Mare Nostrum

High marks for dolmas, tzatziki and lamb chops from my wife and I. She thought the Gypsy Salad was good, too.
The octopus was good, too, and our friends liked their lamb and beef dishes.
Atmosphere was festive, wait staff friendly, but service a tad slow.
Unlike some other reviews, we had no problem having good conversation and being heard.
The flamenco dancer is now featured just once a month.

Excellent late lunch and great waitress– thank you Kieran. We were the only patrons early afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed our food. We had the grilled octopus, pink sultan, lamb kofte and a fabulous Kunefe for dessert. The food was reminiscent of our trip to Istanbul last year. Great flavors, all freshly prepared and an amazing ending with authentic Turkish tea. We will be back.

This place has very authentic Turkish dishes! Very welcoming atmosphere and delicious cuisine! We ordered a lot of mezze platters: sarma, cheese, strained yogurt, pink sultan, deniz borulcesi (sea beans), cig kofte, icli kofte, manti, artichokes, mercimek koftesi, mercimek corbasi, … As well as the Adana kebap. Everything was delicious! Its a BYOB place so you get to bring your own alcohol. Theres a liquor store with a good selection right next to it. We also tried the desserts and both the kunefe and ekmek kadayif were stellar! The service was also great! Definitely recommend!

I’ve supported and endorsed this restaurant over the past several months; however, after a disappointing dining experience on New Year’s Eve, that will no longer be the case. Quality of food and quality of service significantly declined. I wish that I could have blamed our experience on a busy NYE, but the restaurant was only at 50 percent capacity. Our server provided minimal attention and we had to interrupt her conversation with her peers to order coffees following our meals. Interestingly, after she delivered our check, she was extremely attentive and anxious to receive her anticipated tip.
Luckily, within Fells Pt and Harbor East there are many restaurants that provide consistent quality food and service.

Amazing gem in fells point! I got the Shrimp Sis and it was phenomenal. The Meze appetizers were delicious and had very generous portions. Their beet appetizers were my favorite. The atmosphere was very relaxing with Mediterranean music and the décor was beautiful. Very attentive service and an overall great experience. Next time I am in Baltimore I will definitely be visiting this place again !!

Mare Nostrum is a B.Y.O. Mezze, Turkish, Greek, Mediterranean restaurant located in the heart of the Fells Point eating and drinking apex. Mezze’s are small plate dishes of Mediterranean origin with kebabs being the overwhelming favorite.
The décor is quaint, in this small narrow room, and the service is charming. A cart is rolled over to your table laden with the offerings of the evening. Each dish is painstakingly explained. We chose an assortment of stuff and some were good and some so so. We enjoyed our Saganaki, but it could have been cooked a bit more to get that nice crust. The bulgar appetizer was bland and had a Metamucil like texture. My lamb kaftka with yogurt was delicious, but thin with the meat. Salads were okay and desserts mediocre. The bill of fare was average, making the meal a bit more enjoyable.
I think Mare Nostrum would be great fun for a large group of friends and lots of liquor or wine. However, as a dining experience, it is just okay

Came here on a Thursday night. Read some hit or miss reviews, so I was interested to see what it was all about.
Upon reading the menu it seemed a bit pricey for tapes style plates, but what the heck. The restaurant itself is pretty small, and even smaller when they place the «dance floor» for the female dancer and the guitarists behind her. There was a performance throughout the night with the dancer using these clappy things and a lot of foot work. it was seriously amazing! It was great… but then I couldn’t hear my friend at all. So basically you’re interrupted throughout the night. The restaurant itself is just too small for this loud of an act. Got old real fast.
The service was … attentive but poor timing. The waiter showed us a big selection of the cold small plates of a cart. It was overwhelming. I couldn’t remember anything by the end of the ten minute intro. We decided on small plates and splitting a lamb kebap. We had the beat salad, some phyllo finger things, one other cold and an eggplant dish. The eggplant was SUPERB. the phyllo was yummy. The beat salad was not so good. The lamb kebap came out about three bites in to our small plates. So like I said, too much food not he table and I was worried that the lamb was going to get cold. Then we couldn’t even talk about what dishes we liked… because it was so loud.
All in all, it was just okay with just okay pricing. I loved the lamb and the eggplant, but everything else fell pretty flat.
Oh well, good company (when you can hear them) wins!!!
Oh and its BYOB with no corkage fee which is a huge bonus if you drink.

Great food! Octopus is best i have ever had (i just came from Greece and ate lot of good octopus but seriously, this place has the best by far!) Grilled bronzino is another hit. Kebab dishes awesome. Mezzes are light and delicious. Tastefully decorated and great service. Liquor store is next door if you want wine and beer.

This place was amazing! Great food, amazing and friendly service; also you can bring your own drinks so you don’t have to pay $ 40 for a bad bottle of wine. The atmosphere and interior design is very sophisticated and welcoming. We got the Chef’s Mix Kebap which showcases all the spectacular dishes they have to offer. My date and I are definitely planning on coming back!

THIS PLACE IS DELICIOUS. So glad we decided to try it out as we walked by.
If you get the chicken kebap, you will thank yourself a thousand times. I have never had more tender chicken in my entire life. It was perfectly seasoned and cooked and… just drooling thinking about it.
We sat outside on a busy night, so the staff forgot to place our order. They were extremely apologetic and even gave us yogurt sauce for free. The yogurt was super thick and delicious. You can just tell it is quality. I really appreciated how much the staff wanted us to have a decent meal despite the mix-​up.
I am a huge huge fan. The high price is well worth the amazing meal.

I went here in a group of 6 on a Saturday night. Looks like a family owned restaurant so it felt more authentic than other places. It took a while to get seated, which was surprising because it wasn’t overly busy.
We ended up ordering a number of different things and shared everything. The lamb chops were really good, we ended up placing three orders of them. For appetizers, the octopus was awesome and the stuffed calamari was really unique. We also got the fish and the chicken kabob — both were good but not as amazing as the lamb chops.
Finally, this place is BYOB. I didn’t see any signs that said that but there are liquor stores around the block. BYOB definitely makes for a different dining experience!

I’m not sure why I hadn’t heard about Mare Nostrum until a couple of weeks ago but it is a great addition to Fells Point. I went here with three other people and we ended up trying a number of their small plates, all of which were excellent. There wasn’t a single item that we regretted ordering.
In addition to good food Mare Nostrum has the advantage of being BYOB. The prices for their dishes are a bit high for the amount of food you get but if you want beer or wine with your meal you can save a lot of money by bringing your own. They don’t even hit you with a corkage fee. The service we had was very good and the restaurant’s atmosphere is very pleasant. This is one of the best new restaurants to open in Baltimore in quite a while.

I LOVE this new restaurant in Fell’s. Having gone to Turkey, this restaurant made me feel like I had teleported there. The adana is amazing– texture, flavors, preparation. Definitely cannot go wrong with the adana kebab entrée. Food is plentiful and beautifully plated with roasted veggies. My boyfriend ordered the adana kebab and I ordered the Beyti kebab (also with adana but comes wrapped in lavash bread and yogurt sauce). ALSO DELICIOUS!!!
We also ordered a couple of side dishes including the Esme (spelling?) which is a flavorful dish comprised of tomatoes and other veggies and has a spicy kick to it. Delicious! The other great thing about Mare Nostrum is that it is BYOB. Unfortunately we did not know this when we got there or else we would have taken some wine with us. Next time for sure!
If you love Baklava, this is a great place to order them. Just the right amount of sweetness and not overly saturated with honey.
Definitely one of my favorite restaurants in Baltimore! Such a treasure!

A group of four of us came to Mare Nostrum for dinner on a Sunday night, and had an amazing experience. We were impressed by the beautiful interior. The menu was almost too big to choose from, so we were relieved when our server came around with the meze options and had some great recommendations for us.
We were floored by the Alexandros Garides shrimp. Others at my table would argue that the shish kebap chicken or the saksuka were the best dishes we ordered. Regardless, they were all amazing! I don’t think you can go wrong at Mare Nostrum, «our seas.» Josh and Riyash (sp?) provided excellent service and recommendations, and brought us ice immediately for our white wine. Tip: BYOB! You’ll be back soon, because the flavors, service, and value are unbeatable!

I really enjoyed dining here. It’s BYOB which I always love. The staff is attentive and explained the menu very well. You get this amazing bread after you order. I could have just filled up on bread and called it a day, it was that good.
My friend and I ordered the Cig Kofte to start. The texture was a little weird, but the flavor was robust. It was kind of sweet, then at the end, it had a spicy kick to it. We then got the feta wrapped in phyllo paper, saksuka and the grape leaves. The grape leaves were a little sweet, and I prefer them more sour, but they were still pretty good.
The décor is very well done inside. It’s a mixture of tables with chairs, or part booth with pillows and chairs.

Given as much as I like wine and my most recent adventure, a BYOB spot is always a good choice for me. I gathered a bunch of friends and we headed out to Mare Norstrum. It’s Mediterranean inspired Turkish cuisine. Everyone brought a bottle; there is no corkage fee, since there isn’t an official BYOB policy.
These guys have a very interesting menu — they have a cart with all the cold appetizers that they will wheel out and walk you through. Our table was big, I couldn’t hear, and I am easily distracted.
We started with the hummus — your traditional chickpea, tahini, and lemon variety — and the Haydari, which is one of my favorites, a creamy yogurt dip made with lots of dill and garlic. We also had the Pink Sultan, which combines lots of things I like, red beets and the garlic yogurt dip. Plus, lots of the Turkish flat bread. These small plates are definitely big enough to share for the table.
Our next «course», was hot appetizers. If you haven’t noticed, I am on an octopus kick lately. I am not sure exactly when I fell in love… and I am sure my friends will be happy for me to find a new «favorite»… Nevertheless, we ordered it at Mare Nostrom. They grilled it and have a very simply preparation — a little oregano, olive oil, red onion, and capers.
We also ordered the stuffed calamari. This was by far my favorite dish on the table; I actually liked it better than the octopus. We had to order another one, because there are only 4 or 5 pieces per plate. I am so glad that I was sharing this with the table. It can’t be a god idea to eat something that delish all by yourself… Oh my…
The bronzini was so great, that we ordered two. We did the hot appetizer, although I have heard that the entrée is amazing. The sote is a sautéed fish with lots going on — crushed tomatoes, a great spice, red peppers and onions…
To finish up we went with all the skewers — easy to share. Mare Nostrum calls them Kebap. We had beef, shrimp, and lamb. The shrimp left the table first.

Shows promise, but careless mistakes kept my lunch at Mare Nostrum from shining.
The service was friendly but aloof, which was inexcusable given that for the first half of our meal my friend and I were the only customers in the restaurant.
The Midye Dolma (mussels stuffed with rice) were tasty but overpriced. Three mussels for $ 7? Ehh.
The Turkish tea and fresh bread were on point.
The manti, which I was so excited to see on a menu in Baltimore, tasted nice. However, there was too much yogurt and, worse, it was unevenly hot and cold in spots, almost as if it had been microwaved. The oil that gets drizzled on top had hardened as if it sat in the refrigerator pre-​prepared. Really strange.
The menu is truly extensive and I will come again at dinner time when the place is busier and staff is, hopefully, more awake and on their game.

We order the Mix Grill Plank. It taste good, but we waited for too long.
At the end, we order the Firinda Sutlac. I’m lovin’ the rice pudding.

Feels weird to go against all the 5-​star reviews, but our visit last night was just ok. Four of us had a Sat night 8pm reservation, and arrived a little early in case a table was ready before then. There is nowhere to wait, so we went to Maxs for a beer until then. A few mins before 8, I called to make sure that our table would be ready then, so we didn’t have to stand around awkwardly. They told me they were running about 20 mins behind. So we headed over at 8:20. We weren’t seated until 8:40.
The atmosphere was cozy & lively, and with a full restaurant, a little on the loud side. I liked the wood walls and the long tables. The bathroom was blindingly bright in stark comparison to the dimly lit dining room.
Service was somewhat odd — no one identified themselves as our server. They all seemed to work as a team, which is fine, but when we were ready to order, we didn’t know who we should be tracking down. Items came out as they were ready, relatively quickly. The table was cleared in a timely manner. Dessert wasn’t offered until at least 30 mins after our dishes were cleared. (It was 11pm at this point & we were finishing our BYOB wine)
Food — def some hits & misses. We ordered the hummus (excellent), the Babaganush (excellent), the Beet Salad (I hated this & normally love beets — also a half a slice of cucumber & sliver of carrot does not make a salad), Stuffed grape leaves (ehhh, we’ve had better), Sigara Boregi (great), the appetizer portion of Manti (really unexpected first taste that none of us cared for, but grew on us the more we ate), the Bronzini (great), and the beef shish kebab (excellent). They were out of both the Beef Tenderloin & the Dorade fish. For dessert we had the rice pudding (good), and the Kunefe (interesting, but good).

A full five stars for the food, cold appetizers are a must to try. Icli köfte was pretty good, Çiğ köfte (a turkish delicacy, hard to find outside of turkey) was surprisingly delicious. Mezes were authentic, salad was fresh. Künefe is a must! The best kunefe I’ve had in so many years. It has a classy yet casual vibe, although the cold room-​décor mixed with a slow Wednesday crowd made it seem a little empty. The owner is friendly and engaging and I can see this quickly becoming a hot spot.