Al-Bader

Google Reviewer

Google

May 16, 2026

1

Disappointing and utterly devoid of flavour – Fool me once, shame on you... This was my second visit to Al-Bader, and I deeply regret giving them the benefit of the doubt. After a mediocre first experience, I naively assumed it was just a case of bad luck on a busy night. However, this second visit made it glaringly obvious why the restaurant is almost always empty. For an establishment that claims to serve and honour Persian and Middle Eastern cuisine, the food is an absolute insult to those traditions. Persian cuisine is celebrated worldwide for its aromatic depth, rich layers of saffron, and delicate balance of herbs. What we were served here was completely bland, lifeless, and utterly devoid of flavour. It takes a shocking lack of effort to render these beautiful traditional dishes so entirely tasteless. To make matters worse, the pricing is utterly unjustifiable when compared to the abysmal quality of the food. You are paying premium prices for subpar, cut-corner cooking. I wouldn't return to this restaurant even if they offered me a complimentary meal. Save your time and your money—Coventry has far better culinary options to offer than this ghost town of an establishment.

Google Reviewer

Google

Mar 15, 2026

5

AMAZING food, and great service and atmosphere. There was a huge range of food, drinks and a few deserts. It was quiet, and the guy who served us was extremely polite and helped us choose some food. This restaurant is a hidden gem right in the centre of Coventry. DEFINITELY worth a visit!

Google Reviewer

Google

Feb 7, 2026

3

Food wasnt too bad, it was so extremely hot, it scalded my mouth. Im accustomed to prunes in a tagine being cooked in the dish but these seemed to have been added as an after thought. We had ordered some tabbouleh but it was disappointing due to the absence of mint which I always thought to be 1 of the main ingredients. The restaurant was fairly cold and as nice as the waiter was, he was not very attentive, it took a long time for the order to be placed and once we had our food, we didn't really see him again nor were we offered any more drinks or dessert. Unfortunately I have visited Al Bader in Birmingham which was amazing and this branch falls short of that expectation im sorry to say.

Google Reviewer

Google

Oct 22, 2025

3

Ordered it. Chicken was big but was very dry in the centres, and the salad was sad to say the least. The fries were decent the vine leaves were awful, the lamb tagine was okay but wouldn’t call it a tagline, the lamb was very good. Ended up spending 40£ for two

Google Reviewer

Google

Oct 15, 2025

5

I went to Al-Bader with a friend for dinner in midweek. I was a bit surprised as it was empty, we were the only ones in there! I asked the waiter if it was like this in midweek and he said a lot of the time, yes. He said it's a little busier at weekends. We ordered starters, well my friend ordered a pudding for starter! I ordered a starter! My friend had baklava, which was delicious and I ordered Lebanese bread filler with mincemeat and parsley which again, was delicious. I asked the waiter to recommend a dish and he recommended the lamb tagine so we both ordered that. We didn't have to wait too long before the main courses came out and when they did, wow! One bowl full of tagine (3 big chunks of lamb, 2 boiled potatoes and a large half of carrot topped with dried dates and chopped almonds) and a bowl of rice! Big portions! The lamb just melted in your mouth, it was divine! The whole dish was full of flavour. We washed this all down with a jug of mango lassi (my new favourite drink!) The whole meal was absolutely delicious and the waiter was friendly and helpful. This begs the question as to why it's empty? The one downside is that it states "cash only" but having explained that neither of us carry cash and only had our phones to pay with, the waiter produced a card machine which we used to pay for our meals!! Not sure what the cash only thing is all about when they do have a card machine? Anyway, if you want a good value, tasty meal, with friendly service in a relaxing setting then Al-Bader is the place to go!!