One of the worst restaurants ,Its bad atmosphere and bad food ,the food was ordered its too bad
Quyen H.
We walked in during their lunch time. They weren't busy when we arrived so we got seated right away. But soon after that, people rushed in. We waited about 10 minutes until somebody came to take our orders. About 15 minutes later, our drinks and the complimentary lentil soups came out. The soup was hot and flavorful, better than I expected. After that, they brought baba ganoush to our table. After we finished our appetizer, our entrées hadn't come yet. We looked around, people who came after us already eating their entrées....but we assumed they skipped their appetizer so we continued to wait. Another 30 minutes passed by, still nothing came out and nobody said anything to us. I saw the lady sitting behind me asked the server about her order.... And I was under the impression that they were pretty busy so I patiently waited for a little while. Once I saw they brought out food for the lady behind me, I thought it's time to ask for my food... because I waited almost 45 minutes for my entrée. When I asked my server she said she would check with the kitchen, and both of my entrée came out 15 minutes after that. The server was nice and apologized about the delay. I understood they were under staffed (only 2 people running the front of the restaurant) but waiting for 1 hour for food was too much of the wait.... I was pretty disappointed at the food here. It looked like they had a lot of good reviews but compared to my recent visit at a new Mediterranean restaurant on Olive, this place wasn't worth the hype. Baba ganoush tasted as expected - nothing special. Lamb shank dish - lamb was fall off the bone tender, but rice was kinda dry. Saffron curry chicken - sauce was flavorful but chicken was overcooked...Ayran was bad and not iced cold - hard for me to drink . Lemon mint was delicious and refreshing. Pomegranate juice was okay... Pistachio pudding was delicious and not too sweet. Also, parking was awful... they had a small parking lot that was completely full and we had a hard time finding street parking. Overall, I am not sure if they had an off day or not, but i didn't have a great dining experience here.
Tina A.
Fantastic Meal! Wonderful bread, rice, biryani, and kebabs! We will be back! The restaurant and the parking lot were full for good reason. Service was great!
Ritwik B.
Overall, very good and quite inviting but a little rough around the edges. The dining room itself is a somehow appropriate mix of feeling casual while also having some sense of formal. Service was good but a little unpolished. We didn't mind waiting for a table, but their approach to is was a little funny, as they just asked us to sort of wait towards the back of the restaurant, sort of near the bathroom, resulting in some patrons wondering if we were waiting for the bathroom haha. But soon they had a table for us. The food itself is very good. Well prepared and served with care. My only complaint is that the lamb chops were medium well. They didn't actually ask what kind of cook I wanted for them, which is fine, but in that case I was thinking they would somehow find the most tender cook (temp) that made sense for their dish. I would also say that the food lacked some flavor, but that could be a feature of whatever particular regional cuisine they best represent here, which for that matter was a mystery to us as we were eating there.
Danielle P.
A beautiful corner restaurant in The Grove. I loved the way the natural light entered the dining area. The staff were attentive and kind. During the lunch hour when you order an entree you are served a bowl of Lentil Soup. If you are dining after 3 pm order you a dish because it pairs well with their entrees. I enjoyed the Chicken Kabob plate. The rice and grilled tomato salad made this dish filling. The Munto dumplings were my favorite out of the few dishes we ordered. We ordered the chicken strips and fries for our toddler. This is something we get often so it was noticeable that it took him a few meals but he ate the serving in its entirety. I would recommend this location for dates, time out with friends, or for families.
Sourabh Parulekar
Amazing food and service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Shawarma
Bj J.
The food was awesome and so was the service! Will return again soon! Parking wasnt too bad
Amy T.
Service was great and staff is friendly. Definitely make a reservation because this place gets busy! You get what you pay for and the food is delicious. I would come back time and time again.
Amirali
Comparing with villa madina its a 1 star if villa madina is a 5 star. They charge for salt!!!!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 2
Zoya A.
The BEST middle eastern fancy dining spot in St. Louis! I love bringing in friends and family from out of town and seeing their faces when the Pilau arrives to the table. You can tell the food is made with love, all the meat is so tender & everything tastes so fresh. I would definitely recommend for some unique comfort food & lively vibes & lovely service
I ve got the Sultan’s grill. It was little disappointing experience. This is a grill plate that should be made on order, not pre-cooked, and that's the problem. He put two skewer which were pre-cooked. As a result the meat was so dry and the chicken tasted like it was made the night before.The hummus was great, the garlic dip was perfect, the place is very super clean. But the main course was not good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 3
Tom Zhang
Love this place! The food is nice and comes to you quick, warm, and ready to eat!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
S Shir
A friend of mine took me there, and although their food is good quality, presentation good, the portion was very disappointing. I never had so little meat on a plate before and I’ve tried a lot of different shawarma plates
Gosha K.
What a gem of a place! If you are after some authentic Mediterranean or Middle Eastern food, this place checks all the boxes. From the incredible babaganoush to the grill plates and Arabic/Turkish coffee, it's a gastronomical delight. The service was friendly and knowledgeable (although it was a little slow as the place was busy). The neighborhood - Grove - is great and so the location is also good. It has simple decor, maybe even understated, and it's not somewhere to go for white table cloth service, but it's definitely a destination from a culinary standpoint.
Mark S.
Rude people who never answer the phone. No alcohol which I get is their choice but you can't even BYOB. Too bad.
One of the worst restaurants ,Its bad atmosphere and bad food ,the food was ordered its too bad
We walked in during their lunch time. They weren't busy when we arrived so we got seated right away. But soon after that, people rushed in. We waited about 10 minutes until somebody came to take our orders. About 15 minutes later, our drinks and the complimentary lentil soups came out. The soup was hot and flavorful, better than I expected. After that, they brought baba ganoush to our table. After we finished our appetizer, our entrées hadn't come yet. We looked around, people who came after us already eating their entrées....but we assumed they skipped their appetizer so we continued to wait. Another 30 minutes passed by, still nothing came out and nobody said anything to us. I saw the lady sitting behind me asked the server about her order.... And I was under the impression that they were pretty busy so I patiently waited for a little while. Once I saw they brought out food for the lady behind me, I thought it's time to ask for my food... because I waited almost 45 minutes for my entrée. When I asked my server she said she would check with the kitchen, and both of my entrée came out 15 minutes after that. The server was nice and apologized about the delay. I understood they were under staffed (only 2 people running the front of the restaurant) but waiting for 1 hour for food was too much of the wait.... I was pretty disappointed at the food here. It looked like they had a lot of good reviews but compared to my recent visit at a new Mediterranean restaurant on Olive, this place wasn't worth the hype. Baba ganoush tasted as expected - nothing special. Lamb shank dish - lamb was fall off the bone tender, but rice was kinda dry. Saffron curry chicken - sauce was flavorful but chicken was overcooked...Ayran was bad and not iced cold - hard for me to drink . Lemon mint was delicious and refreshing. Pomegranate juice was okay... Pistachio pudding was delicious and not too sweet. Also, parking was awful... they had a small parking lot that was completely full and we had a hard time finding street parking. Overall, I am not sure if they had an off day or not, but i didn't have a great dining experience here.
Fantastic Meal! Wonderful bread, rice, biryani, and kebabs! We will be back! The restaurant and the parking lot were full for good reason. Service was great!
Overall, very good and quite inviting but a little rough around the edges. The dining room itself is a somehow appropriate mix of feeling casual while also having some sense of formal. Service was good but a little unpolished. We didn't mind waiting for a table, but their approach to is was a little funny, as they just asked us to sort of wait towards the back of the restaurant, sort of near the bathroom, resulting in some patrons wondering if we were waiting for the bathroom haha. But soon they had a table for us. The food itself is very good. Well prepared and served with care. My only complaint is that the lamb chops were medium well. They didn't actually ask what kind of cook I wanted for them, which is fine, but in that case I was thinking they would somehow find the most tender cook (temp) that made sense for their dish. I would also say that the food lacked some flavor, but that could be a feature of whatever particular regional cuisine they best represent here, which for that matter was a mystery to us as we were eating there.
A beautiful corner restaurant in The Grove. I loved the way the natural light entered the dining area. The staff were attentive and kind. During the lunch hour when you order an entree you are served a bowl of Lentil Soup. If you are dining after 3 pm order you a dish because it pairs well with their entrees. I enjoyed the Chicken Kabob plate. The rice and grilled tomato salad made this dish filling. The Munto dumplings were my favorite out of the few dishes we ordered. We ordered the chicken strips and fries for our toddler. This is something we get often so it was noticeable that it took him a few meals but he ate the serving in its entirety. I would recommend this location for dates, time out with friends, or for families.
Amazing food and service.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Shawarma
The food was awesome and so was the service! Will return again soon! Parking wasnt too bad
Service was great and staff is friendly. Definitely make a reservation because this place gets busy! You get what you pay for and the food is delicious. I would come back time and time again.
Comparing with villa madina its a 1 star if villa madina is a 5 star. They charge for salt!!!!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 2
The BEST middle eastern fancy dining spot in St. Louis! I love bringing in friends and family from out of town and seeing their faces when the Pilau arrives to the table. You can tell the food is made with love, all the meat is so tender & everything tastes so fresh. I would definitely recommend for some unique comfort food & lively vibes & lovely service
Restaurantji Recommends
I ve got the Sultan’s grill. It was little disappointing experience. This is a grill plate that should be made on order, not pre-cooked, and that's the problem. He put two skewer which were pre-cooked. As a result the meat was so dry and the chicken tasted like it was made the night before.The hummus was great, the garlic dip was perfect, the place is very super clean. But the main course was not good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 3
Love this place! The food is nice and comes to you quick, warm, and ready to eat!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A friend of mine took me there, and although their food is good quality, presentation good, the portion was very disappointing. I never had so little meat on a plate before and I’ve tried a lot of different shawarma plates
What a gem of a place! If you are after some authentic Mediterranean or Middle Eastern food, this place checks all the boxes. From the incredible babaganoush to the grill plates and Arabic/Turkish coffee, it's a gastronomical delight. The service was friendly and knowledgeable (although it was a little slow as the place was busy). The neighborhood - Grove - is great and so the location is also good. It has simple decor, maybe even understated, and it's not somewhere to go for white table cloth service, but it's definitely a destination from a culinary standpoint.
Rude people who never answer the phone. No alcohol which I get is their choice but you can't even BYOB. Too bad.