Shaam Nights provides authentic Syrian cuisine, with a host of delicious halal meat dishes and the freshest fruit juices you will ever taste.
Upon arrival at the restaurant, the first thing you notice is the décor. It is luxuriously interspersed with painted archways and colourful wooden panels on the walls and ceiling.
But you have little time to take in your surroundings before the sheer range of the menu grabs your attention. Beware, main courses are large and filling.
When choosing a drink one of the fresh fruit juices is a must. You would travel a long way to find anything as flavoursome and refreshing, and the melon juice in particular hit the spot.
To start we opted for a bowl of hummus alongside two hot dishes, meatballs and the cheese sambousak. All were absolutely delicious and freshly prepared.
The meatballs were made from baked mince lamb and served in a herby tomato sauce. The cheese sambousak came in four small pastry parcels packed with melted cheese.
In contrast to the mains, the starters are small, as reflected in the price. Three starters for two people is just about perfect.
For mains we opted for a chicken shawarma dish and a mixed grill. Both were unexpectedly large and we ended up taking a good portion home for lunch the following day!
The chicken shawarma came with chips, flatbread, salad and a garlic dip. The chicken itself was finely sliced and placed all over the bread, which absorbed all the juices from the marinade.
The mixed grill consisted of a lamb shish, shish tawook (chicken) and lamb kubba kebab. This veritable meat feast was served with a simple rice accompaniment.
The meat was cooked to perfection and brilliantly flavoured by the charcoal grill. If anything the dish as a whole was slightly dry, but this can easily be rectified by ordering a garlic dip side.
Shaam Nights brings the under-promoted Syrian food culture to central Cardiff. The food more than lived up to the restaurant’s glowing reputation, with a faultless display from the restaurant staff to match.
