and a two for everything else.
First time I went there, we went to the lounge on top where there were only 5 people at the bar. The bartender made us wait at the bar for atleast 10 minutes before she stopped flirting with the men at the other end of the bar and came and took our order. Well...I am complaining because the lounge was otherwise empty and you do not make a woman wait at the bar for 10 minutes though I was waving my card like I was at a disco or club. Anyway, not cool.
The decor was cool but the large sofa was the most goddamn annoying thing to sit on. Either the cushion or I kept sliding off the entire time. You should have  an Instruction Manual on how to sit on that thing
Second time I went there with my boyfriend for dinner. It was quite funny cause our waitress was extra-attentive and friendly to him and hardly made eye-contact with me. The food was so mediocre and the portions were small for a Mediterranean place. I have definitely had more authentic and better Mediterranean/Lebanese compared to this place.
The drink specials do look good though....Overall, very very ordinary.
Dined here in October 2012 for lunch and had a cockroach crawl across the table. Â Not to mention the shawrma sandwich was really disgusting and not edible. Â I took one bite and sent it back. Â The staff gave us a free glass of wine for our trouble with the cockroach however, they didn't seem shocked about the cockroach. Â It feels alarming that they were so calm about the incident. Â I still have flash backs from this place. Â Nasty!!!
Review Source:I'm really surprised to see the negative ratings on here. I went with my boyfriend the other night and thought it was wonderful. Our waitress was great and very prompt with her service. I got lamb chops and my boyfriend got the beef tenderloin kabobs and they were both fantastic. We both ordered one of their sides and they ended up being out (not a big deal) but they gave us free dessert because of it.
Overall I thought it was great and will definitely go again, with or without a Groupon.
Well, we went on a Groupon and glad we did not pay full price. The place was busy for a Monday night to my surprise after we got our food. Atmosphere was nice. Service was very good. Food was not so much.
The choices were very limited and I thought way overpriced for what you got. Two flat breads (Labanese????) that were just so so and nothing we were thrilled with. I could have had those anywhere or made at home for a quarteer of the price. Ordered the veggie trio that was SO bad they took it off the bill. Lentils that were mushy, seosoned with parsely, raw onions, and pickles they tried to pass off as Mujadra. Artichoke salad that was jarred artichokes and frozen asparagus. Yuck! The veggie grape leaves were the only edible thing on the plate. The bread was chewy and flavorless.
Paid $8 for three sips of wine.
The bartender assured us the lamb chops were delicious AFTER we had our meals.
You have to impress me to bring back and risk paying that kind of money for food. Just another gimmicky Royal Oak eatery that will not last. Too bad for sure.
We were there on Saturday night. They seated us right away, our server is nice. We had calamari, beef kabob and shish tawook (basically chicken kabob). Calamari is a bit salty, served with marinara and garlic sauce. Our entrees are decent but the portions are very small. Manager came by, I told him I needed more rice, they charged $2.00 for it. They asked my husband if he'd like more garlic sauce they charged $.75. Â It seems like a place that will nickel and dime you for everything.
I don't think the restaurant has a steady following and it will be difficult for it to remain open with the competitive restaurant landscape in the Royal Oak area.
My husband and I had a Groupon, so we decided to stop by Gemmayze on a Wednesday night.
We were seated immediately and our water glasses were filled promptly. After that, it was mostly downhill.
There seemed to be only one waitress working 7-8 tables in our area. She was amiable, but not overly friendly. Â It took her a long time to come and take our orders. We ordered 2 glasses of wine, an appetizer, and were splitting a kabob entree.
After taking our order, I soon realized that we were in for a long night. Our wine and complimentary pita were not delivered until 15 minutes later. I started watching the waitress and noticed that  she was spending a LOT of time at the computer next to the bar entering orders. I'm not sure if their system is complicated or what, but I'm talking 5+ minute stretches of her standing at the computer while guests waited for their food/water to be refilled...etc.
We received our appetizer which was 5 grape leaves about 15 minutes after our wine, and they were the smallest grape leaves I have ever seen. I'm talking pinky-finger size. The taste and texture were equally disappointing. However, we were hungry and we polished them off in approximately 1 minute.
Slow forward another 10 minutes and I notice that our kabobs were sitting in the kitchen window under the heat lamp. I sit there watching our waitress go back and forth between tables and the computer, and walking by our food while she delivered dirty dishes to the kitchen, yet doesn't pick up our food at all. It literally sits there 10 more minutes untouched.
When she finally does deliver our kabobs, they were luke-warm, overcooked, and completely bland. The rice and green beans are practically cold, and our general attitude and appetite are in the dumps.
If you're looking for fresh, tasty, generous portions of Lebanese food, I would look elsewhere....
My experience was really nice, but not excellent.
I made reservations for two through their website. I loved that option.
We had a third person join us and that posed no problem.
Ambiance pretty laid-back. I liked the overall layout of the restaurant.
The host was really attentive and friendly.
Our server was also very friendly. She was very attentive to my party's needs, which was honestly over the top if I had been by myself.
Pros:
Wednesday night = half off bottle of wine. Excellent! Waitress even had us sample it to make sure we liked it.
Unlimited hot and fresh pita
My friends seemed to enjoy their meals
Cons:
I started the night with a cocktail. On the menu it stated my Black Rum would be muddled with pineapple and garnished with pineapple. I'm sure I'm not mistaken on this. I was confused when my drink came and it was lemon infused. I didn't say anything, but for $10 I was hoping to get what was listed on the actual menu. I should have spoken up, but passed it off as maybe they were out of pineapple? The lemon was fine, but could have really irritated other patrons. I was surprised nothing was said..."sorry we ran out of pineapple" ?? Lol
I had a bowl of lentil soup which was very watery. Taste was fine, but I prefer the thicker soup that I usually got when I lived in Dearborn.
For the portion size I thought some of the meals were a little expensive
The only other issue was that my third person was like 30 minutes late. Our waitress despite being friendly and attentive, seemed slightly impatient which I didn't understand.
Overall, we had a good time with no major complaints.
In general, I agree with the majority of the reviews. Â I love mediterranean food, and was excited to see a restaurant opening up. Â I figured, because there are already some really great mediterranean restaurants in the area, a new one would come in with knives out, ready to compete. Â Wrong. Â The mujadra, if you could call it that, was absolutely gross. Â I was asking questions about it before I ordered it, because the menu indicated "raw onions and pickles", which I had never had in mujadra before. Â I was skeptical, but tried it anyway. Â I also ordered fattoush. Â I ordered my carry-out, got home, and was ready to dig-in. Â The fattoush was very good, actually. The spice was very flavorful. Â The mujadra was a bowl of watery, bland lentils with what must have been Vlassic spears mixed in. Â No rice; no carmelized onions; no yogurt sauce. Â It tasted like garbage. Â I took two bites, threw it in the garbage, and made my own mujadra. Â I will not be going back. Â I'll stick to Anita's in Ferndale...That is some good mediterranean food.
Review Source:Really enjoy Lebanese food, but not at this place (and this price).
Was disappointed to see that half of their side dishes consisted of french fries, mashed potatoes and broccoli, not what I was expecting at a Lebanese restaurant. Â
I love zataar, so I thought that I would give the risotto a try. Â I cringed when I ate it, it was just that awful. Â The salmon was supposed to have some sort of special seasoning, but I found it very bland and somewhat dry. Â
I do have to say, the fattouch salad was delicious and the portion size was very generous considering it was a side dish. Â The pitas were also fantastic, they were steaming hot when they came to our table, but it would have been nice had it been accompanied by hummus or some other kind of dip. Â
Our waiter was very quiet and inattentive. Â He took our order, dropped off the plates and gave us our bill and nothing in between. Â We passed him on our way out and he didn't say a word.
For the quality of the food and poor service, should have been much less expensive!
I came back for the food, being hastened by Restaurant Week. Â The osso bucco was killer - a huge shank of lamb, well seasoned. Â It was not uniformly the same temperature, but that is the challenge with a chunk of meat that thick. Â The loubia b'zeit was also spectacular. Â I really liked the fatoosh salad, with the pita bread in it. Â I love when the veggies are even better than the meat.
Review Source:I had a groupon deal, so we got the following...
3 appetizers, 1 entree, and two drinks...
With that as our dinner we opted for the Calamari, Shrimp Saganaki, and the Markouk Chicken Wraps for the appetizers and had lamb chops with broccoli and risotto for the main meal.
We went on a Sunday around 5:45pm. The place looked interesting, not like a typical restaurant setup. They had dining upstairs and down. The place thought it would be slow and only had two waiters. So we were waiting and waiting for service. They kept coming by to apologize, but different offer anything for the wait. finally the person I was with asked if they had bread or something. The waitress said yes...I would think if they were busy and couldn't get to us that she would just ask if we wanted some while we waited..
Anyways, we got Sangrias for our drinks. Those were really sweet and fruity, a bit lacking in the wine catergory because it was almost too sweet..
We finally got our appetizers...I love calamari, so I was so hungry and ready to dive in lol. It was very good, a little bit on the salty side but I'd rather a slight bit more salt than lacking flavor..which brings me to the next appetizer...the marouk chicken wraps...the description reads like they will be similar to a shish tawook sandwich which I also love...but when I bit into that...it was like there was no flavor on the chicken what so ever. I needed a massive about of garlic sauce to tolerate that and didn't even finish my half. Lastly we had the shrimp saganaki. They was ok in taste. It was a little on the bland side and really needed some kind of punch to bring out the flavors... for me I only liked 1 of 3.
Then we got the main course...lamb chops... I am a great fan of lamb and try them whenever I can. They came with 8 baby chops. First bite in...they were delicious...seasoned just right. I was so full though I took most of it home lol, but am so happy for leftovers to eat. The broccoli was done just right and not overcooked...the risotto, well it just tasted like wet rice and didn't bring anything new to the dinner plate to make it feel like a special dish. I wouldn't have that again.
One side thing..the tables were so close together, the lady next to me was like I need to use your table to get up here (we were at the hightops) and she put her big old hand on the table shaking it etc...Good thing we didn't have our drinks otherwise they would have spilled all over.
My company was looking to book a restaurant for our Christmas party, and our criteria was picky and borderline pain-in-the-ass. Â We wanted a private bar, a private room, somewhere near Royal Oak, a specific date, our own waitstaff, the list goes on. Â We decided to check out Gemmayze (Ge-May-Zee, I asked how you say it!) since we heard that it had a private room. Â A coworker and I went one night to talk to a manager, I believe his name was Nick. Â He bought us both a glass of wine and then went over menu options, atmosphere, timing, etc. Â After we spoke with him, we sat at the bar, ordered some food, and drank some more. Â The bartender was constantly filling up our wine glasses with more wine, and I'm pretty sure he only charged us for 2 glasses each even though I am sure I drank an entire bottle by myself. Â I liked him!
Since everyone was friendly and the food we sampled was good, we booked our party here. Â Our admin worked with the manager to figure out the menu and everything, and we even hired a guy through the manager to play the guitar and sing during our party. Â The night of the party, everything was great. Â The room is upstairs and it is completely separate from the rest of the restaurant. Â There are a few tables and chairs, and then rest of the seating is more of a lounge feel with couches and shorter tables and stools. Â The bar is right next to the room and there are restrooms off to the back of the room so you don't have to go downstairs to where there are only two single stalls. Â The waitstaff was also really attentive and kept the area clean of our dishes and empty glasses. Â
The food was AMAZING. Â I'm not kidding. Â We had chicken and shish kebobs, hummus, grapeleaves (which the manager said his Mom cooks every morning), tabbouleh, pizzas, I don't even remember what else. Â The hummus is so good, so much better than other Mediterranean restaurants in the area. Â The meat for the shish kebobs was cooked so perfectly and was delicious. Â I couldn't believe that it was cooked that well for being prepared for about 30 people and served in catering dishes. Â Everything was good, and I didn't hear anyone complain about anything they ate. Â What I loved the most was that you didn't walk out of here smelling like garlic. Â I love the taste of garlic, especially when eating this kind of food. Â But it's nice that it's not overpowering here, especially for a Christmas party.
We only had one small complaint about the whole night. Â We had told the manager that we wanted the bar to be private for at least the first few hours of the night. Â He had told us that it wouldn't be all night, but pretty early on we spotted a few people going to the bar for drinks. Â Our company credit card was linked to the bar, and when I went to the bar to get a drink, the bartender just gave it to me without asking if I was with the party or if it should go on the credit card. Â It made us a little nervous that outsiders could just walk up to the bar and charge a drink to our company. Â After we complained about it, the waitstaff brought around free shots for everyone, which was a really nice gesture. Â Other than that we had a great night, and I know a lot of coworkers have already gone back since for dinner and drinks because we all had such a good time!
To finish off a girls' day out, my other half and I decided to come check this place out, since we both love Lebanese food. We had bought a Groupon for a dinner for two, which included 3 mezza, an entree to share, 2 sides, & 2 signature drinks.
If that sounds like a ton of food, it's because IT WAS. Holy. Shiza. I don't know who decided to have THAT much food on a single Groupon for 2 people, but they were outta their MINDS!
Anyway, on with the review. We decided on the following for our dinner:
Mezza: Veggie grape leaves, Artichoke & hearts of palm, and Sumac encrusted tuna
Entree: Chicken shish kabob
Sides: Greek potatoes and Mediterranean rice
Let me start off by saying that the artichoke & hearts of palm were fantastic! I was impressed. The veggie grape leaves were also excellent. I like my grape leaves to have a strong lemon flavor along with everything else, and these definitely delivered what I like. The sumac encrusted tuna was also fantastic. We definitely enjoyed the appetizers.
The chicken shish kabob was very tasty. Chicken was cooked perfectly - crisp, perfectly seasoned outside, juicy and tender inside, with the onions and peppers perfectly roasted. The Greek potatoes and Mediterranean rice were delectable! They complemented the chicken quite well. We ended up having tons of food to take home (lucky for my bff's hubby, I guess!). Also, their house sangria is quite good!
I know that a lot of people have given them poor reviews, but I think Gemmayze is worth a shot. Everything we had when we dined there was really, really good. It's definitely not the best Lebanese I've had, but it's pretty damned good!
I don't know why I get excited and suckered into the over rated buzz about new Royal Oak restaurants.
Just because the town is full of rich, bourgeoisie bitches doesn't mean it's necessarily worth it.
I went to Gemmayze with some friends for dinner because we all enjoy Lebanese cuisine and because the establishment has only been open for 4 or 5 months.
Fine, I'll try it.
I ordered the lentil soup and the falafel salad, my friends ordered a fatoosh salad, grilled salmon dish and some shrimp scampi dish that had no pasta.
My dishes were OK, nothing noteworthy. The soup was delicate, leaning on the border of bland and lifeless. The positive thing about the dish was that everything was cooked perfectly, just very little flavor.
The falafel salad was displayed beautifully with chunks of cucumber, chopped falafel and tomato, smothered in a tahini dressing.
Well, the veggies were crisp and yummy, but the falafel's were nothing but over-fried sesame seeds and no other flavors of cumin or other spices I adore in a falafel dish. Ugh!
The grilled salmon wasn't fresh and tasted like week old fish, the fatoosh salad didn't knock my socks off either and was average.
The shrimp scampi dish was very good though! The shrimp had a creamy and encompassing sauce and the shrimp were plump and tender on the tongue.
Also their hummus and pita bread was hot and really good. Full of nutmeg and lemon, just how I enjoy it.
The real drag, however, was the price. My dish was 12$ for soup and salad and my friends dishes were 20$ and 30$. GARBAGE!
If I had to pick a Lebanese place to eat at, Gemmayze is the LAST on my list.
I will not be eating here again.. unless  just wanted toe at some hummus. This was my second time there and I was not impressed. My fattoush was AWFUL.. The dressing was so strong and potent.. The tomatoes in it were not good and the salad is mostly tomatoes (no lettuce). The only part i liked about it was the few pieces of green pepper. There was such heavy garlic in it that my stomach hurt for hours afterward and I had to take tums. I like the hummus but that was it. My friend had the lamb chops and they were just ok. The service was not great either.
Review Source:The food is AMAZING, great service and awesome atmosphere. We sat in the patio and had Sangria. Very good, overall the food was well prepared and the fatoosh salad was out of this world. Different than other places as it has no lettuce in it, just cucumber, peppers, onions, and tomatoes.
I think its a good place. I have tried other Lebanese restaurants and this one is my favorite. I would give it a chance.
Came here on a Saturday night, that was less busy than normal due to Arts Beats and Eats going on down the block. We were seated promptly and our server Chris C was attentive and friendly. The ambiance is very nice and chic, the music was a little loud for my taste but not blaring, at least not yet.
The menu is not very vegetarian-friendly. Which may seem weird to say, given that there are plenty of veg appetizers, salads, and pizzas to choose from, but what kind of Lebanese place doesn't have a single vegetarian entree? Not one. Very disappointing for a cuisine that has so many flavorful vegetarian options. Although maybe this was a good thing given that all of the entrees are around $20.
The hummus was creamy and pretty good, and the pita was warm, very soft, and just plain good.
I made a meal out of a mujadara appetizer and a Greek salad. The salad arrived first and was extremely disappointing. I expected a good salad for $8 and it was just some iceberg lettuce, coarsely chopped onions and about a whole tomato, with some crumbled feta. None of the ingredients were particularly fresh or good. The mujadara was unlike I've ever had before - the onions weren't carmelized but rather almost raw, and the lentils weren't steamed but were a little soggy and probably cooked in oil, but in contrast to the salad was a better deal at $6. The bf's meal (beef schwarma) was good but the 'steamed vegetables' were just two huge stalks of undercooked broccoli. The sauteed mushrooms were garlicky and delicious.
Right before leaving I went to the bathroom. After waiting outside (no-stall bathroom), I got in to find no toilet paper. Not what I would expect from a place that charges so much.
Overall it was OK, and we might go back if we want a quasi-Lebanese meal with booze in downtown Royal Oak, but more likely we'd get in the car and head to Anita's Kitchen.
Although the ambiance is great at Gemmayze, the food was extremely overpriced. Â I don't know who they are trying to kid, because there are so many Lebanese restaurants in the area that blow this place out of the water.
I am probably biased because I am Lebanese, but this food was not worth the price tag.
I ordered the greek salad (I know what you're thinking.. who orders that at a Lebanese restaurant; but I eat Lebanese all the time, and my friend wanted to try this restaurant.)
My greek salad consisted of: lettuce, two tomatoes, a few white onions, two olives, and a sprinkle of feta. If you asked any greek person they would tell you that THAT IS NOT A GREEK SALAD. Not to mention that that costs $8 with no meat!
My friend ordered the chicken kabob plate. It came with two tiny kabobs and a chinsy side of tabbouli.
This place has alot of potential, but they're not going to make it if this is as good as it gets...
My family and I went here for our monthly night on the town. Â I was expecting great, but what I got was just OK. Â I love, Love, LOVE lebanese, so I was expecting, just waiting, to love Gemmayze, but I couldn't. Â
The setting is beautiful, but the service is so unprofessional it can't be overlooked. Â And the food is OK at best. Â I had beef tips and hummus. Â Beef tips - chewy; hummus - acidic. Â
Oh, and the drinks - overpriced. Â Bummer.
My fiance and I just met here for lunch today. Â We got there a few minutes before 12 noon and there were only a few tables occupied in the place and by the time we left at 1 pm there were only maybe a total of 6 tables filled for the "lunch rush".
The problem with opening a Lebanese place in this area is that we are already spoiled consumers of great Lebanese food so something outside the norm has to wow us to get a great rating and they did not. Â They are trying to be hip and be inspired by a melting pot of difference but it just does not work.
It's chic inside with good decor but small with not tons of seating. Â I liked the open bar area where patrons could sit in front of the pizza stove and see the happenings of the kitchen but there are about 6 seats there.
They have a little bit different menu for lunch and dinner and serve sandwiches at lunch but not dinner.
We got hummus as an appetizer and the chicken kabob plate and a basil, tomato, mozzarella pizza as our main dish.  The hummus was OK but didn't wow us, our favorite hummus if from Anita's in Ferndale so that is what we are basing our opinion on.  The hummus at Gemmayze  was served with large amounts of paprika and olive oil sprinkled on top.  The bread served with was hot and decent.
The food was OK. Â The kabobs had the burnt edges that most kabobs get but were almost too burnt, not much flavor or seasoning. Â The pizza was oval and fit on an oval plate, enough to share or eat yourself if you are really hungry. Â The bread on the pizza as not really thin so it emulated thin crust pizza until you ate it and realized in the middle the bread was bread, not crust. Â The tomato, basil and mozzarella were all fresh and tasted good but it's not a typical Italian margarita pizza as I wouldn't expect it would be from a Lebanese place. Â
Service was decent however the waitress kept coming back to pour us water from the bottle sitting on our table almost too much, which interrupted us. Â They are probably instructed to do this but with little glasses she came over about 10 times so that put us off a little as she was there about every 2 minutes.
Overall decent service and atmosphere but the food missed the mark. Â It's not bad food, is average food, but for being on the high end of price for this type of food and since we are used to great Lebanese food it just missed the mark completely. Â We probably wouldn't go back because of the food.
To bad Gemmayze is so pricy and serves bland over priced food. Â They did a fabulous job designing a beautiful interior, but that is not why you go to out to eat. Â The big question is why is pizza on the menu. Â When did pizza become Lebanese? Â
I guess I will be eating in Anita's in Ferndale when I crave Lebanese.
This place is ridiculously over priced. I ordered a greek salad and asked them to add chicken. They put a small half kebob of chicken on my salad and promptly charged me over two times the cost of the salad.
The service was so-so. The food was so-so. I went there after the lunch rush and before the dinner rush, it took about thirty minutes for my meal to arrive. Given that it was an empty restaurant that seemed ridiculous amount of time.
Save your money and go to Anita's in Ferndale. Its nicer, better food.
If you want Lebanese food go to Anitas in Ferndale. Gemmayze is crap. I live in Royal Oak and though I would give this place a try tonight. Well.....I was not impressed at all. The bread was ok and the hummus was bland, no flavor at all. I ordered the mozzarella, basil and tomato pizza which was good but not worth the $12.00. Â Even the garlic sauce sucked and I didn't think that was possible.
The service was ok, nothing special.
HEY GEMMAYZE, YOUR PRICES ARE RIDICULOUS.
Definitely one of the coolest interior designed restaurants especially for a Mediterranean restaurant. Almost felt like I was in a modern art museum in New York. The upstairs has a very worldly Bedouin style lounge which I thought was awesome. Â As far as the food goes, they have a very basic and menu with some unique choices such as the Lebanese imported beer. Price wise, expect to pay close to triple what you would pay at any other middle eastern cuisine.
Review Source:I'm impressed. I had low expectations though, so perhaps that added to the WOW factor. When in Royal Oak and craving lebanese, I order from Lebanese Grill at 15 & Rochester, NOT Beirut Palace. I was thrilled to see a new option in the downtown RO area within walking distance of me. The decor here is beautiful, yet not over the top. Our server was very pleasant and attentive. He had wine/drink suggestions and seemed very knowledgeable about the menu items.
We ordered a variety of appetizers and a fattoush salad. The hummus was very good but even better were the hot pitas (which we watched get baked in the open kitchen). The lemon garlic artichokes and hearts of palm were fantastic! I found the fattoush to be nice large pieces of tomatoes, cucumbers and bell pepper with the right amount of not-too-minty dressing. My dad ordered the lamp chop appetizer (rare) and its was delicious! I like lamb, but sometimes the flavor can be a little too much for me. Not the case with these perfectly prepared chops - I'll be ordering those next time. The chicken schwarma wraps were different than what I was expecting based on my past experiences - there were 4 crispy/grilled rollups with chicken and pickle filling and a side of garlic sauce. They were very tasty and I'd order them again - just weren't what I'd encountered before.
Overall everything was great, but the standouts for me were the lamb chops and the artichokes & hearts of palm. For 4 well portioned appetizers (one of which was lamb chops), an entree sized fattoush salad, a diet coke and glass of red zin the bill only ran $55, which I didn't find to be out of line for the amount and quality of food we received, although it was slightly more expensive than what metro Detroit is used to for falafels.
Perhaps next time I'll order something off the entree side of the menu, but I was more than satisfied with the variety and tastes of the appetizers.
Good job Gemmayze!
The decor is really, really chic - looks like a restaurant that should be in Chicago. It's upscale Lebanese food interpreted by a Toledo family - so the dining format is a little different than what we Dearborn/Detroit middle eastern food fans are used to. But what they do well, they do really well. My husband's lentil soup was made to order and delicious. The bread was warm at the table. Hoummous was really good. My sirloin kebab was good, but the risoto that was served with it was really undercooked. My moms salmon was good, but not overwhelming.
The table next to us ordered osso bucco which looked INCREDIBLE!
The restaurant was very gluten free aware and I was really excited to have so many options re: sides. I'll try it again, for sure, because I think a lot of the issues we had with our meal had to do with normal growing pains associated with a new restaurant opening.
Ohhh...Gemmayze, say it ain't so. I LOVE Lebanese food. I could eat it everyday. I was quite excited to see that a Lebanese place opened up right on main street....but sorely disappointed with the food itself. As others have said, the place looks great. It's classy, it's a nice layout. The potential for greatness is undeniably there. This restaurant summed up quite simply: All looks, no substance.
Gemmayze has fallen to the classic restaurant faux paus of trying to be everything to every customer and in turn ends up being true to no one...especially itself. Ironic too, since there's a very meaningful little blurp on the menu explaining how Gemmayze is a trendy area in Lebanon known for it's soulful food. This food is about as soulful as the freezer section at your local grocery.
The only dish I liked was the Hummus. The Hummus is probably not for everyone, since it is more lemony/citrus than classically prepared hummus...but I enjoyed it none the less. The Lamb stuffed Cabbage roll appetizer was sadly bland. The lamb was dry and flavorless, the cabbage soggy & wet, the tomato sauce added nothing but more watery mess for it all to sit in. I found myself taking a few extra "pity" bites because it was that unbearably soggy and bland.
The true crime of the night was the Lamb Kafta dinner. First off, what's with the options of 2 sides for the entree being: broccoli, garlic mashed potatoes or risotto? Where am I right now? Certainly not a place that considers itself "Lebanese"?! Â Wow this really baffled me.
Confused and now full of apprehension, we chose broccoli and risotto with our Kafta...never thought those things would ever be on a plate next to each other...especially NOT at a self proclaimed Lebanese restaurant. The entree comes out...and I was given the driest blandest almost sausage like kafta I have ever tasted. Did they put "filler" in with the lamb? It was almost as if the lamb had some glue holding it together. This is not the kafta as I know it. I wouldn't be surprised if they just pulled this food out of a sysco bag of frozen kafta.
As I said, a place who's mission statement boasts "soul" should not be putting food out like this. The spinach risotto was so over done with garlic that it was hard to taste anything but mush and garlic. Surely they couldn't mess up steamed broccoli! Yep. I love broccoli but this was so salty, so mushy, so mediocre...it just echoed what the rest of the main dish was already pronouncing quite loud and clear. This food is criminal. I think I might be forced to make a citizen's arrest here before first time Lebanese food eaters think that THIS is what it's all about. FOR SHAME!!!
I was so excited when I heard that there was a new Mediterranean place in DT Royal Oak, but regrettably Gemmayze did not live up to my expectations.
After reading through Gemmayze's menu, I felt like I was out to dinner with my friend's dad who was going through his mid-life identity crisis! Â I will say the same thing I said about my friend's dad, make a decision Gammayze, gosh!
Gemmayze calls itself a Lebanese grill and there are some staple Lebanese items on the menu like grape leaves, hummus, kabob, etc. Â However, it also had pizza, shrimp saganaki, risotto, and NY strip steak...wha...? Â Like some awkward teenager looking like a homeless person while still driving their BMW to school, it seems like Gemmayze hasn't figured out just what it wants to be when it grows up. Â
We ordered the hummus and grape leaves in an attempt to curb my cynicism about their menu, but even those where just mediocre. Â We asked for some yogurt to go with our grape leaves and our waiter acted like we were insane (PS, they do not serve their grape leaves with yogurt. Â I just wanted to spare you the dirty looks).
Gemmayze's space is so cool and there was so much potential there that I feel horrible giving this review. Â I really wanted this place to be awesome when I walked in, but I was just sorely disappointed. Â There are just way too many great Mediterranean restaurants to go to in the metro-area, and regrettably this place isn't one.
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