Za'atar Bake — Restaurant in Oxford

12 January 2023 This is my new favourite place in Oxford's beautiful Cowley Road to have Middle East Food. Really awesome decorations, lively music and the service was quick, the staff already had the dough prepared and once we selected what we wanted to eat, they immediately started making our food and the service was quick. When we were looking at the menu, we looked at a picture of sesame flatbread that looked very delicious. We asked the serving staff if the flatbread had sesame seeds in it just like the picture and he replied that the flatbread is plain but he could add the sesame seeds in it without any charge. That was very nice of him. The meals that I have ordered were much better than I prayed for, it was very authentic, amazing and tasty. The flatbread arrived with the sesame seeds and it was very delicious. They were all very hot and fresh and I loved it. I would like to thank all of the serving staff here, they were all very friendly and kind. I live in Oxford and I certainly will come back to enjoy more of your food very soon.

21 January 2023 I visited here again for a family dinner again because I dreamt about the delicious food I ate here last week. It was brilliant. I ordered Lahme Chilli Fatayer, Chicken Maqloubah, Za'atar, Baba Ghanoush and Flat Bread with Sesame seeds on top. The friendly staff who served us had remembered us, he remembered that we liked to have sesame seeds on our flatbread. He also said that he read my review of this restaurant and this made me feel very happy. Once again, our meal came quite quickly and they were just as fresh as before. I loved every bite of our meal. I surely will...

Went here on 12/08 so this has not been written with any sort of haste. Went here didn’t have a table book had to wait around 5 minutes before being sat in the corner near the oven which I didn’t mind because of I didn’t book. The fact I had sat down and was starting to get comfortable the owner had asked twice If me and my wife wanted to move which is nice but you should understand if I wanted to move I’d have asked you. So time to order and then there’s no menus so had to wait for this to be given to us. Once we ordered we asked for the starter and mains together. I’d heard good things about the food so was excited. Was eating our food when I noticed a male member of staff walk past and fix his wedgie infront our face whilst we’re trying to eat fine dining or not that’s not very professional and it all started going downhill from there. We were really enjoying the chilli sauce so I asked the waiter if we could have some more to which the owner came back with our pot and said “once it’s finished I’ll give you some more”. Never has anyone ever refused some sauce like totally disgraceful. After finishing the meal I asked for the leftovers to be taken away to which again the owner came and literally threw the food into a small bag. I then asked another member of staff (this guy was really friendly) for a bigger bag and some chilli sauce in a pot which he obliged. All in all I have to say good food ruined by the owner and his lack of customer service skills which I can see rubbing onto some other...

I visited Zatar Bake this afternoon. The restaurant was almost empty, but when I asked to move tables, the staff said it wasn’t possible. I’d asked because I could already hear loud shouting from the back and wanted to sit further away.

A short while later, a separate and much louder dispute broke out between several members of staff. This was not a minor disagreement there was swearing, shouting, and aggressive threats, including language that was extremely offensive. At one point, I genuinely wasn’t sure if I should call the police.

From the sounds coming from the back, the argument appeared to turn physical, with noises of pushing and items being thrown. The altercation involved both a waiter and, from what I could tell, a supervisor or manager. Other staff members ran into the back, and the shouting continued.

Throughout this, paying customers myself included were left sitting in an increasingly tense and uncomfortable atmosphere. Other diners near us exchanged shocked looks. It was impossible to enjoy the food while this was happening.

Perhaps this was an exceptionally bad day for the team, but for those of us dining there, it was an unacceptable and unsettling experience. I expect far better behaviour from both the manager and the waiter this was completely...