Baba Ghanouj Cafe

Would give here a 3.5 actually. Had passed by this place many times over the years and wondered if it would be worth popping into, but never gave it a ton of thought. Then on a sunny, cold Tuesday in March, I ended up getting a parking space right out front of it while doing an errand. So I figured it made sense to finally check it out since it was lunch time anyway. It’s actually bigger inside than I imagined, with maybe a dozen tables and some lounging furniture, decently decorated, a display case of prepped food, large serving counter with all of their fresh dishes ready to serve. The menu itself is quite large, so I had trouble narrowing down what three items to pick for their vegetarian platter ($ 10). The tabouli, hummus and lentil rice were delicious, fresh and filling without being too much. Service was friendly. I’d go back here anytime!

I would venture to say this is my favorite falafel place in Halifax. I discovered this place coming back from the waterfront farmers market and my friends and I decided to stop in to check it out. It’s kind of in an unfortunate place, it is far down Barrington but this hasn’t stopped us from ordering from here regularly. I can only speak toward the falafel as I am vegetarian but all of my friends have loved their chicken shwarma. The people who work there/​own it are SO nice and the food is authentic and fresh. Would recommend to all vegetarians and carnivores alike!

Best Syrian food in the province! –Always — fresh, huge selection and the owners are awesome!

I had been meaning to try Baba Ghanouj for a while, since it’s close to my office and their relatively healthy offerings would help assuage some of that eating out guilt. Recently I was able to pop over to get some take out; fuel for an afternoon of back breaking office worker routine.
The restaurant has a decent amount of room, but tables and cozier chairs are spaced out for a more casual feel. A large counter with heating/​cooling trays takes up the right side of the restaurant. The menu mainly consists of many familiar Middle Eastern dishes — falafel, kibbe, tabouli, baba ghanouj (of course), etc. There’s also a breakfast segment (served all day!) with typical things but made friendly for pork-​free diets (chicken sausage and turkey bacon). More eye-​catching are interesting items like the soujouk (curried beef) omelet and basturma (the Middle Eastern forebearer of pastrami) omelet.
There was certainly a lot to choose from, but I ended up going with an favourite of mine, kibbe. All platters comes with your choice of rice, salad and dip, for which I chose curried, tabouli and hummus, respectively. I took a seat while everything was prepped and I was soon on my way back to the office with my foil container (props for recyclability).
Cracking open the container at my desk, it was a colourful sight with the yellow rice and verdant tabouli. I was a bit disappointed that there were only two piece of kibbe, but upon biting into one I noticed that they had a much more generous meat-​to-​bulghur-​shell ratio than most kibbe has. It was also darn tasty, rich and moist. All in all, a kibbe win. The rice didn’t have a typical curry flavour, and was much more earthy from some unknown spice (s), but still great.
The tabouli was great as well; the parsley was super fresh and not at all soggy like it was from yesterday’s batch (looking at you, other Mediterranean joints), with a light zing from the lemony dressing and onion. This may seem repetitive, but the hummus was on point as well, with a great balance of the chickpeas, garlic and tahini, all blended to a very smooth consistency that I enjoyed. A cup of garlic sauce came along with my food, but I didn’t really partake in it, other than to sample it, and let me tell you — if you like your garlic, you’ll like this stuff. It isn’t first date material though. Maybe like… fifth. And yes, I’m implying you should have had sex with someone once or twice before you eat this garlic bomb with them.
This was a great lunch, and the staff seemed really friendly. It’s basically cafeteria style, so you’d have to be pretty surly to screw that up though. Did I mention that this plate of deliciousness was $ 15 taxes in? Go here, get some tasty eats, but beware of that game-​ruining garlic sauce.

Really liked the food. and the quantities are enormous! Parking is kind of difficult but it’s worth the search. if u miss good old middle eastern food go for it!

Easily the best Middle Eastern food in Halifax, and most definitely the best value. The menu is good, the salad is fresh and the combos are very large portions for what you pay. The owner is friendly, and the place is authentic.
They have nice desserts (the basbusa cake is the best I’ve had anywhere) and they will even make a knafa (a cheese, pastry, pistachio based cake) fresh to order. Even the best Lebanese supermarket in Halifax only has frozen Knafa.
It’s not fancy, if you want a fancy place, go somewhere else, but if you want an authentic, delicious middle eastern meal, it is a great place.

Amazing food, especially the shawarma plate. Quick, friendly and cheap. Comfortable atmosphere.

A great spot and an awesome menu! I work very close to Baba Ghanouj, so I order from there a lot for lunch (at least once a week). I recommend the three-​item plate, where you can choose anything from their hot and cold buffet. Super delicious! For a good lunch, the falafel wrap and lentil soup combo is a great value, and also extremely yummy. The best part is that the food is almost all very nutritious, with lots of veggies and legumes – which is hard to come by.
Very friendly and welcoming service, and a very nice, clean environment. Love it!

We ordered from this restaurant last night when I was starving and not knowing what to eat — my partner and I got the Combo for 2. We ordered from
, it was 5:30pm and the food got here before 6:30. The delivery man was extremely friendly, his customer service impressed me before the food did, in such a short interaction.
Everything was wonderful — it was more than enough food for 2 people plus leftovers. The hummus was my favourite, I think — super velvety texture with tons of garlic. For delivery food, I was very impressed and will definitely try again. I hope I get the same experience.

To someone from the middle east the food is far from authentic and over priced for what you get. Place is not clean and owner is rude. I am surprised that it got all those detailed positive reviews.
I would rather go eat the Thai place besides it. Or the new Shawarma place on Quinpool.

This has become my favorite falafel in Halifax, which is no small honour when you consider how many options there are here. The wraps are a good size & well-​priced, and the service is always friendly.
Also, can we talk about the chairs near the windows? Because these are some of the comfiest chairs in the city.

I’ve only had the falafel here but it was the best I’ve had in Halifax. Everyone there was super nice and we had some cozy seats. I will be going back for sure!

A great place to get some middle eastern food downtown. Stopped by here twice, once for a full meal and to pick up a veggie middle eastern tray.
Quick Review
Food: 5/​5, Shawarma was excellent and the falafel was the perfect amount of crispy and moist.
Service: 4/​5, This place has a cafeteria style ordering and at currently has no table service. Food was prepared quick.
Décor:5/5 The place is slightly below ground level but is really bright thanks to the big windows and lights. I was impressed with the seating with some comfy couches and comfortable chairs as well.
Value: 4/​5, Seems like the menu was new but the shawarma wrap was good at $ 7 as well as the falafel combo. Some of the Shawarma plates were entrée priced at $ 14 which is pretty normal these days but still not a huge value.
I will be going back mainly because the food was good, the place was comfy and clean.

I’m really impressed with this place so far! The food has been great (I eat a LOT of falafel, and there’s is some of the best I’ve had in Halifax), and the owner and staff are just wonderful. It’s very pleasant place to spend a few minutes in, and their huge variety of veggie options is a welcome change to what’s currently available in the neighborhood.
I’ll be stopping by often!