Al Basha Restaurant & Cafe — Restaurant in Winnipeg

My husband and I tried Al Basha Cafe today for the first time. There were so many dishes that I wanted to try! They have a fabulous offer on Saturdays and Sundays: All you can eat brunch for $25.99/person. This doesn’t mean we can order everything on the menu and leave behind what we couldn’t finish, resulting in a waste of good food. Just like some other restaurants, they will charge a penalty for dishes left behind. I applaud this, but it does make choosing the right amount of food a bit more of a challenge, especially since we had to guess the size of the dishes, having never tried them before.

We have big appetites and were successful in eating all of the dishes we ordered: Moroccan Shakshouka, Egg Tagine with Sausage, Egyptian Foul Moudamas, Syrian Foul, Hummus and Falafel and were served a basket of warm flat bread to go with it. We also ordered teas to drink. Everything was absolutely delicious!!! Both of the main dishes had a wonderful, rich tomato sauce base with spices. The Syrian Foul was a mix of whole chickpeas and fava beans in a lemony olive oil while Egyptian Foul was more of a mashed consistency like a dip with tomato and parsley. The hummus was both beautifully served and delicious both with falafel and as a dip with the bread. The only dish served in smaller portion was the falafel; we received 2 instead of 6. I have had falafel at many restaurants but I dare say these were the best I’ve ever tasted! They were perfectly seasoned, and crispy on the outside but soft on the inside.

We were VERY full, thoroughly enjoying the meal and what a fabulous value for the amount of food! We will definitely be back! I got a photo before the falafel were served but not before we started to dig in.

There were only a few other tables with guests when we dined shortly after noon on Sunday, one of which was a large, noisy group, who filled the restaurant with their chatter. I did appreciate the middle eastern music playing, however. I only saw 2 staff members the whole time we were there and a few guests appeared to wait for some time to pay their bill or be seated. As the word gets out and the customer base grows they may need to increase staff. It is not fast food so be prepared to wait a while for the meal; it’s definitely...

Went for lunch with a friend. The decor and vibe was lovely, the music was a little loud. There was only one other table occupied when we went at noon, but we had to kind of shout to each other. I found it distracting. I am sure they would have turned it down had I asked, they seemed very accommodating. The ceilings are very high, think warehouse, but they have done a great job of making the place inviting with a pan-Arabic vibe. The menu is huge, took us a while to decide what to have. I had the Lebanese beef sausages and my friend had a donair platter. We shared the mezze platter with an assortment of dips and grape leaves and falafel. Everything was tasty, the right temperature and the portions were decent. Service was friendly and numerous people came to check to see how we had enjoyed our lunch. We hung around after eating and had tea and did not feel rushed or uncomfortable. After lunch we popped into the store next door, which I shop at frequently. I plan to go back to have a breakfast there in the very near future. Really enjoyed my first...

Father's Day Fiasco. Beautiful atmosphere, excellent menu but unremarkable and inattentive customer service. Started off with a lecture on the buffet that if you don't eat it you pay extra...not a problem but you don't need to tell us five times. Ordered only a few dishes and most of the hot dishes were cold. The main dish ordered didn't have eggs in an egg dish and we needed to be told that we won't be charged extra for not eating the dish we didn't order. I have no issue waiting for fresh quality food but server provided no updates or ask if we wanted anything else while we wait. We were told there was no off menu option today so approx $50 in menu items cost us almost $100 because of the "special" price. Very disappointed with this first visit. What little we ate during our 90min stay was good but guest service was unremarkable, unapologetic and apathetic for the mistake made and lack of customer engagement. Certainly not the welcoming North African/Middle Eastern experience I am accustomed to from family...