Arabian Nights — Restaurant in England

Came here for a Xmas night out dinner as everywhere else was booked. Wish we hadn't bothered. Starters were ok, had the baked spinach flatbread and aubergine dip, nothing to write home about but nice enough. No complaints here. We both ordered the minced lamb kebabs for main with Lebanese rice which were just under £13 each. Other people have commented on how big the portions are but it was pretty standard when it arrived. The salad was quite pathetic, a few straggly tired shreds of iceberg lettuce, half a burnt tomato, a scrap of green pepper core (with some seeds still attached), half a raw onion, two sticks of strange purple pickled vegetable (turnip possibly) and a couple of shreds of pickled chilli. In most middle Eastern/turkish kebab shops worth their salt, you'll get a nice mixed salad with a decent selection and a few whole Pickled chillies. The one offered in this establishment was woeful in comparison. The kebabs themselves were mediocre at best. Slightly dry and not especially tasty. Expected more spices to be evident but perhaps they were running low in the pantry. Underneath the kebabs was a shard of stale pitta bread that looked like it had been torn apart by chef. I think the other half was on my wife's plate. He hadn't even shown it to the grill so it was stale and dry, not very pleasant to eat. Again, most places will be generous enough to give you a whole pitta bread and take the time to warm it up. Not here. The Lebanese rice was awful. I was hoping for a traditional pilaf style rice, maybe with bits of vermicelli in it or at least some flavour. What we got was slightly yellow in colour and so dry and bland. Arabian desert level dryness. I'm not sure how they made it so dry but at least we had some wine to wash it down and moisten our mouths. When we complained the owner offered us a free baklava for dessert but having read the reviews on how awful they are, we declined. £50 badly spent and a bad taste left in the mouth. But at least we had nice cocktails in the vault before and after. Definitely won't be going again ever and wouldn't recommend this...

Arabian Nights Restaurant: A Gourmet Experience… If You Enjoy Starving

Ah, Arabian Nights Restaurant! A place where Middle Eastern cuisine is reimagined—not with rich flavours and hearty portions, but with stingy servings and food that arrives colder than my enthusiasm for ever ordering from here again.

Let’s start with the starters. And by “starters,” I mean the sad, lifeless items that turned up as if they’d just been pulled straight from the back of a fridge. Cold hummus? Delightful. Falafel so dry it could be used as kindling? Even better. I didn’t realise I had signed up for a dining experience inspired by leftovers from last week.

Then came the main course, and oh, what a joke it was. I actually had to rummage through the bag to see if they’d forgotten half my order. But no, that was the meal. A portion so pitiful, I started wondering if they thought I was on a strict calorie-controlled diet. For the price I paid, I expected something substantial—not a meal so microscopic that I genuinely considered making myself a sandwich afterwards.

But the real highlight of the experience? The customer service. When I called the restaurant to ask if perhaps there had been some mistake, the person on the phone—without an ounce of concern—replied, “Oh, we’ve been serving like this for ages.” Oh, how reassuring! Consistent robbery—what a selling point! And just when I thought this conversation couldn’t get any worse, he casually added, “Well, what do you want me to do if the portions are small?” Ah, I don’t know—perhaps serve decent portions like every other restaurant that charges these prices? Just a thought.

So, if you’re in the mood to spend a ridiculous amount of money for a meal that leaves you starving, frustrated, and questioning your life choices, then by all means, Arabian Nights is the place for you. Otherwise, save yourself the disappointment and order from literally anywhere else—even a dodgy kebab shop at 3 a.m. would be a...

Arabian nights in Swindon old town is a complete surprise. It’s a small restaurant with BIG food flavours. Having eaten Lebanese food in Lebanon I was very impressed with their menu and the food they produced. The restaurant was very clean and well presented with hand sanitiser available on all the tables. Mo was very friendly and welcoming and especially kind to my two grand daughters. We were a party of 5 adults and two children and tables were quickly arranged to accommodate us. I was amazed that they managed to get all the food ordered on the table…. at the same time. We had a lot of food and definitely ate too much, it was impossible not to. My grand daughter gave the falafel 9/10 and she’s extremely hard to feed. As well as delicious food we also had delicious drinks. If you have never tried Lebanese drinks before I would recommend the lemonade and mint, this was the best I have tasted outside the Middle East. My son asked for apple juice and mint which he made up and Mo made for him fresh…. Apparently also delicious. Parking is a two minute walk around the corner, very easy to find. Definitely recommend a visit to all those fond of Lebanese food and a great menu for those who would like...