Before visiting, all I really knew about Mbar was that it was an extremely buzzy collaboration between the Haroun family, owners of the popular Middle Eastern fusion restaurant Mamnoon, and Jason Stratton, the chef who brought Spinasse to glory. I was prepared for a bit of pomp,
given that it was billed as “the definitive Seattle rooftop restaurant experience” and serves the city’s nouveau riche tech elites.
Mbar is definitely a trip, I’ll give it that. The entire restaurant is on a rooftop, so the gated-community vibe is strong from the beginning. Exacerbating that is the waiting room, where patrons are divided into two lines as they approach the host stand: reservations and peasants… er, walk-ins.