Shalel

Shalel reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Review summary

1. J

   Jeri

   New York City3 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Impeccable food and impeccable service! 10/10 would recommend
   

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2. F

   Fred VIP

   New York City1 review

   3.0

   Dined 7 days ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 4

   Charming and very unique, but the food is disappointing
   

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3. J

   James

   New York City1 review

   2.0

   Dined 7 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 5

   Appetizer was small for the price. Cocktails didn’t come until we finished our meal. Still hungry at the end but didn’t want to order more food and wait forever for round two of cocktails.
   

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4. M

   Mel VIP

   New York City67 reviews

   4.0

   Dined on April 25, 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 3

   Entering this restaurant takes a leap of faith, or at least courage. It is at the bottom of a narrow external metal staircase to the basement of a lowrise apartment building on a quiet side street. Then walk past the puddles about 20 feet to get to the front door. Once inside, the place is, uh, funky -- a series of small rooms, universally dark, with small tables and benches with cushions. Oriental carpets covered the floor in the small chamber we were in. Seating the sofa-like benches was a bit low for us. The table itself was perhaps 18" deep. Thankfully, the food is excellent. It made the entry adventure worth it, for sure. We shared an appetizer -- SPANAKOPITES ($18), more than enough for two-- "feta, mozzarella, myzithra, spinach, onions, wrapped in phyllo dough." We ordered two chicken entrees -- CHICKEN BASTEEYA ($35) "saffron, ginger, and cinnamon braised chicken, toasted almonds perfumed with orange blossom water, flaky pastry, topped with cinnamon sugar" and the RAS-EL-HANOUT CHICKEN KEBAB ($35)--"roasted vegetables, basmati pilaf, tzatziki, warm pita. The mix of spices of every dish was perfect--delicate, flavorful, surprising -- but not "hot". We'll probably come back here for the food.
   

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5. J

   Jordan VIP

   Washington DC2 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on April 25, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Beautiful quiet underground experience. We sat near a mini waterfall which was beautiful. Food was second to none and so were the cocktails.
   

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6. L

   Lynn

   New York City1 review

   5.0

   Dined on April 15, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Great food, wonderful ambience, and most importantly, exceptional service.
   

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7. T

   Tom

   Nashville15 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on April 15, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   What a terrific place. Interesting and unique ambiance, wonderful service and absolutely delicious food. This was our first time to Shalel, but won’t be our last! This is the rare restaurant that makes you feel like an old friend, provides a slightly adventurous menu to captivate your imagination, and then delivers on it with flavors that you can savor and that are unique enough to add to your dinner conversation! Noise levels are conversation-friendly, too, which is a treat in NYC, and their dining areas are broken into smaller rooms that contain 1 to 4 tables to add just enough liveliness. The cocktails are perfectly executed and we were able to chat with the bartender about our preferences. We enjoyed both the pomegranate margarita and the the amaro drink ( can’t remember the name, but made with artichoke spirits). Food portions are generous, and so many of the appetizers are hard to pass up that we made a meal of three appetizers and a main, which was perfect and left us very satisfied with just room enough to share a dessert (also a generous portion). I can heartily recommend the butternut bruschetta, the lamb cigars and cauliflower with halloumi. All excellent and the lamb kofta tahini is multi-layered and full-flavored. Delicious spices without being hot spicy. A side of their delicious tzatziki is a nice accompaniment- ask for it! Shout out to Zoie, our server, for making us feel very welcome and for steering us to dishes that we absolutely loved. Final note: a great dining experience with super service, ambiance, cocktails and an unrushed vibe could easily have cost quite a lot more. We thought it was not only a great overall experience but also a really great value! 10/10 and five stars all the way!
   

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8. C

   Caroline

   New York City2 reviews

   4.0

   Dined on April 12, 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   We had a wonderful experience at Shalel! We went for a celebration, and they delivered. The atmosphere is truly transportive and the service was fantastic. The highlight was their traditional and inventive drinks we tried - the pomegranate margarita was the best! We found it was expensive for the portion size but outside of that, the food was delicious, and we had an overall outstanding experience. We hope to be back soon!
   

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9. J

   Jeanette

   New York City1 review

   5.0

   Dined on April 4, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   sooooooo beautiful fun amazing delicious romantic vibes.
   

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10. B

    Brian

    New York City6 reviews

    4.0

    Dined on March 31, 2025

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4

    Great find. Did not realize it was underground! Great ambiance and food.
    

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