Pleasant Evening

Rating - Overall: 3  Food: 3  Service: 4  Ambience: 3

ssensible
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Sep 08
Rating: 0

13 Feb 2009

First time visiting the restuarant with friends, staff very welcoming and friendly and a relaxed atmosphere. Large group of 36 people also attended the same night which crowded the bar area and impinged on the nearby tables and staff service until they were seated.

Very relaxed and casual dining with good service,

Mezze meal was very interesting and a refreshing change with a variety to suit all tastes, main meal meats very basic but very enjoyable.

Good value for money and house wine very nice and reasonably priced

I would visit again

Visited: February 7, 2009
What I ate: Set Meal for 4 - Mezze

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A little disappointing

Rating - Overall: 3  Food: 3  Service: 3  Ambience: 3

brownie
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Oct 08
Rating: 0

8 Dec 2008

Several friends had recommended Sands, so I was looking forward to my meal there. I was there with a vegetarian friend so we ordered the vegetarian mezze set menu for 2. The array of hot and cold mezze arrived with staggering speed, although we had to remind the waiter to bring us the bottle of wine we'd ordered. We both really enjoyed the variety and quality of the mezze dishes but were pretty full and hoped for a break before the main course arrived.

Unfortunately, it also arrived pretty quickly and we were disappointed with the simple dish of aubergines in a tomato sauce with rice. It was pretty bland and unexciting and we didn't eat it all. The meat dishes being served at the next table looked much more impressive.

Although it was sheer gluttony, we shared a baklawa for dessert, and I felt it was quite a good example, if you like that sort of thing.

Overall, the restaurant has a pleasant atmosphere, service was friendly and (too?) efficient, the food was quite good but we would have liked the meal to be a bit less rushed. The bill at the end was wrong and had to be altered but there was no fuss made about it. I would also say it is quite expensive for what it is.

I won't be in a hurry to recommend it to my friends but I wouldn't object to going again...

Visited: December 6, 2008
What I ate: Vegetarian mezze meal, baklawa

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Real disappointment

Rating - Overall: 2  Food: 3  Service: 1  Ambience: 2

Dazzle
Rookie Reviewer
Member since Nov 08
Rating: 0

18 Nov 2008

Very pretty surroundings but first there was a mistake with the booking so we didn't get a good table. Half way through the meal the music was turned up so loud we couldn't carry on a conversation and some very mediocre belly dancers danced for 6 songs. It was so bad it was embarrassing to watch.

The food was reasonalby good but it was difficult to enjoy it with the loud music.

Also, we were overcharged for our wine.

Visited: November 14, 2008
What I ate: Baba ganoush, chicken taouk.

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Nice & Cavey

Rating - Overall: 3  Food: 3  Service: 4  Ambience: 3

Sparky
Connoisseur
Member since Sep 08
Rating: 35

8 Jun 2008

I have eaten here once and thought it was quite nice. I enjoyed the starters (hot and cold mezzes) more so than the mains (the chicken was nice but wasn't completly won over by the other meat that came out)

Visited: January 21, 2007

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Clucking great chicken

Rating - Overall: 4  Food: 4  Service: 4  Ambience: 3

Dianesteak
Rookie Reviewer
Member since May 08
Rating: 5

30 May 2008

Restaurant chicken dishes are rarely interesting or even well-cooked. The meaty alternatives are always more appealing and have that seasonality that chicken just doesn't do.

Sands, however, does great chicken. This is not meant to suggest it's little more than a Lebanese Lick'n Chick'n. Its chicken is boldly spiced and stunningly tender.

The service is quiet, polite and does not try to impact on your meal while the souk-like setting is always cooling and implies it's much hotter outside than it really is.

The mezze options are uncomplicated, well executed and come at a rush. This numerous chicken dishes are all superb and the set meals ensure a seemigly endless procession of dishes.

I lament the fact you can't enjoy the hookah pipes at the table these days but if the chicken is this good, who cares.

Visited: May 26, 2008

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