Al-Shami — Restaurant in Oxford

I was really looking forward to eating here as I’d heard great things, but in the end it was a disappointing, expensive meal.

The food was uninspired and basic. The Batata Harra looked old and was lacking any spice or flavour. The lamb chops were under seasoned, over cooked and had no marinade or real flavour. Just basic unmarinated chops cooked on a grill.

When we entered the waiter at the bar didn’t acknowledge us or say hello which was a bit odd. However the owner was friendly and showed us to our table in the back room, which must be said, is a beautiful room with mosaics from Damascus.

We ordered the large mixed platter and meze which was £80 for 5 people alongside a few more kebabs and cold meze starters. The bill added an extra £70 worth of food on top from these extras, and considering the large platter stated it could feed 5 people, the portion sizes were small.

Overall, the food was bang average. Not prepared with much love or passion, from the garnishes to the garlic sauce on the kebabs, it was all a rather sad affair to be honest. Unseasoned, lacking punch or flavour so often associated with Middle Eastern food.

We were still chatting around 9:50pm, and this being a Friday night, didn’t seem particularly late. But several times the waiters hushed and rushed us to say we needed to be out by 10pm, and even at one point came in and turned the lights out, as we were still sat in the room!

That has to be a restaurant first for me. Overall the service was inattentive, and I sensed they felt unbothered by us being there and wanted us paid up and gone, despite the fact we were polite and two of our group are regulars who know the owner.

The bill was over £200 for 7 people to have a mixed platter, 2 kebabs, some cold meze starters and 4 beers and a bottle of wine. Expensive in my opinion and thoroughly not worth it. They added on £6.50 of soft drinks that we didn’t have, but we were so tired by the end of the evening that we left without kicking up a fuss.

It’s a shame. A place like this could be brilliant if a bit more enthusiasm, inspiration and love was put into the food. Similarly, the service was inattentive and uninterested and (briefly) turning the lights off on us was the cherry on top.

If you want an amazing Middle Eastern restaurant within 30 minutes of here, head to Lebanese House in Newbury. Absolutely delicious food make with passion and love and brilliant,...

We had a mixed experience. The food was very nice, and reasonably priced - I would probably give it 4 stars on that basis. The service was slow to begin with but okay. But it deteriorated as the evening went on, I'd give it 2 stars, possibly 1 because of how it ended...

Some plates were dumped on our table without comment (not telling us what they were or attempting to find out who they were for). Some incorrect dishes arrived, but we were told we had ordered the wrong thing. I don't recall the waiter who took our orders reading back the order to check everything, so can't be certain, but they definitely blamed us for the mix up, apparently the chef said we'd made a mistake and it meant that they had to throw away the food... one main dish did not come at all, until we told them, then it was cooked. The biggest disappointment came when telling our waiter we weren't paying the tip and why. He shook his head while we explained and while he said sorry. He told us we had ordered the wrong food. He basically didn't accept anything we said.

It feels like there is an attitude problem at this place. As we left we were ignored - I think we were the last to leave... Very odd. It was my wife's birthday and I had asked in advance if there was anything they could do and was assured 'yes, no problem' ... yet nothing happened. At some point someone clearly decided we were 'bad customers'. I wouldn't return, which is sad because this place has been on our 'to visit' list for years. In was insulting to be treated the...

I have been attending Al-Shami for over 15 years and I never tire of their food. The food is always fresh and excellently prepared, and the staff is always efficient and very friendly.

If you are unfamiliar with Middle Eastern cuisine, I suggest starting off with their extensive mezze selections, both cold and hot. No Middle Eastern meal would be complete without houmos and pita bread, accompanied by stuffed vine leaves (warak e'inab), full of rice and spices, covered with lemon juice. After these two items, choose whatever you fancy, from yoghurt with cucumber (laban bil kheyr), tabbouli salad, moutabel (eggplant with spices served to go with pita bread), to hot dishes such as sebanikh fatayer (like spanikopita, with spinach) or jibneh fatayer (like a feta cheese puff pastry).

For the adventurous, I suggest dishes such as sujuk, which are spicy sausages that are delicious! For the extra adventure, call ahead and preorder their Nayeh dishes, which are raw kibbee and raw kofta. These are wonderful dishes to try and experience.

Al-Shami dishes in their main menu are equally delicious, with lamb and chicken dishes being some of the best I've had outside of being in the Middle East. Highly...