I saw the glowing reviews and figured it must be good. The restaurant was crazy busy. We were…read moreseated very near our reservation time. I could tell it was a family establishment, and I enjoyed watching the family dynamics as we waited to order. There were several Middle Eastern families in the restaurant, so I knew the food must be good. It was nice watching families come together and eat. Some would go upstairs to the prayer room which I found to be a nice touch to the restaurant. We ordered Baba Ghanoush, Hummus with shawarma, and falafel as starters. They were all excellently made. For mains, we ordered the mixed grill for three and the chicken biryani. For dessert, we had coffee and baklava. I have eaten middle eastern food in many places: LA, New York, Dublin, London, and Dubai. This was the best I have ever had. Period. Bar none. Even though the wait to order may have initially caused me to rate the restaurant five stars, the food and the subsequent service made me rethink that. I did something I rarely do...I pulled the owner and head chef out of the back to give them my compliments. We will return every time we are in Cardiff. P.S. Cash only! But there is an ATM outside the door.

SO good! loved the atmosphere and the chicken was flavored really well. their secret sauce is also…read moreextremely good, be sure to ask for it.

Top notch Tagine in Cardiff? Why not! Mezza Luna came recommended by fellow Yelpers and was a…read moredelight. Wait staff and servers were charming and helpful, service was prompt and the food did not disappoint. I had the roasted Aubergine starter with pita and opted for the Tagine Andalus for my main. Delicious, very visually attractive and with lots of well-cooked seafood, the Tagine was just as described - a paella done in the Tagine cooker. Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended. I will certainly be going back.

Going into this restaurant with my boyfriend I was happy to be greeted by a friendly but…read moreprofessional waiter. I was really impressed with the prices which I thought were extremely cheap (However, upon looking at the menu online before writing this review to make sure that I get everything right, I realise that the meat dishes are actually not that cheap - not expensive, just not cheap). I had a vegetarian tagine and we shared various mezze. The service throughout was excellent. It was attentive but also not too pushy or intrusive. The ambience of the whole place is brilliant and it's one of the places that I always recommend to people now. It's a little away from the normal place that people go to eat (more towards town) but it's worth the small walk.

A place of sheer opulence in comparison to the other businesses along this stretch of city road…read more This Middle eastern dining experience has to be one of my favorites, the complete atmosphere of the place transports you to the middle east with the lavish décor and traditional cooking. Stylish sophisticated design has gone into this renovated building with all the care and attention spent in transforming it into a masterful piece of interior design. The private seating gives your table a secluded feel and the service is pleasant and well worth the experience, additionally they are generous with the serving and extras. There is no service charge added, which makes the whole dining that more worth the trip. Food served in what I would imagine is Moroccan style tangine dishes makes the authenticity that more delightfully exciting, especially if you have never experienced this style of cuisine. I would recommend Burj Al Arab to anyone; I look forward to many repeat visits in the future.

Burj Al Arab, when literally translated from Arabic, reads 'Tower of the Arabs', and, somewhat…read moreunsurprisingly, has become a favoured name for businesses around the globe, (particularly hotels... with perhaps the most impressive of these being the Burj Al Arab in Dubai). It is fitting that there is a business of the same name on City Road. This area of Cardiff has a large Middle Eastern community, with Kurdish traders on the street outnumbering any other nationality. The Burj Al Arab on City Road is not a hotel however. It is a very elegant restaurant and coffee lounge that occupies a large property that looks like it used to be a pub. Unlike so many of the pubs in Cardiff today, this building is beautifully decorated in cream and brick red, with individual black canopies fanning out over the doors and windows. National flags of many of the Arab nations line a lintel that spans the width of the building beneath the upstairs windows. Pride of place is nevertheless reserved for the Welsh national flag that sits alongside a green ensign with an Arabic inscription. The food served here is clearly of Arabic origin, with tagines and couscous being the most dominantly featured items on the menu. Delicious!

Fantastic place to eat in Cardiff, eaten here a couple of times and its an absolute crime how quiet…read moreit it!

If you're in Wales this place is a must try! The owner puts his heart in his dishes, simple low key…read moreenvironment. Loved their dessert... went all the way from the US to the UK to try! Well worth it.

Saw a lot of great reviews for this place so was eager to check it out but unfortunately it did not…read morelive up to the hype. I food was nice and wasn't overpriced but it wasn't anything special and I prefer Mowlana which is close. I had a sort of kebab which had really nice tasting meat but was in a sauce that was too creamy and wrapped in a naan bread that got soggy. Starters weren't very flavoursome

Oh, well, it's all okay, I suppose. I didn't think that this place really offered very much…read moreconsidering the prices (which were fairly expensive for such mediocre food). The service kind of made up for it because it was very good. Very attentive and professional. In fact, I felt that the service went the extra mile. But, unfortunately, I'm paying for food so I would have liked that to be, you know, quite nice? At the same time, it was interesting to try some different kinds of food and I would be willing to go back if someone recommended that I give it another go. I won't be going of my own volition though.

We actually only came here for a drink and I'm so glad we did. For just under a fiver I got the…read moremost amazing cocktail. Margarita on the rocks it was and had cointrean and sour mixes, yum. The food looked amazing as it was whizzed past our noses and will be coming back again to try it out.

Salt N Pepper Grill is a modern fronted corner restaurant on City Road, with a reasonably plush…read moreinterior compared to a lot of the other kebab houses found a little further up the road. This is what I find odd about the city centre end of this fabled street: It somehow looks more dilapidated than the other end of the road, but some of the most lavish eateries, like Cla Zaman and Mirchi, and some of the most renowned and upmarket salons in Cardiff, such as Guy Christian and Coray & Co. are based here. This seems to contradict the appearance of the place, which is a little baffling! Salt N Pepper Grill, as the name would suggest, concentrates its efforts on charcoal grilling a pretty impressive range of kebabs, some of which are vegetarian. They have an 'all you can eat' option for £8.99, offering forty different items to choose from. Students, who get a 10% discount on normal menu prices, can enjoy the 'all you can eat' offer at £6.99. The food is well prepared and the service is good, but I wonder how adversely affected this restaurant is now that Cal Zaman has opened its doors... they're difficult to compete with in terms of scale and luxuriance, and priced similarly they present pretty stiff competition.

Touted as an all you can eat "Indo - Pak cuisine" this restaurant has 40 different dishes to sample…read moreand at the very low price of £8.99 for the general population and £6.99 for students, students also benefit from a 10% discount on all deliveries costs for takeaways. If you always wanted to try every dish but haven't built the courage to try the hotter menu items this is a great opportunity. Get there early and claim one of the booth tables to have a more secluded dining experience. For larger groups this is an ideal curry place with some fantastic dishes for everyone's taste. The seating is very comfortable, with marble floors and some very attractive interior design it's a restaurant to put on the list.

There's few things I like more than a glass of mulled wine. And so it was with a considerable…read moredegree of regret that I left town last December with a bottle of the cheapest plonk money can buy, an orange, some nutmeg but no cinnamon. Fortunately, I decided to quickly check out this food store on my way back. I can now say with confidence that this is the place to get your herbs and spices, for it only stocks the most flavoursome seasonings at prices far more realistic than your average supermarket's. My cinnamon was big and uneven. With some huge sticks and some tiny and all ranging from a woody brown to a powdery orange, this looked like it had come from a real plant. The spice was reasonably priced, too, with a large bag of this rustic looking stuff for just under two quid. Since then, I've been back to Al-Sheemal for various products. The parsley I asked for at the back of the store was given to me in a generous bunch, and the place is excellent both for food cupboard stables and middle-Eastern specialities. The staff certainly know what they're selling and are always more than happy to help so there is no need to be shy if you haven't the foggiest what anything is or does. What they didn't tell me, though, is no not rely exclusively on colour when choosing which spices to use. For the record, girls and boys, NEVER put cumin in wine. URBAN CHALLENGE: Try a new seasoning