701 mosaic

Wow … WOw … WOW! There are only a few restaurants on the island that have truly gotten our taste buds attention. This is one of them. We can only speak for the breakfast. The smoked salmon omelet was probably THE best omelet I’ve ever had. Just a carnival of flavors in my mouth. Very different from typical omelets. The grilled vegetable omelet was very good as well. But the smoked salmon was out of the park! Wonderful service too. We can’t wait until next year to try their dinner menu.

We were in town for the OCNJ Half Marathon and wanted to get something that wasn’t fried or pizza. We were a bit disappointed by the lack of options downtown OCNJ had to offer on a Saturday evening, until a quick search of Unilocal turned up this place. It was a short walk from our hotel, so we figured we’d give it a shot, and I’m glad we did.
The food is definitely authentically Caribbean, and they don’t get shy about using a good amount of the right spices. I had the Jerk Chicken, and it was among the best I’ve ever had. The flavor was outstanding, and the spicy level was just right. We also had the Patties, all of which were delicious. The curried chicken in the chicken patty was my personal favorite. It was cooked to perfection.
The homemade ginger beer was good, and I might have even bought a full glass if I wasn’t trying to gulp down so much water.
If I ever come back to OCNJ, I will definitely come back to this restaurant.

I can’t recommend this place enough. I’ve been here two nights in a row because the food is so great. I ordered the Mosaic Salad and Maple glazed salmon. The salad was fresh and delicious, tossed with a tasty, homemade dressing. Every ingredient, from the gorgonzola to the arugula was excellent quality. You can tell the chef spares no expense. Salmon dish was beautifully seasoned and the flavors were well-​balance (sweet, spicy and savory.) Staff is very friendly, knowledgeable and know how to sell the menu.
To anyone who is complaining about the time it took to either receive their meals or be seated, this restaurant IS NOT a Chili’s. This is what real food with a real chef in the kitchen is supposed to be like. If your $ 24 steak is flying out of the kitchen, that’s a sign of poor quality/​pre-​cooked, frozen food. If you want an in-​and-​out place to feed your kids, go somewhere else. But if you want a great meal and a good restaurant experience, you need to be patient and let the staff do what they do best. Definitely the best place in OC.

My wife and I went with a friend and her son. The staff was very courteous and accommodating. The place and kitchen looked and smelled clean. They were only open for dinner but this is a shoulder week so we understand.
We started with the eponymous salad which was phenomenal. Very light on the dressing and fresh fresh fresh. The Jerk Chicken was incredible and everyone liked their meals despite being far less adventurous than I am.

BEST RESTAURANT IN OC! After living here a year and experiencing very average food on this island, I was thrilled we found out about this amazing restaurant.
Food: excellent and vegetarian/​vegan friendly (recommend-​plaintain app, hummus app & vegetarian sampler main course!)
Service: friendly, knowledgeable and very attentive
Cleanliness: A+
Décor: modern

Went here to have lunch based on other reviews. We never got to have lunch because after waiting about 40 min for our food we asked the next table how long they have waited (since all of them were shaking their heads by now) and they said well over an hour and a quarter. The server commented that they ‘got over ten orders at the same time’ as if that should be expected to inundate the kitchen. So we left.

If you have a large group don’t even bother coming here. After waiting 2 hours for our food, they brought out wrong orders for 3 of us without even an apology!!! Should omelettes really take 2 hours AND be wrong?
Another small family who was here 40 mins less than us had enough and left and neither the owner nor waitress apologized to them either and still made them pay the bill for waters and iced tea.
Just pick somewhere else

Extremely unique for ocean city. Amazing this place has been open for eight years! Fantastic jerk chicken, spicy but with just the right amount of flavor, not over spiced. The salad is great as is the dip and go back, which are delicious root vegetable chips. For someone looking for less to no spice, their Byzantine chicken is fantastic and a great option. Will definitely be in our rotation of go to restaurants during our ocean city vacation.

The service was great and the food was delicious. We ordered appetizers and salad. The coconut shrimp and mini crab cakes were amazing. And the aioli dip was out of this world. The mosaic salad for two was the perfect summer salad. We loved everything and definitely plan to come back.

So far is the best restaurant in town, we tried the salmon, mosaic salad, and I was very pleased, and the ginger drink is very good, oh I forgot to mention the waitress is excellent. Anytime I’m in town, I had to go there.

Can’t believe I never heard of this place before. Ate here last night as a party of 12 people. Everyone loved the food. The chef definitely knows what he’s doing.
The portions are big and the prices are low. Too bad we couldn’t bring wine. This place should move to Margate!!!

Very underwhelming. We decided to try this place due to it’s good reviews. I had the mushroom miso soup and I just didn’t like it very much. We ordered coconut shrimp as an appetizer and it was just okay. It’s much better at outback steakhouse. I had a vegetable pasta dish which was lacking in flavor and my daughter had the salmon, she didn’t really like it and said it was dry.

The BEST restaurant in Ocean City by far! The food is prepared to order, fresh, and delicious. The honey glaze on the salmon is the best I have ever had and the Chicken Byzantine is delicious. This is our Go-​To restaurant in Ocean City and this year, they have outside seating.
The owners; Pamela and Chef Herbie are delightful people who care about their customers and make sure they have a delicious, meal and great service. I am forever grateful that finally, there is a good restaurant in Ocean City!

We went back last year and loved it and went back yesterday and still, they manage to wow me. My husband stuck to his favorite jerk chicken that is a super generous portion and down right delicious. I tried the special of maple glazed salmon with carrots and green beans plus Israeli couscous. It was amazing. The crust on the salmon was ridiculous and the salmon was cooked perfectly. Huge portion, I basically took another meal home with me! Service is so friendly. Again the place starts filling up after 5:30 so make reservations if you plan to visit after that.

Outstanding meal. She had the Mosaic Pasta and I had the Jerk Pork. Both were generously sized and very tasty. Best meal we had in Ocean City. Pamela, General Manager, was very gracious and warm. Recommend you stop by this restaurant if you are looking for a great meal.

The staff was really friendly and welcoming however, the wait was about 50 minutes before we got our food. The server also forgot our silver ware but the food made up for it!

Food was excellent. Service was great. A little slow moving but no other complaints. Would definitely eat there again.

Tried this place with someone who had been here once and loved it. The food was all very good, and if you like spicy food, go for anything jerk.
The person who had been there before re-​ordered the linguine with clam sauce because she loved it last time, but was a little disappointed. Sauce wasn’t as light and there were a lot of shells. The dish was also served with spaghetti instead of linguine… but with all that said, it was still very good.

Delicious and fresh! I’m a big fan of Mediterranean and Caribbean and this was great. So nice to have something on the island other than the typical stuff. We had jerk shrimp, jerk chicken, and maple glazed salmon. All awesome!

701 Mosaic raises the bar for dining in Ocean City.
In a shore town where evening dining options are a veritable sea of plastic tables, paper plates, claustrophobic and dark dining rooms and diner-​grade food, Mosaic is a Caribbean island oasis. Nearly floor to ceiling windows on two sides open the space for a cool dinnertime cross breeze. Tables and chairs are dark wood with service on proper ceramic and glass dinnerware. This is the kind of place that would proliferate with a legal BYOB policy in Ocean City.
We were welcomed with samples of two homemade drinks, one a sweet ginger beer and the other a just slightly less sweet but thick hibiscus tea. Both powerfully strong and lovely when blended half and half and served over ice, as our server suggested. Add a little water to cut the sweet.
The menu includes salads and appetizers, and an entrée section split into two categories– Mediterranean and Caribbean, with distinctly different offerings.
To start, we tried several apps. Veggie patties in the Spanish empanadas tradition, were a bit smaller than their European or South American counterparts with a mild filling. Also available in chicken or beef. $ 5.95.
We tried a soup-​of-​the-​day, a seafood chowder in a puréed potato base topped with chives and red pepper. Because it’s not a cream base, the chowder is rich but a hair healthier than a typical chowder. Not loaded with seafood but sufficient and nonetheless delicious. $ 5.95.
Finally to start, we had our first foray into Mosaic’s core competency, the Jerk. $ 9.95 gets you about a quarter-​pound of powerfully flavored Jerk shrimp, heated with Scotch bonnet peppers and cooked perfectly. The medium-​sized shrimp are served over a very mild mélange of onion, red pepper, scallion, carrot and a hint of ginger. The mildness of the veggies offset the strong jerk flavor for a perfect pairing.
For dinner, we tried a couple salads, Jerk Chicken and the Chicken Byzantine.
There is no question that Mosaic’s strength is in spice and flavor. This is a restaurant for those who like spice. The Jerk Chicken, roasted nicely and still moist was served with a mild dirty rice, again well paired to offset the heat. A piece or two of sweet plantain is added to round out the dish. The Jerk Chicken is an entire half-​chicken and plenty of food. $ 17.95.
The Carribean Chopped Salad ($ 13.95) was a heaping plate full of softer lettuces chopped with onion, pepper, and infused with the Jerk Chicken, shredded. The chef adds pineapple, which sweetens the salad. The citrus vinaigrette could have had a bit more citrus kick but overall the salad was refreshing and unique.
Finally, the Chicken Byzantine at $ 16.95 from the Mediterranean section of the menu was the least impressive of our options. It seems to be an option for those with less tolerance for strong flavors, but of course one visits Mosaic for the flavor. All the parts were there– lightly coated and sautéed Chicken simmered in a thick roux-​based sauce with sweet ginger hints. But the flavor just was not what I expected. Maybe this is an option for the less heat tolerant, but I found myself needing to add salt and wishing I’d ordered from the hotter Carribean menu. The dish is normally served with couscous, which might have changed the dynamic on the plate and improved things dramatically. But there was no couscous that night, so they served the dirty rice. Not the best pairing.
Though we were too stuffed to eat dessert, we had a birthday girl with us and the owner insisted and comped the table a crème brûlée cheesecake slice with a candle in it. So loaded with vanilla that one could see the tiny beans, and lightly fired on top for the brûlée effect, this dessert was fluffier than typical cheesecake and absolutely fabulous.
Service was friendly, honest and overall excellent. Very attentive, professional and completely familiar with the menu, our server was very well equipped to guide us through our choices.
Overall, well above average for Ocean City, Mosaic is a nice splurge and wonderful respite from the pizza and burger fray on the boardwalk and limited options in town.
Final verdict– assemble a few folks who like strong flavors, stick to the spicy strength of Mosaic (or maybe try a curry, which we will do next time) and you’ll love it.