Sahara's Turkish Cuisine — Restaurant in New York

When I walked in, I was greeted by a friendly hostess/waitress who directed me to the cash register to place my order. I ordered a Falafel sandwich to go and asked for side of hot sauce. I did not have to wait long for my food to come out. The whole experience inside of the restaurant was pretty pleasant, which is why I gave it two stars. Otherwise I would rate it a one star. When I got home, I noticed that there were no napkins in the bag. The hot sauce was not authentic Turkish, but some sort of Thai sweet and sour sauce that tasted a bit like ketchup. When I unwrapped my sandwich, I noticed there was no tahini sauce, contrary to the menu description. The sandwich was dry and tasteless. One end of the tortilla wrap was stale (or just very chewy). I called the restaurant to inform them that they forgot to add the tahini sauce. They assured me that it was in there, but that they only put a little bit in their sandwich. It was actually so little that it was not at all visible or tastable. Since the hot sauce had a very poor taste to it, I did not put it in the sandwich to counter the dryness. In New York, especially this area, the quality is unacceptable for a restaurant. I must admit that this is unfortunately the worst falafel sandwich I have had. I would suggest Mamoun's falafel or Bereket Turkish Kebab House. I did not have any other menu items at Sahara's, and some of them may be tasty, but since the falafel sandwich and their condiments are not up to par, I will not return to try...

I was craving Turkish food today and my go-to spot went out of business so I decided to try Sahara. I enjoyed the decor I felt like I was in Europe. They had nice lunch specials but I ended up ordering from the regular menu. The Bee Sting smoothie was very tasty I think it was banana, milk, lavender, honey, walnut, strawberry and peach. The flavors complimented each other beautifully and nothing was overwhelming. The bread was tasty. Not sure what other people were complaining about because it’s the exact same type of bread I’ve had in other Turkish restaurants and the baba ganoush was delicious. The skirt steak was absolutely phenomenal. It was served with the yummiest rice and the standard tomato and pepper. The broccoli was cooked perfectly. Not too hard or soft. Perfect amount of seasoning and oil. I ate like it was my last day on earth and I’m still full. They knew it was my birthday and brought me a rice pudding with a candle which I thought was so nice. The staff was very friendly. I can’t wait to bring my husband here. Thank you for a wonderful meal and...

Stopped by for dinner recently after an absence of many years since we no longer live in the area and were glad that we returned. The decor is nothing special and the service left room for improvement (e.g., we had to ask for a wine list and the Turkish bread wasn't really warmed-up), but most of the food was very good. Every Middle Eastern restaurant offers a cold mezze, but not everyone uses really fresh ingredients and gets the flavors right as they still do at Sahara. Among hot appetizers the pan fried calf liver and sigara boreks were both excellent, although the supposedly pastrami filled boreks we both left barely touched after tasting them, not that anyone inquired as to why. With careful ordering Sahara remains a good place for a relaxed dine, and given the often crazy wine prices in NYC eateries its worth asking for their list as they have some relatively reasonable bottles. We look forward to eating here again next time...