Sahara Palace
I stopped by Sahara Palace recently for a friend’s birthday. It’s a huge Lebanese restaurant located in Castledowns in the Northside. I wouldn’t have expected to find it there because it’s in a random strip mall area with a grocery store. I guess you can call it a hidden gem because the food was delicious! Their menu consists of soups and salads, hot and cold mezza (this means ‘small dishes’ in Middle Eastern cuisine), mashawi (grilled meats and vegetables), sandwiches, and main dishes.
Batata Harra $9
To start off a very filling meal, I shared an order of Batata Harra with one of my friends. This dish consisted of fried potato cubes covered in a tomato paste with coriander, garlic, ginger, and hot pepper. The sauce reminded me of a mild curry sauce as it had a bit of spice to it. I definitely got lost in the sauce. Although the potato cubes were fried, I did not taste any crispiness to it. Nonetheless, they were still delicious. They were served with a side of garlic sauce, which was fluffy and tasted refreshing with the spiciness of the potatoes.
Bih Jibni (6 pieces) $15
Another appetizer that I shared was Bih Jibni, deep fried pastries filled with a mixture of cheese, dried fennel, and spices. These pastries reminded me of a better version of pizza pops. They were very cheesy but I didn’t taste any spice in them. This dish was alright but didn’t stand out for me.
Kabob $28.50
For my main, I decided to share a Kabob dish with my friend. Two grilled shish kabob skewers were served on top of pita with vegetables and more pita on top, which is why you can’t see the skewers in the photo. It was accompanied by fries, rice, hummus, a cold potato salad, and a side of salad. My friend wanted the beef well done, so it wasn’t as juicy as I would’ve liked but it was still good. The cold potato salad was a creamy mixture of potatoes, peas, scallions. Everything in this dish went together perfectly. If you ordered this all to yourself, it would certainly be very filling!
Tabouleh Salad
The Kabob also comes with a side of salad. You can choose from Tabouleh, Greek, Fatoush, or Caesar. Everyone at the table went with Tabouleh – for good reason! If you’ve never heard of this type of salad, it’s a parsley salad that comes with diced tomato, fresh mint, and onion, then seasoned with lemon juice and olive oil. It was my first time trying it and I liked how flavourful it was. The salad was very refreshing and full of zest.
Chocolate Lava Cake $10
We each got a Chocolate Lava Cake because it wouldn’t be a birthday without dessert! The warm cake was topped with pecans and oozed with a chocolate filling as soon as you sliced into it. It was definitely very rich in chocolate. I didn’t really like the strawberry banana ice cream that it came with, vanilla would’ve tasted better. I am not a huge fan of chocolatey desserts but if that’s your thing, you’d probably like this a lot.
My only critique about my visit would be the service. We came mid-afternoon on Palm Sunday, so it was busier than usual. The service was mediocre because orders were mixed up or missing specified items, or took longer to come than others. This won’t stop me from coming back though because I still enjoyed the food in the end. Everything was very filling and as you can tell, I shared most of my food. I’d recommend doing the same just so that you can get a taste of what different Lebanese dishes are like!
Address & Hours
#110, 10807 Castle Downs Road
Edmonton, AB
Mon to Thurs: 11 am – 1 am
Fri & Sat: 11 am – 2 am
Sun: 11 am – 1 am
