Dining at Shalel feels like you escape to another world. It is so romantic and cozy it makes for a perfect date night spot. The food was incredible and the portions were huge! Can't wait to go back!
My friend and I made a last-minute reservation for a May Friday night, and surprisingly we found a spot for 8:00 pm. The ambiance is low-lit and intimate, perfect for a date! I ordered the broccolini salad and babaganoush. It was fresh, flavorful, fantastic, and the perfect size. But my top recommendation from the night? The cardamom espresso martini!!!
travellingshoes
Charming, hidden Upper West Side gem serving excellent Middle Eastern cuisine. I loved the seafood stew and my dining partner enjoyed the dish with lamb meatballs and chickpeas. Definitely a place to return to when in the Lincoln Center area.
VivianP
Love this place! such a varied and interesting menu! Some things are a little different than the "traditional" versions we're used to, but everything is made with wonderful fresh ingredients and so tasty!
Gerald Cotiangco
Beck was the best server—the icing and cherry on top of a scrumptious pan-Mediterranean cake. The ambiance was also unmatched, with just enough lighting to perform a seance. More to the point—this is a cool, special place with tasty everything. We all left super happy!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lorraine Helvick
Always amazing great food drinks and location. Great date spot
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Beck was the best server—the icing and cherry on top of a scrumptious pan-Mediterranean cake. The ambiance was also unmatched, with just enough lighting to perform a seance. More to the point—this is a cool, special place with tasty everything. We all left super happy!
adams
While the atmosphere was incredible, unfortunately none of us enjoyed the food at all. My risotto was soupy and wasn't fully cooked or well-seasoned. My girlfriend's beet salad had curiously few beets in it and was extremely salty. We found it to be extremely expensive for the quality. I wouldn't return.
Eastsider
The ambience in this restaurant is amazing. We were seated in a little curtained-off private room. Every time we dine here, we are impressed with the friendly and helpful staff. The food is consistently excellent! 
Bianca Ritorto
4 stars because of the highly decorated room. Great ambiance, although the music was a bit weird sometimes. The cauliflower was a bit bland and the cheese and bread it came with a bit stale. The croquetas were too salty. Spanakopita was on point. Good wine selection!
I had the bone in lamb tajine it was amazing. I highly recommend the Roman salad. It is a very romantic place. Most of the tables are in nooks so there is great privacy. Don't let the fact that it is in a basement with a sketchy entrance put you off. The food is worth it. The service was fine if somewhat over worked.
P N (Chill)
I went here for a friend’s 45th birthday. The hostess wished my friend as soon as we arrived. We had a great experience until we met the manager. Food was excellent. The place was cozy. But our waiter seemed stressed and unfriendly. It became clear why that was the case when we met the manager. The manager gave us wine that was different from the one we ordered. When we pointed it out, the manager got openly hostile and accused us of complaining because we wanted a discount. We didn’t want a discount but we just wanted to know why he didn’t bother to tell us about the stealth switch. The manager said that they have a rotating set of wines and the wine he served was exactly the same price. We said it was a good wine but it would have been nice of him to tell us that we were served something different. Oh my god. That triggered the manager. He became angry and said he was not going to sit there and listen to a lecture about wine vintage. We were not even into the vintage. We just wanted a wine of our choice or be consulted if we were being served something different. The manager’s response got worse. He said it was his place and he was going to get us our check immediately (before we had finished our main course) and wanted us out of there. Unreal. It is the most obnoxious encounter I have had in a NYC restaurant. The manager was rude and lied to us about the value of the wine he served. After we got kicked out, we checked the price of the wine we were served and it was much cheaper than the wine we got charged for. I am sure this manager is going to write a defensive response as he has done in response to every other bad review written by other customers. Can’t bear the thought of going back here again. I feel sorry for the staff there.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
PSquared
Food was good and we liked the small, quiet, intimate room where we were seated. The service was the worst we've ever encountered anywhere in the world. The server was disinterested and slightly rude. The manager substituted a different wine than we order without telling us. It was still good wine, but he was rude and abrasive when we asked about the cost of the substituted wine. He claimed the wine he gave us costs more than the one we ordered, which is untrue. We honestly were just asking and he became defensive, got mad at us and then demanded that we pay and leave. It was a sad interaction. Too bad, because the food was good and it was a cool spot. We would have gone back again, but now there's no chance. Oh well.
YaYa
This place is so romantic! It feels like a hidden gem. You're underground and can almost forget that you're right in the middle of the city. The lighting is dark, but not too dark. Seats all feel kind of private in a funny way- because of the organization of the space. It was a lovely place for a date.
Dining at Shalel feels like you escape to another world. It is so romantic and cozy it makes for a perfect date night spot. The food was incredible and the portions were huge! Can't wait to go back!
My friend and I made a last-minute reservation for a May Friday night, and surprisingly we found a spot for 8:00 pm. The ambiance is low-lit and intimate, perfect for a date! I ordered the broccolini salad and babaganoush. It was fresh, flavorful, fantastic, and the perfect size. But my top recommendation from the night? The cardamom espresso martini!!!
Charming, hidden Upper West Side gem serving excellent Middle Eastern cuisine. I loved the seafood stew and my dining partner enjoyed the dish with lamb meatballs and chickpeas. Definitely a place to return to when in the Lincoln Center area.
Love this place! such a varied and interesting menu! Some things are a little different than the "traditional" versions we're used to, but everything is made with wonderful fresh ingredients and so tasty!
Beck was the best server—the icing and cherry on top of a scrumptious pan-Mediterranean cake. The ambiance was also unmatched, with just enough lighting to perform a seance. More to the point—this is a cool, special place with tasty everything. We all left super happy!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Always amazing great food drinks and location. Great date spot
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Beck was the best server—the icing and cherry on top of a scrumptious pan-Mediterranean cake. The ambiance was also unmatched, with just enough lighting to perform a seance. More to the point—this is a cool, special place with tasty everything. We all left super happy!
While the atmosphere was incredible, unfortunately none of us enjoyed the food at all. My risotto was soupy and wasn't fully cooked or well-seasoned. My girlfriend's beet salad had curiously few beets in it and was extremely salty. We found it to be extremely expensive for the quality. I wouldn't return.
The ambience in this restaurant is amazing. We were seated in a little curtained-off private room. Every time we dine here, we are impressed with the friendly and helpful staff. The food is consistently excellent! 
4 stars because of the highly decorated room. Great ambiance, although the music was a bit weird sometimes. The cauliflower was a bit bland and the cheese and bread it came with a bit stale. The croquetas were too salty. Spanakopita was on point. Good wine selection!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Restaurantji Recommends
I had the bone in lamb tajine it was amazing. I highly recommend the Roman salad. It is a very romantic place. Most of the tables are in nooks so there is great privacy. Don't let the fact that it is in a basement with a sketchy entrance put you off. The food is worth it. The service was fine if somewhat over worked.
I went here for a friend’s 45th birthday. The hostess wished my friend as soon as we arrived. We had a great experience until we met the manager. Food was excellent. The place was cozy. But our waiter seemed stressed and unfriendly. It became clear why that was the case when we met the manager. The manager gave us wine that was different from the one we ordered. When we pointed it out, the manager got openly hostile and accused us of complaining because we wanted a discount. We didn’t want a discount but we just wanted to know why he didn’t bother to tell us about the stealth switch. The manager said that they have a rotating set of wines and the wine he served was exactly the same price. We said it was a good wine but it would have been nice of him to tell us that we were served something different. Oh my god. That triggered the manager. He became angry and said he was not going to sit there and listen to a lecture about wine vintage. We were not even into the vintage. We just wanted a wine of our choice or be consulted if we were being served something different. The manager’s response got worse. He said it was his place and he was going to get us our check immediately (before we had finished our main course) and wanted us out of there. Unreal. It is the most obnoxious encounter I have had in a NYC restaurant. The manager was rude and lied to us about the value of the wine he served. After we got kicked out, we checked the price of the wine we were served and it was much cheaper than the wine we got charged for. I am sure this manager is going to write a defensive response as he has done in response to every other bad review written by other customers. Can’t bear the thought of going back here again. I feel sorry for the staff there.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
Food was good and we liked the small, quiet, intimate room where we were seated. The service was the worst we've ever encountered anywhere in the world. The server was disinterested and slightly rude. The manager substituted a different wine than we order without telling us. It was still good wine, but he was rude and abrasive when we asked about the cost of the substituted wine. He claimed the wine he gave us costs more than the one we ordered, which is untrue. We honestly were just asking and he became defensive, got mad at us and then demanded that we pay and leave. It was a sad interaction. Too bad, because the food was good and it was a cool spot. We would have gone back again, but now there's no chance. Oh well.
This place is so romantic! It feels like a hidden gem. You're underground and can almost forget that you're right in the middle of the city. The lighting is dark, but not too dark. Seats all feel kind of private in a funny way- because of the organization of the space. It was a lovely place for a date.
Truly hidden
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5