The Bedouins Restaurant — Restaurant in The Palisades

Bedouins, a North African restaurant owned by two Libyan immigrants, came highly recommended by my neighbour and my friend’s coworker. Our group of four moms—out for a rare kid free night—hoped for a 5 star experience, too. Sadly it wasn’t to be.

Firstly, the servers need additional training. Ours arrived at our table and immediately demanded: what soup do you want? She didn’t introduce herself, exchange any pleasantries or mention that the soup and accompanying dips and bread were complementary. It was a jarring introduction but we carried on.

Three of us ordered the chicken tajeen to share while the fourth ordered the buraik, an appetizer similar to a spring roll. When the server found out one of our party was a vegetarian she had an admonishing reaction—asking our friend, “How do you live?” We laughed it off but it wasn’t appropriate.

This server seemed friendly at first but she quickly developed an edge and seemed annoyed by us and our questions. Was it because we took too long to decide or because we ordered a smaller amount of food than most patrons? Not sure. One friend theorized that perhaps Bedouins isn’t a restaurant meant for lingering with friends for hours but instead is a place where people quickly eat and leave.

On the plus side, we all enjoyed our lentil and Bedouin soups and the dips (hummus and mashweeya: a pureed blend of flame-roasted vegetables) and bread. The chicken, which lay on a bed of orzo pasta, was tender, tasty and aromatic gently scented with cloves and cinnamon. (Of note: there was a lone errant bone next to our cooked chicken as if someone had eaten a drumstick and discarded the bone.) The chicken came with two small ramekins filled with a spicy salsa type sauce and charmoula salad, a fresh combo of cucumbers and tomatoes lightly dressed with a lemon herb vinaigrette.

The almond baklava and pistachio tarts were also delicious. However we didn’t order the almond baklava; we ordered the pistachio. In addition, the desserts all came out on one plate alongside plastic cutlery which was off putting and more appropriate for a fast food restaurant.

On our way out our server followed us and without saying a word locked the doors behind us. Not a single good night, thank you or see you again. The glowing hospitality so many reviewers mention was sorely missing from our experience. Perhaps something changed when the Bedouins left their smaller more intimate location for this new and much larger space. Or perhaps we had a server who was having an off night.

3 stars for the food. Minus 2 for the...

We were recently in Edmonton exploring that city’s vibrant restaurant scene. We’re huge fans of North African and Eastern Mediterranean cuisine so The Bedouins was high on our list of places to visit. And we are so glad we did.

The food here is fabulous and priced very, very fairly. The vibe is casual and unpretentious, and the staff are friendly (even when they are run off their feet when it's busy).

We wanted to try lots of dishes so as usual we ordered far more food than we could eat at one sitting.

We ordered two appetizers: Batata Mbuttana (spiced, minced meat between two layers of fluffy mashed potato, breaded then fried), and; Buraik (think vegetarian deep fried spring roll). While the Buraik was very good, the Batata Mbuttana was outrageously delicious, especially when dipped in the creamy garlic sauce that accompanied the dish.

We were going to order the Mashweeya Dip (essentially a roasted veggie tapenade), and the Bedouin Lamb Soup, but our server informed us that small orders of each were included with our mains so we didn’t have to order separately. Very cool!

As for the mains, we ordered Chicken Tajeen and Lamb Haneeth. Both were outstanding.

The Tajeen was a half-chicken (and not a small bird either) that had clearly been marinated in a medley of spices then baked to perfection. It was served on a generous bed of perfectly cooked yellow rice. Delicious!

The Lamb Haneeth is advertised as roasted lamb in a mix of herbs, creating a dish “you have never seen or tasted before” - and they’re right. We love lamb and order it whenever the opportunity presents itself, so we’re picky. This was some of the best lamb dishes we’ve ever had. Complex, rich and layered flavours accent a generous portion of melt-in-your-mouth tender lamb. Seriously, if you like lamb this is a must-order dish.

As for the accompanying small plates, the lamb and pasta soup was a revelation, and the lentil soup was almost as good. And the small plate of Mashweeya Dip & Hummus (served with a scrumptious warm bread) was a creamy taste delight. Heck, even the simple green salads were served up with a very tasty herbed olive oil dressing - so good!

Oh, and if you like a nice strong black tea infused with fresh mint leaves order up a pot - it’s so delicious!

All this for $95 (tax and generous gratuity included). Great value considering the quality and the fact that our boxed leftovers provided breakfast and a light lunch the next day.

Highly...

Great Dining Experience. Great for Something Different.

I enjoy Middle Eastern and North African food and have a hard time finding places that are not shawarmas (which I love). My teenage daughter suggested this place and we took the family there tonight.

Just after we ordered we received bowls of soup, hummus, and a roasted vegetable dip with pita to start as part of the meal. We added the Batata Mhbattana which was 6 pieces of stuffed potatoes with meat and then fried.

The meals arrived shortly there after. We had the Couscous Liebe, Chicken Tajeen, Lamb Medi, Lamb Haneeth. Each was well flavored. We like what most Canadians would call spicy and some items would be for many Canadians (I personally don't think anything in Canada is spicy and I was born here). The lamb dishes were well seasoned and flavorful. The couscous was light and fluffy, well seasoned, and delicious (and normally I don't eat couscous as I find it bland). The lamb dishes were not spicy. The sauce that came with the dishes was similar to a pico de gallo salsa but more finely blended. That was the most spicy thing on the menu. The cucumber salad was typical of Middle Eastern cucumber salad.

Cost of entrées was $24-25.

Food was excellent and in large portions. Each main entrée with the soup, dips, salad, and bread fed two people easily. Six of us ate the four entrees, appetizer, dips, bread, and soup and went away as satisfied as we would have had we gone to an all you can eat place. And, we still took home half the couscous dish.

The service was excellent and very friendly. The servers' descriptions of the food was spot on and their attention to service worthy of a good tip. I was so impressed with the food, I spoke to the owner directly to express my thanks for such an...