I have longed for a broader Middle Eastern restaurant menu in Victoria. Kebab is great and I'm happy with the addition of Turkish cuisine at Nar in Oak Bay, but I yearn for something more...
For what Al Sultan lacks in ambiance and booze, it makes up for with food. Al Sultan is located in the former Ribs and Bones space. I viewed the vacant space last year and while Al Sultan hasn’t changed the antiquated décor, they must have cleaned for a very long time. The furnishings are run down, but it’s as clean as it’s going to get without an expensive renovation and everyone is friendly.
The menu is halal. For practical purposes that means no pork, no blood, no carrion, or animals slaughtered in an inhumane manner and no alcohol is served. For most people, I imagine, the only significant distinction among these items is the no alcohol. I’ll drink tea if it means a delicious schwarma – you won’t hear me saying that about a lot of things.
When I lived in Egypt there were a few things I ate nearly every day – fool (fava beans, kinda like refried beans, but richer), chicken schwarma (seasoned chicken layered with fat and roasted on spit, then shaved) and tamaya (pretty much the same thing as falafel). In the absence of these items, I would have been very cranky. These dishes are all served at Al Sultan. One of the best things about the kebab and schwarma wraps served at Al-Sultan, is that they are served with the traditional tartour sauce (basically the same as tahini, made from crushed sesame seeds). It’s really rich and so delicious.
The dessert list also has a couple of my favourites, basboussa and konafa. I had a piece of basboussa wrapped up so I could share it with our pastry chef Vicki. A semolina cake soaked in syrop; in this case cardamom syrop. Yum. I’ll have the konafa, a cheese filled pastry, next time. In fact, I’m giddy with excitement about working my way through the Al-Sultan menu.
1813 Douglas St (250) 590-4044 - open 1130-9pm
We had three dishes (fool, schwarma & kabab wraps), two beverages and dessert and our bill was $31.92, before tip