Food Awards judge Professor Lloyd Waller dines at Mezza Luna

There are restaurants that open with noise, and then there are restaurants that arrive with atmosphere. Mezza Luna, Kingston’s new Mediterranean-fusion rooftop restaurant at McMaster Plaza, 110 Constant Spring Road, belongs to the second category. Its name means “half moon,” and that image feels entirely appropriate: Soft light, suspended possibility, and an evening that seems to unfold rather than announce itself.

Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards judge Professor LLoyd Waller.

On a warm Kingston night, Mezza Luna feels like a small act of transportation. You are still very much in the city, the traffic, the lights, the familiar rhythm of Constant Spring Road below, but once upstairs, the restaurant begins to loosen the edges of the day. The rooftop setting is one of its strongest features. It gives the meal air. It gives conversation space. It gives the food a stage without making the experience feel theatrical.

The room is stylish without being cold. It has that important quality many new restaurants miss: It feels designed, but not over-designed. There is polish, but also warmth. You can imagine a date night here, a birthday dinner, a small corporate celebration, or simply a table of friends leaning into a long evening of mezze, cocktails, and slow conversation. The mood is relaxed, but not casual in the ordinary sense. It is a place that asks you to dress a little better, sit a little longer, and order for the table rather than only for yourself.

The service helped shape the night. What stood out was not only attentiveness, but pacing. Good service in a restaurant like this must do more than take orders; it must guide the table through a menu that moves across Lebanon, Greece, Italy, the wider Mediterranean, and Jamaica. At Mezza Luna, the best way to eat is to surrender a little to that rhythm. The staff understood this. Recommendations were offered with confidence, dishes arrived without crowding the table, and drinks were refreshed without interrupting the flow of conversation. There was a sense that the restaurant knows it is new, but also knows what it wants to become.

Hummus Trio and an array of appetisers (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

The meal properly began with hummus, which may be the restaurant’s quiet masterpiece. Mezza Luna’s hummus is not treated as a background dip, but as a central expression of the concept. The variations, beetroot, callaloo, truffle, Scotch bonnet, prime beef, and the classic version, turn a familiar Mediterranean staple into a tasting journey. The callaloo hummus was especially memorable: local, green, herbaceous, and intelligent without feeling forced. The Scotch bonnet hummus brought Jamaican heat into the Mediterranean frame without overpowering it. It did not scream; it glowed. The beetroot hummus gave the table colour and sweetness, while the truffle version leaned into richness. Ordered as a trio, the hummus becomes more than an appetiser; it becomes the thesis statement of the restaurant.

The cold and hot mezze are where Mezza Luna is most enjoyable. The tomato bruschetta was fresh, bright, and clean, the kind of dish that looks simple but depends entirely on balance. The chicken kibbeh brought comfort and texture: A crisp outer shell giving way to a tender, warmly spiced centre. It was familiar enough to be immediately pleasurable, but different enough to remind you that this is not another predictable Kingston menu.

The crispy cauliflower with tahini deserves special mention. Cauliflower is often treated as an obligation on a menu, something for vegetarians, something to fill space. Here, it becomes one of the dishes people will likely return for. The exterior had crunch, the inside retained softness, and the tahini added creaminess without dulling the flavour. It was light, aromatic, and surprisingly satisfying.

Then came the lamb and pine nut rolls, which may be among the strongest shared plates. The crispness of the pastry, the savoury minced lamb, and the toasted pine nuts created a dish that felt festive without being heavy. It is easy to understand why lamb appears so prominently across the menu. Mezza Luna handles it not as a blunt luxury ingredient, but as something fragrant, spiced, and social.

Now to the main courses: The Shish Taouk Reimagined was a smart bridge between comfort and sophistication — tender marinated chicken, brushed with smoked paprika and lifted by charred lemon. It is the kind of plate that works for diners who want flavour without excess. The Lamb Ouzi, however, was the more dramatic dish, slow-braised lamb served over aromatic rice with raisins and almonds. It had the generosity of a family table and the refinement of restaurant plating. The rice mattered as much as the lamb; it carried sweetness, warmth, and texture, giving the dish a sense of occasion.

For diners who want something more indulgent, the Prime New York Strip with labneh mash speaks to the restaurant’s fusion confidence. Steak is not usually the first thing one associates with Mediterranean delicacy, but the labneh mash changes the direction of the plate. It softens the heaviness, adds tang, and gives the dish a more interesting identity than the standard steakhouse formula. This is where Mezza Luna is at its best: Taking recognisable luxury and giving it a regional accent.

The seafood dishes also show ambition. Lobster Santorini, with tomato, olives, capers, white wine, and parsley rice, reads like a coastal holiday translated for Kingston. The Cedar Smoked Sea Bass and Shrimp of Byblos suggest that Mezza Luna understands the Mediterranean not only through spices and dips, but through the sea — through brightness, herbs, acidity, and restraint.

The cocktails are not incidental. They are part of the restaurant’s personality. A rooftop restaurant must know what it is like to hold a glass in the open air, and Mezza Luna seems to understand this instinctively. Drinks such as the Santorini Sunset, Zaatar Breeze Martini, Blue Capri Crush, Cardamom Kiss, and Lavender Isle Martini sound designed for both the palate and the camera, but the better ones do not rely only on appearance. They extend the Mediterranean-meets-island idea into the glass. The Santorini Sunset, in particular, feels like the kind of drink that will become associated with the space, golden, social, and easy to recommend.

Dessert closed the evening gracefully. The pistachio and saffron ice cream was the most thematically elegant choice: Nutty, fragrant, and cooling after the richness of lamb, tahini, and spice. The lemon cheesecake offered brightness, while the tiramisu and cookie skillet provide safer pleasures for those who want comfort rather than surprise. But the pistachio and saffron ice cream felt most aligned with the soul of the restaurant — refined, aromatic, and quietly memorable.

Lamb Ouzi (Photo: IG/@mezzalunajamaica)

What Mezza Luna does well is create a complete evening. The restaurant is not only selling Mediterranean food; it is selling the pleasure of gathering. Its best dishes are not solitary plates. They are dishes that invite passing, dipping, sharing, tasting, comparing, and returning to the same bowl or platter for one more bite. The food encourages conversation, and the atmosphere rewards lingering.

There is still the question every new restaurant must answer: consistency. Opening excitement can carry a place for a while, but only discipline can sustain it. Mezza Luna’s prices place it in Kingston’s more premium dining category, so diners will expect not only beauty and flavour, but reliability. The kitchen will need to maintain the same balance on a busy Friday night that it offers on a carefully managed evening. The service will need to remain warm without becoming slow, polished without becoming stiff.

Crispy cauliflower with tahini (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

But on this night, Mezza Luna delivered. It gave Kingston something stylish, fresh, and sensorially generous. It honoured Lebanese and Mediterranean influences while allowing Jamaican touches to enter naturally through ingredients such as callaloo and Scotch bonnet. It offered a rooftop atmosphere without relying on the view alone. It gave the table colour, texture, perfume, spice, and pleasure.

By the end of the evening, Mezza Luna felt less like a new restaurant trying to prove itself and more like a restaurant settling into its own promise. A half moon is not yet full, but it is luminous enough to change the night. Mezza Luna has that same quality: not merely another place to eat in Kingston, but a place to experience the city from a slightly more beautiful angle.

Arancini Balls (Courtesy of Prof Lloyd Walker)