CLEOPATRA RESTAURANT — Restaurant in Summerland

10 out of 5 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Cleopatra Cafe in Penticton, on Power Street, across from the convention centre. Legit, true, authentic Turkish/Middle Eastern fare. Fast, fresh and furious. Sure...I love all food, even mediocre dishes...but Owlbear Foxbeard is a retired red seal chef, and needless to say, hard to impress. Aside from 2 other places in town, he has stated he will not eat anywhere else but here. This place is a hidden gem in our little town of Penticton, and by far one of the MOST genuine, flavourful places l have been to in my life. (And believe me, we've travelled and eaten our way through many countries across the globe). Even our own Vancouver venues haven't matched the caliber of this restaurant, so far. The personal, intimate service is just one of the perks to rave about, but that's only a bonus aside from the insanely incredible food. You cant expect much less from a family run joint. Being a kitchen brat my entire life since age 5 (playing and working in commercial kitchens since kindergarten while my parents worked 8 days a week, 25 hours a day), I understand the struggle of blue collar people trying to make a living by doing something they love, and are good at! And it's not easy if you didn't luck out by buying into some franchise. So...we need to spread the word and push people to these little gems. Because marketing and conventional advertising is f@¢k!ng expensive for these little businesses!!!!!!!!!!! Whether you're vegetarian or a meat eater, they have lamb, falafel, chicken, etc.... The hummus is like nothing you've tried before, and their olives???????? WHAT. I don't know where they get them from, or if they marinate them in house with some magical spicy black licorice flavoured concoction, but I'll tell you right now, you will NOT taste olives like these anywhere in this province.

I could go on, but no need, especially as I'm not qualified food critic. I just like to eat tasty stuff, and I know what sucks and what doesn't. Just try it out, patio or takeout. You will...

The Cleopatra Café was an absolute utopia, and Nasiir an incredible host. He engaged us from the moment we came in on our touring bicycles, and when we found out that he speaks not only English and Turkish but Arabic, German, Swedish and Russian (alongside probably a few others), the conversation (welcoming, but not intrusive) didn't stop for several hours. But that was only before the food arrived: a plate of delicious dips, falafels, spiced-vegetables, with Middle Eastern bread to scoop it up with that had just come out of the oven. I feel hungry just thinking about it.

Nasiir works hard, and while we were there (between 3-8pm) we could see that the sometimes sudden surge of customers could build up the pressure for him and create wait times which might not exist at places that can afford to have several people working at any one time. There is a small notice by the cashier requesting patience at these times since it is a small, family-run business, and I believe it is necessary to underscore this point (especially after reading one of the 1 star reviews). If you want tasty, complex, freshly-prepared Middle Eastern food produced with a chatty smile and at a good price rather than stock-standard takeout, this is...

NO IDEA WHY THIS PLACE HAS GOOD REVIEWS This place is probably the worst restaurant we have ever been to. It feels dirty when you walk in. It smelled like cigarettes, and it just had a kind of weird smell, but there were moments where the food smelled good. We ordered the vegetable falafel platter and the chicken and lamb platter. The food came out, and the falafel platter came with basmati rice, some kind of ragu, overcooked vegetables, a little salad that was literally covered completely with what tasted like Parmesan dip from a pizza restaurant. There was no tzatziki like it claimed to come with, just more of the pizza dip. There was also an Asian spring roll?? As well as what tasted like Western Family whole wheat pita and premade creamy potato salad. The spring roll, and potato salad were not advertised anywhere. Had a few bites and was too grossed out to continue. The falafel was actually alright tasting tho tbh which was unfortunate cause the rest was so gross. The chicken and lamb came with the same Parmesan pizza restaurant sauce, spring roll, potato salad, ragu and the smothered salad. There was not a single piece of lamb to be found....