Bavel

I came here expecting a pretty serious dinner and then immediately got distracted by the menu. I ordered the hummus masabacha, grilled octopus, lamb neck shawarma, and malabi for dessert. At some point I realized I was basically ordering anything that sounded even slightly interesting. The hummus was much more substantial than the stuff I'm used to getting as a side, and the bread disappeared very quickly. The octopus had a nice char without becoming chewy, but the lamb neck was the dish I kept thinking about. It was rich and tender and had that slow-cooked flavor that makes you want to scoop up every bit of sauce. The malabi was lighter than I expected and made a good ending after such a heavy meal. I liked that the food felt adventurous without becoming weird just for the sake of being weird. There were familiar flavors underneath everything, so even when I ordered something I'd never tried before, it still felt approachable. Definitely the kind of dinner where I'd want to bring a few people and order a ridiculous amount of food for the table.

We had a lovely dinner celebrating a birthday. The food was amazing, so many unique flavors. We shared everything and they had something for everyone. Get the oyster mushroom kebab! The dining room is very bright and sunny, possibly too bright for some. The hanging plants don't agree with me - they are living their best life. Pic of raffia trivet because did everyone's grandma have one of these?

This restaurant is located in a quiet area about a 20-minute drive from downtown. The food, service, and atmosphere were all top-notch. The grilled dishes, skillfully using charcoal, had perfect cooking temperature for both meat and fish. The Middle Eastern cuisine, using spices, was more refined than what I'd tasted in the region, and wonderfully easy to eat. The wine recommendations were spot-on, and everyone was satisfied right down to the final dessert wine.

We celebrated a 60th birthday at Bavel and overall had a wonderful evening. The food was excellent, the atmosphere was beautiful, and we had a great time together. There were, however, a few aspects of the service that fell short of what I would expect from a restaurant of this caliber. Our server came across as somewhat dismissive on a couple of occasions. Rather than making us feel welcomed and helping us navigate the menu, some of the interactions felt unnecessarily curt. My biggest concern was the lack of serving utensils for the shared dishes. We were told that because the restaurant is family style, everyone should serve themselves using their own fork or spoon. We found that surprising and unhygienic. Once someone has eaten and their utensils have been in their mouth, using those same utensils to continue serving food from communal plates is not a practice I would expect at a fine dining restaurant. Providing a small serving spoon or fork with each shared dish would be a simple improvement that would make the experience much more sanitary. One additional suggestion: because many of the dishes are rich and saucy and are meant to be shared, it would have been nice if the plates were refreshed between courses. At this price point, replacing plates between several of the shared courses would elevate the dining experience and better match the restaurant’s otherwise high standards. Overall, we truly enjoyed our evening and would return. These are simply suggestions that I believe would make an already excellent restaurant even better.

Delightful meal, all around top notch dining experience. I love the vibe with the hanging greenery inside and service was not rushed at all. Favorite dish was surprisingly the fried quail, but all were excellent. Smoothest hummus around. Calamari was tasty and smoky, as was the oyster mushroom kebab. Chicken tagine was very lightly spiced, a nice way to end a flavorful meal, with meat falling off the bone. They sold out of lamb shawarma by 9:30 pm though. Two thumbs up!

If you had no concept of middle eastern food, and decided to open a middle eastern restaurant. That would be Bavel.

Loved the potato flatbread and pomegranate lemonade :)

9 year anniversary dinner was amazing! Thanks to AGM Carlos for great care during our dinner