Mémé Mediterranean restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen is named after brothers Alon and Jacob Cohen’s mother, as it is French Moroccan for Grandma. There’s also a West Village location.

My dining mates started with Cava Rose Spritz  with Mezzodi liqueur, Pamplemousse liqueur, grapefruit juice and Cava Rose ($18). I recommend the nicely balanced Mémé’s Manhattan ($17) with bourbon, rum, vermouth and crème de pêche to bourbon lovers.

Our least favorite of the evening was their roasted cauliflower, which took more than 30 minutes to come out of the kitchen, especially compared to that version we devoured at Gupshup. They season that dish with Maghreb  (African) spices and lemon tahini ($14). Mémé’s is bland; Gupshup is not, which is why I highly recommend the latter.

Their chilled salad of grilled octopus ($20) comes with greens, fennel, tomato and chickpea salad in a lemon vinaigrette. We liked the seared sea scallops (4 for $19) better with fava bean puree in a picked veggie vinaigrette topped with crushed pine nuts. I recommend the scallops.

Also, don’t miss their creamy risotto ($26) with large portobello mushroom slices, Swiss chard and chunks of parmesan with black truffle butter. Each bite was a delight.

Since we had room for one more dish, we first asked our excellent server how quickly we could get their combo platter ($22), as our timing to get to the theatre to see Plaza Suite was tight even though we had allocated two hours for eating.

She replied, “ten minutes at most.” Twenty minutes later, I walked into the restaurant and asked them to cancel that order and give us our bill so we could make the curtain. The dish appeared from the kitchen at that moment.

We scarfed down the babaganoush, hummus, beets, tabouli, falafel, matbucha (cooked and seasoned tomatoes and red pepper), carrots and roast peppers with pita triangles and ran off to the Hudson Theatre to see the married couple, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick in Plaza Suite. I enjoyed seeing them perform together in Neil Simon’s slapstick look at love and marriage.

Like many NYC restaurants, Mémé doesn’t keep the menus on their website up to date with pricing. All dishes cost more than indicated online.

Mémé Mediterranean,
Hell’s Kitchen
607 10th Avenue
New York, NY 10036
917.262.0827