staff: friendly and hard working. service: quick and friendly. Considering we were a large group for a work function - they were fast and efficient. establishment: beautiful decor, big banquet room, nice clean and bright space. Great parking options outside. food: amazing! Great flavour! Generous portions. We had a set menu for a work function. It was all amazing. They do not serve alcohol. read more

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A great place to spend time, events large and small. Today we celebrated a Christmas event. The atmosphere of comfort and tranquility!!! Clean, beautiful, quiet music!!! The food is delicious, the service is excellent!!! We'll be back! thanks to the owner and his team!!! read more

I stopped by Sahara Palace recently for a friend's birthday. It's a huge Lebanese restaurant located in Castledowns in the Northside. I wouldn't have expected to find it there because it's in a random strip mall area with a grocery store. I guess you can call it a hidden gem because the food was delicious! Their menu consists of soups and salads, hot and cold mezza (this means 'small dishes' in Middle Eastern cuisine), mashawi (grilled meats and vegetables), sandwiches, and main dishes. To start off a very filling meal, I shared an order of Batata Harra with one of my friends. This dish consisted of fried potato cubes covered in a tomato paste with coriander, garlic, ginger, and hot pepper. The sauce reminded me of a mild curry sauce as it had a bit of spice to it. I definitely got lost in the sauce. Although the potato cubes were fried, I did not taste any crispiness to it. Nonetheless, they were still delicious. They were served with a side of garlic sauce, which was fluffy and tasted refreshing with the spiciness of the potatoes. Another appetizer that I shared was Bih Jibni, deep fried pastries filled with a mixture of cheese, dried fennel, and spices. These pastries reminded me of a better version of pizza pops. They were very cheesy but I didn't taste any spice in them. This dish was alright but didn't stand out for me. For my main, I decided to share a Kabob dish with my friend. Two grilled shish kabob skewers were served on top of pita with vegetables and more pita on top, which is why you can't see the skewers in the photo. It was accompanied by fries, rice, hummus, a cold potato salad, and a side of salad. My friend wanted the beef well done, so it wasn't as juicy as I would've liked but it was still good. The cold potato salad was a creamy mixture of potatoes, peas, scallions. Everything in this dish went together perfectly. If you ordered this all to yourself, it would certainly be very filling! The Kabob also comes with a side of salad. You can choose from Tabouleh, Greek, Fatoush, or Caesar. Everyone at the table went with Tabouleh - for good reason! If you've never heard of this type of salad, it's a parsley salad that comes with diced tomato, fresh mint, and onion, then seasoned with lemon juice and olive oil. It was my first time trying it and I liked how flavourful it was. The salad was very refreshing and full of zest. We each got a chocolate lava cake because it wouldn't be a birthday without dessert! The warm cake was topped with pecans and oozed with a chocolate filling as soon as you sliced into it. It was definitely very rich in chocolate. I didn't really like the strawberry banana ice cream that it came with, vanilla would've tasted better. I am not a huge fan of chocolatey desserts but if that's your thing, you'd probably like this a lot. My only critique about my visit would be the service (minus one star). We came mid-afternoon on Palm Sunday, so it was busier than usual. The service was mediocre because orders were mixed up or missing specified items, or took longer to come than others. This won't stop me from coming back though because I still enjoyed the food in the end. Everything was very filling and as you can tell, I shared most of my food. I'd recommend doing the same just so that you can get a taste of what different Lebanese dishes are like! read more

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What a lovely surprise of a restaurant in Castle Downs. Came here for a birthday party - there were 8 of us. We all left full and satisfied and would happily return because the food and service were great! We each partook in the $35 set menu which was worth every penny - and then some! Served family style, the portions were HUGE and we all left the restaurant with leftovers. Highlights: - Fattoush Salad - Tabouli Salad - Roasted eggplant dip with pita - Some sort of savoury pastry with cheese and spinach inside - Grilled meat platter with pita There were a couple other dishes, hummus, rice and a deep-fried football thingy that also came with the meal which I didn't try. Great place to host a large party as the space is huge! I would recommend this place for an amazing Lebanese meal. It's worth the trek all the way northside in my opinion. read more

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Food is always incredibly fresh, best cuts of meat and chicken always. Presentation is always beautiful. hot fresh delicious every time even when ordering take out. Highly recommended for authentic high quality Lebanese food. Best on the city! read more

Very tasty Lebanese food. The salad bowls are a healthy option. I love their red pepper dip.

Sahara is a great place to get together as a group and have some good food. I highly recommend that you get the set menu if you are going as a group. The set menu provides so many different options and everyone can have a little bit of everything....the best part is that they keep refilling the salads and hummus as you finish them. You must try the fatoush when you go to Sahara The dessert menu is very basic but the food menu is really well done I will continue to go here for many more years read more

Fantastic Big portions so best to share with a friend unless you have a big appetite read more

Sahara Mediterranean Restaurant - Mediterranean Near Me - Edmonton, Alberta

My husband and I took a break from Christmas shopping and were driving around Castledown's area and stumbled onto this gem. We started off with mint tea, fresh mint really made this drink pop. We decided to try the $35.00/person mezza deal. So much delicious food! The Tabouleh salad is probably the best one that I have had in the city..zippy full of fresh lemons I will go back for this dish alone. Everything was fresh and good but the other stand out was the Fried Kibbeh and the cheese Sambousik. The kibbeh was similar to a croquette but lager and torpedo shaped. It contained chickpea puree with tahine garnished with minced meat & pine nuts. The sambousik was similar to an empanada. Light and airy filled with gooey cheese, we scraped up every crumb. Then add fresh hot pita bread, hummus,Baba Ghanouj, rice stuffed grape leaves, skewers of chicken, kafta, and beef kabobs plus a heaping dish of rice and you will roll right out of there. We had enough for a huge lunch, supper that night and lunch for 1 the next day. Looking at the menu there are other interesting things to try but I don't know if I could pass up this mezza deal. You must try this if you like Mediterranean food. Clean and modern with welcoming staff, I can't think of anything to improve this place! read more

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Oh my this is place has delicious food!!! I have tried everything vegetarian item on the menu ( and there is a lot) and everything is very tasty. Their Fatoush and their Mouhamara are the best but you won't go wrong with what ever you order. The staff is friendly and the service is usually good. Some people might have a problem with the fact that you can smoke hookah in the restaurant but if you go early enough I have found that it's never a problem. The have a parking lot but no patio. I highly recommend this place. read more

Went here for lunch yesterday. It just opened up, in the same plaza as the El Safadi Mediterranean Market. The space had formerly been occupied by Zocca's Pizzeria, which was nothing short of a dump...so I was curious to see what the new occupants had to offer. The interior is HUGE, and far more elegant than I'd expected. There was a bar, a prominent dance floor, and the walls were lined with comfortable-looking booths. It was a Saturday afternoon, so it wasn't busy at all- but it looked like the ideal spot for a wedding reception. The waitress took our drink orders. One of my co-diners asked for water, which only came in a bottle. This seemed pretty strange; I'm not sure why you couldn't get a simple glass of ice water. The other one had a diet pepsi, I had black coffee, which came in a glass cup- a nice touch. The menu has minimal descriptions of each item, and some have no description (which led me to inquire if perhaps the 'Sahara burger' or 'Sahara poutin' contained anything decidedly Arabic.) Eventually, we settled on the beef pastries, the hummus with dried figs, and the chicken sandwich. All were DELICIOUS. The hummus in particular was beautifully presented, in a glass bowl with cilantro, olive oil and a ring of dried figs. The chicken sandwich was actually a wrap, served with fries and an abundance of garnishes. The pickled cabbage tasted less like it had been pickled, and more olive-y. The beef pastries were OK, but the chicken in the wrap was perfectly spiced, and probably the most flavorful thing there. We had no plans to order dessert...but our waitress unexpectedly offered us one, on the house! She described it as 'cheesecake'. While it did have a graham base, it tasted more like vanilla pudding topped with pistachio bits and honey. Still amazing! All in all, a great experience. :) read more

Hidden in the back of Castle street, this exquisite Lebanese restaurant. We ordered the $35/person treat and we got a full mezza and meat skewers. Good for at least three people. The atmosphere is cozy unless they have a dancing night. The waitress and service were superb. The taste of the food is the best Lebanese taste we have experienced in Alberta so far. Worth the trip and the money. read more

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The food is fantastic if you like Mediterranean cuisine. Recommend coming on a Saturday though, the entertainment is much better than on Friday (just a DJ). Bring lots of people because this place is meant for getting together with your friends and having a good time. read more

I can consider Sahara a Fine Dining Lebanese restaurant. In Edmonton not much of choices we have for fine dining Mediterranean Food, I ordered a Cold Mezza platter and it use very good you get try multiple tastes in the same platter, I got Mouhamara ( Chopped Walnut with peppers) this is my first, Hummus, Labneh and Baba Ghanouj ( mainly egg Plants), I loved the variety. The service was kind of OK, our Waitress wasn't bad, but I think she needs to know more about the food, how to describe it. Parking is ok, the restaurant was busy, and the atmosphere was great. read more

Wow! This was my first time here and I will be back. Great place to sit as a group and share food. The price is great, our server Mo was very tentative and polite. I've never smoked sheesh. I have now! What a great Friday evening! read more

Great restaurant with amazing food huge thank you to Sorina for the great service and amazing management they had a concert and it was amazing it was our first time we will for sure come back read more

This place has the best Lebanese food especially the fatouch it is made with perfection. Spending time with friends and family you will have a blast. It is loud sometimes when they have music on be prepared to shout when you are talking . Overall you will have a great experience read more

Wonderfully tasty Lebanese food! Came here with my family for a birthday and we all had the 35$ set menu - great value to try so many different things, and hearty portions provided left overs for tomorrow. The custard for dessert was lovely. read more

We were there for celebrating a special occasion and ordered a set menu for our dinner. The food was entirely different from what we expected. The service was terrible so that we get rice after we finished the meal. I do not recommend this restaurant to anybody who is going to try eastern cuisine in Edmonton. read more

Man, don't you just love getting intel about a new restaurant few have discovered and trying out their wares for yourself? I sure do. So when I learned about a new Mediterranean/Middle Eastern restaurant called Sahara Palace on the north side of town, you better believe I jumped at the chance to try it. The first thing you'll notice when you arrive is how HUGE this place is. It must be one of the biggest restaurants in town. Sahara's has only been open a few months, so everything is spotless and brand new. Tables, chairs, washrooms, tvs, décor, you name it is wonderfully designed, clean and comfortable. I came here on a Saturday and returned on Sunday to try out their menu. On Saturday I started with a full tabouleh salad. It was $10 and was massive! It tasted great too, but be warned, don't order the full size unless you are either a big salad lover or are ravenously hungry because this salad will kick your ass! After the salad I decided upon something called Bih Jibni. The best way I can describe these is that to me they resemble fried perogies. I tried an order of six which cost $12. The waitress kindly allowed me to mix the meat ones with the cheese ones and I found the cheese ones to be a lot better. Although these things were tasty, they were very small and certainly not worth the $12 I paid for them. On Sunday I ordered one of Sahara's combos, in this case, the kafta combo. If you are new to Mediterranean cuisine I highly suggest the combos, because they have a little bit of everything. This combo had a fatoush salad, hummus with pita bread, fries and kafta which is a cooked mince meat. The fatoush salad was the best I've ever had. Full of tomatoes, peppers and covered in a delicious pomegranate sauce - just awesome. The kafta was fine and the pita/hummus were standard. This platter cost $25 and you get a lot of food here - I couldn't finish it all. A couple of things they can improve on is first they should start making home made fries instead of frozen ones. This place can do a lot better than offering frozen fries. And secondly, they don't serve free water. This is a major pet peeve of mine. The stuff is practically free from the taps yet they feel compelled to sell customers bottled water. Come on Sahara's, show some old fashioned customer service and at least offer free water to your patrons. Aside from these few complaints, I really think you'll be impressed with Sahara's. Great food and great atmosphere. Just be hungry when you show up........ read more

It's a beautiful restaurant with a beautiful interior and great food. I'd consider myself a regular and go quite frequently when I'm in town. Earlier today with no other customers in the restaurant, I sat for 10-15 minutes while the one server in particular who offers terrible service sat on her phone. Put more emphasis on great service and you'll be a 5 star read more

The restaurant is very spacious & can accommodate private parties. I guess most Middle Eastern restaurants do the shisha, but I'm not keen on the smell. We sat far away from that. The food was excellent & I would come back here again. We ordered the Mashawi platter. read more

Tried this restaurant for lunch with my mother and grandmother. The food was very good and the waitress was very nice but we didn't like that you can't just order a glass of water, you need to buy a water bottle and when I asked for water, I wasn't told that before hand read more

This a beautiful restaurant, the atmosphere is inviting and colourful. Throughout the week, I work hard to make my money and I do not recommend spending it here. The service was frustrating and at times rude. Me and my family felt ignored and even awkward at times when calling out for service. Like the majority of people going out to eat, I expect a certain amount of respect and integrity. Needless to say I felt like another number on an assembly line waiting for food. read more

First, this place is decorated really pretty. I had taken my sister and her friends to this restaurant and when we got there, they told us that there is minimum charge of $30 dollars per person. I was like "What?" I had never went to a restaurant that force you to pay a certain money without even ordering anything yet. I was ready to turn around but my sister really wanted to stay so we had gotten a table. Did I forgot they do not even give free water. The pop drinks are extra charge from the $30 dollars and no free refill. We had bought a cake for my sister as surprise and wanted them to bring it out after we had eaten. When it was time to pay, I didn't know first about pop drink being extra from $30 dollars and no free refills. They charge us for bringing out the cake also. In the end between me and my sister we had payed $120 dollars. I have seen people coming to this restaurant alot of times and I asked around they pay less money. I guess cause I wasn't arab or any of my friends were not Arabs, they charged us soo much. Yes they do treat people differently. If you are not their friends or cousins or family member, be prepared to spend big bucks. Be careful of this restaurant if you are not ready to spend big bucks because everything is going to cost alot of money. Ask everything of there services before you accept going in. read more

Food was decent. Ordered chicken shawarma and mixed grill platter. Price was a little too high for quality of food and customer service could have been better. Also ordered lentil soup. It was mediocre. read more

should not be even giving a single star. I have experienced a worst restaurant experience. The menu has minimal descriptions of each item, and some have no description. The waiter recommended us to go with the full Mezza menu since. Platter was to be shared with 4 people (which we found out later) so that small platter cost us $140. Upon calling the waiter who brought his manager. This person was super rude. The waiter did not even come back to fill up the water. So we paid almost $500 for the food that we did not eat and then we left the place to eat at Turquaz Kebab House where they have the best food quality. Will never go there again or recommend anyone read more

Rude customer service, wait time is ridiculous. Even though it wasn't busy at all Tuesday evening. Don't want to listen even doesn't come back for water refill. Not going again ! read more

Top notch restaurant the atmosphere is lovely, warm and welcoming. Great service and servers Ruykia lovely, pleasant server. The food was awesome , this is my third time there ate the lamb chops, mouth watering delicious. The portions are very generous. The baklava cheese cake, what was good. It was a lovely Sunday night dining! read more

Bad costumer service, rude staff. Dirty. Do not eat here. The restaurant is filled with the gross smelling shesha smoke. Who wants to eat food with all the nasty smoke around. The positive reviews are probably written by the owners of the restaurant. read more

BEST Mediterranean food EVER!! Very good quality, music is really nice plus they have Dj and singer at night. They have hookah as well. Clean place,and very good service. LOVED IT. read more

Had a wonderful time at Sahara Palace tonight. Our server was very accommodating and allowed us to order off the pre-set menu (despite only two purchasing rather than required 4 persons) since it was our first time eating Lebanese food. Our hats off to Xixi! Thank you I really enjoyed the atmosphere and experience. I felt as though I had walked into a whole foreign world. The food was exotic and what I can only imagine to be as authentic as possible. Make sure your bring your appetite and have plenty of time to enjoy the food. read more

Best Mediterranean restaurant in Alberta food is simply amazing always fresh try stopping by once a week staff are friendly and helpful really explain everything on the menu read more

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The food was amazing and there are a lot of the food. Definitely worth the price. The server, Abdul was attentive and helpful as well

Dirty tables and dirty menus with food smears all over them. We left immediately.. I could only imagine the filthy kitchen that was about to service us...we left before salmonella set in...save your money .. read more

Delicious food and awesome shisha! The sambouski and calamari were wonderful. And Britneey is a great server. Kept us eating and drinking for hours! read more

This was a wonderful meal. I would highly recommend the set menu. The atmosphere was lively too. Dailla our server was great.

Unbelievable ,great food ,big bang for your buck. It was a wonderful time wonderful outing I recommend it to all.

Amazing food, atmosphere and shisha. Moe was our server and he was amazing! Will come back for sure.

Greatest service by Carly highly recommend!! Food was delicious and the shisha is definitely the best in the city!