Windsor Palace Restaurant

I’ve eaten here once for dinner, and it was great. Went back for lunch, and it was bad.
The soup they give you is REALLY good. Both options.
The bread is a disaster. How can you give cold pita bread in a bag, as a restaurant?
Get the Iraqi kabob (make sure they make it medium well or well done).
I had the shared platter meant for 3 – 5 (not to myself!!!), and it was really well done.
THUS, I would conclude that to be safe, go for dinner– not lunch.

I got the chicken thighs with Iraqi salad here. It was delicious. Friends got Iraqi kabob and mixed grill, they thought it was too fatty, and had to nap after. Complimentary chicken soup was yummy. Hummus could improve, too dry. Our server was very nice and attentive. I will definitely go back.

This restaurant is located in a relatively busy area of downtown Windsor. I was about to cross the American-​Canadian border and was looking for a bite to eat. Since my favorite restaurant on the Windsor side is closed on Sundays, I thought I’d give this place a try. I had to wait at the front counter for about 10 minutes before someone even looked my way and acknowledged I was there. I placed my order (the dishes were all $ 10+) and waited for my food at a nearby table since they don’t offer any seating for their take out guests.
When I got home and opened my box of delicious smelling food, I was surprised to find that the portions were TINY. My disappointment was that of finding out someone ate the last piece of cheesecake you were saving in the fridge for after work. The rice was not even a handful, and the meat was not seasoned enough. I will not be coming back to this location. With the high prices, I was expecting more food.
The only good thing about this place is the décor. The ambiance is nice, and if it wasn’t for the horrible food, it would be a decent place to splurge. However, I strongly recommend not going here. Spend your money elsewhere!

the place is clean and cozy i love the decorations there. i went with my husband and 2 sons for dinner. we loved the food i absolutely recommend the restaurant for people who like to try mediterranean food.

Really cute place to go to, the dining area is nice when you walk in although I don’t like the fact they keep their glasses on the table. Mine was pretty dirty so I asked for new ones. Overall the service was a ³⁄₅ but the food was awesome. I ordered a mixed grill, it had schwarmas, BBQ chicken, and lots more. My boyfriend ordered the chicken kebabs which weren’t really his favorite the stuffing inside has like a grainy vegetable taste and the inside of the kebabs were really soggy. But I’d definitely come back again for some food :)

Food is great but the tables, dishes and cups weren’t that clean. We asked to replace them all!

Windsor palace is a beautiful restaurant ! Not only that, the staff there are wonderful and that’s the important part. The waitresses go above and beyond for you! I would recommend this place the food is delicious.

Windsor palace is very much a hit or miss with me. I went there last week for the first time in a while. For some reason any family gathering dinners would always be here, so I’ve been going to this place a couple times a year since they’ve opened.
My main complaint is that their food is never very consistent. Some days it’s very good and other it’s alright, and it’s usual undersalted. I’ve heard from more than a few people that their food tastes better on weekends since they are usually busier around this time. I’m not sure if there’s any truth to that but I do know that I always have different opinions of their food every time I go (we usually get the big meal plates — kebabs, tika, chicken chop, etc) for me this just doesn’t fly, restaurants should be serving the same quality, continuously. Also I’ve never found their staff to be particularly friendly. They usual hang on this strange balance of almost being rude but being jjuussttt nice enough to make you think that they aren’t.
I got the falafel sandwich this time, I would have liked it much more if the falafel wasn’t in it. All the fillings were nice but the actual falafel wasn’t great and was a very yellow colour.
Personally, I don’t usual want to eat here but I do because my family insists on it. I do think everyone should try it, especially if you’re looking for some Iraqi Arabic food. They also serve things like Iraqi pacha and dolma, which isn’t usually common, so that’s nice.

LITERALLY THE WORST EXPERIENCE EVERRRR. Never ever going back.
I want to start off by saying we were fasting due to ramadan, which means we don’t eat or drink from sunrise (4:30 am) to sunset (9:30).
1. We arrived to the restaurant at 9:15, waited at the door for which what felt like a lifetime.
We were finally seated at sticky tables.
They took our orders (chicken cream chop platter with rice, and a kabob platter with hummus and fries) at 9:30pm, and just disappeared into thin air. I literally got up and went looking for our waitress, which I then found flirting with a random dude on the side. I made sure to make eye contact with her to remind her we still exist then went back to my seat.
2. We finally got our food at 10:11pm, which felt like eternity.
The food was wrong in every way possible.
The pita bread was stale, the hummus was dry and definitely lacking garlic and lemon. (I’m not even a professional cook and I know this). I then called the waitress over to tell her the hummus was off, and I swear to you it’s like she didn’t believe me, she made me feel like I was lying.
The fries were overcooked and burnt but we let it pass. The rice definitely tasted OLLLLD. I kept trying to convince myself it was fine because at this point after starving all day, cardboard with ketchup would have tasted amazing. I called the waitress over again (mind you, I’m not the type to ever complain at restaurants) and I APOLOGIZED and told her in a polite manner that the rice was definitely off. She then proceeded into trying to CONVINCE ME that it was fine, and that everyone else had the same rice and no one complained??? I told her if she didn’t believe me she could try it her self! She then finally agreed to bring me steamed veggies instead (which I swear took another 6,000 years to bring out)
3. At this point, I just wanted to drink water and leave. But oh wait, she was flirting with the same guy again. So no water for us! At this time it was 11:03pm and they hadn’t come to check up on us or bring the bill. So we decided to just walk up to cash. She gave us the bill, and we noticed we were being charged for the hummus. We asked her why we were being charged for it to which she responded by saying «well my manager tasted it and he said it was very good»??? –M.i.n.d b.l.o.w.n. I was ready to lose it. I Started getting very angry. I told her we didn’t even eat it! we gave it back!!! She then rolled her eyes and went to go (and I quote) «ask the manager if it was ok». Long story short; Don’t ever go there. It is so unprofessional and has the worst food and customer service EVER. –rant over. Piece of advice, just grab burgers.

The best Iraqi Kabab you can have in North America!
The only reason I gave 4 stars is for the slow service

The reviews are correct.
Great Middle Eastern food. I ordered the mixed grill for variety. The kebabs were fantastic. Next time I might just have them. The service was prompt and friendly.
Very good babaganoush. I also really liked both the lentil and chicken soups.

There’s a perception abroad that Windsor’s greatest culinary achievement is its pizza. Admittedly, the pizza is phenomenal and not truly appreciated until having to eat Pizza Pizza in Toronto. But, all of the same can be said for the plethora of Middle Eastern food. It’s terrific and taken for granted by lifelong residents.
My brother and I went for lunch and were warmly greeted by our waitress, who immediately served us a tasty Iraqi cardamon tea. The menu is full of classic favourites to please everyone, as well as some less common house specialties. We had plenty of both.
We shared a few well known dishes to start: tabouli, hommus, jajeek, and their famous lentil soup. The latter was terrific. I highly recommend squeezing in the lemon wedge it’s served with, it sets off what can sometimes be a bit of a bland base. The other three were great because we were starving, but nothing unheard of. The tabouli and hommus are just as good as they are anywhere else on Wyandotte, and the jajeek reminded me a lot of mizeria, a popular Polish cucumber salad.
Windsor Palace truly shone with the three main dishes we shared: dolma, beryani rice with okra sauce, and lamb tashreeb. All three were uniquely delicious. The dolma was a mixed platter of stuffed eggplant, zucchini, cabbage, and grape leaves. All were stuffed with a rice, meat medley that was packed perfectly tight, served warm, and tender enough without falling apart. The beryani was a spiced rice dish that was probably the best thing overall, especially with okra, which is a criminally underrated food. The tashreeb was a braised lamb shank on top of a sweet and spicy sauce that covered some cooked vegetables and several slices of pita. The soaked pita was a little odd, but the lamb flaked apart beautifully. Again, all three were lovely, and the portions were generous.
I love Middle Eastern desserts and was really disappointed that there were essentially none to offer here. Our waitress admitted to us that they had a random assortment of frozen desserts, but nothing to offer as such. Despite this shortfall, Windsor Palace has plenty of delicious savoury items to fill up on. Great food and friendly service, worth the trip.

The BEST hummus and lentil soup in the city! Order the Mixed Grill for your entrée, it’s a bit of everything and delicious!

Windsor Palace is a testimony to the power of Unilocal.The missus and I were checking off a bucket list item for her by going to Canada. (She’s from North Carolina, so unlike Northern Midwestern kids who stumble across the border weekly, it’s a big deal for her). The Great White North (which, oddly is due south from the U.S. while crossing from Michigan into Ontario tunneling under the Detroit River) in Windsor incarnation was, then, our destination for an afternoon of remarkably easy international travel.
What does one eat when traveling to places across the border, central places in areas that will be navigated by foot? The answer: places downtown that are highly reviewed by Unilocal.Hence, one wanders a little off the area immediately around the ghastly retiree magnet that is Ceasars [sic – I hate elided apostrophes] Palace to find this charming Middle Eastern spot on Wyandotte Street. .
Wisdsor Palace is spacious and tastefully decorated, with white tablecloths and Middle Eastern-​themed art and interior design. It’s one of the nicer places on Wyandotte, which, like Windsor and Detroit as wholes, has a huge influx of recent Middle Eastern immigration and hence 1,000 less attractive places with the same kinds of food. The lack of TV, as is the case here, is always a bonus for me, but the presence of only one other table at noon on a Tuesday made the place a bit quiet.
The menu is traditional, so we went for some hommus as a first course. Drizzled in olive or grapeseed oil and served with a basket of pita, and some brightly colored pickled cabbage, it was a solid start. Entrees are served with one of the two daily soups and an additional side of white beans, okra, or curry, so we got the leg of lamb with lentils and white beans and chicken biryani with chicken soup and curry. The chicken soup and white beans were excellent, the lentils good, the curry less inspired. The lamb was served with fluffy long-​grained rice and raisins, the biryani with fried rice. We left half of it (didn’t want to take a to-​go box to the casino), not because we didn’t love it, but because we just couldn’t finish.
Our server was super nice, probably family of the ownership. She was surprised that we knew our Middle Eastern food (perhaps not a lot of visitors from Detroit do?), but I suspect that’s changing with the increasingly diverse ethnic makeup on both sides of the river.
And all of this still only came to $ 42 Canadian (about $ 35 USD) out the door. Nice value, nice place, and, as a bonus, Windsor Palace is officially my first international Unilocal review. And you only get to write that once.

The food here is perfect! I came here with a friend on a Tuesday evening after 8:30 PM and there was only one other table occupied in the restaurant. Having so few customers made me kind of hesitant to go inside even though its Unilocal rating was so high, but my friend reassured me that Windsor’s kind of dead in general (true — there wasn’t really anyone walking around downtown all evening). Well, I’m glad we went inside because the food is BOMB with service to match!
I love middle eastern food and I LOVE lamb so I got the Lamb Leg on Rice ($ 15). I still can’t believe how much food I got for just $ 15. The okra stew was delicious, the lamb was incredibly flavourful and tender, the rice was perfect and the vegetables were grilled just the way I like them. The only thing that wasn’t amazing was the lettuce, which was kind of limp. and withered. It’s really the least important thing on the plate, but it kind of ruins the presentation. Not taking any stars off though, because everything else was so amazing.
My friend got the Iraqi Kabob ($ 12), which consists of three huge skewers of beef and lamb, rice and griled vegetables. His meal was just as big as mine, minus the okra stew, and from the few bites I had from the skewers, it was just as delicious as mine.
The service was extremely attentive. Our waiter was very friendly, polite and thorough. He came by our table every 10 – 15 minutes to refill our water and make sure everything was good, though he wasn’t intrusive or pushy at all. Because the restaurant was empty, we were able to have our choice of any table we wanted, so we chose a booth by the front window, which was kind of weird once we realized that almost each person walking past the window would look inside and watch us eating. There’s not much to look at outside anyway, so I’d probably choose a table more inside the restaurant if I came back to Windsor Palace after dark.
The washroom was very clean and surprisingly spacious, just like the rest of the restaurant. There is also a large vertical mirror on the way to the washroom, in case you enjoy looking at yourself.
I’m struggling to find the words to describe how much I enjoyed the food, service and prices here. Try it. You won’t be disappointed.

Came here after smelling the delicious smell of bbq chicken off the street. It was dark from outside and kind of uninviting at first glance but it was 8 pm on a monday. We had the mix grill plate and chicken tikka and it was oh so delicciouss! The pickled cabbage appetizer was reminiscent of the syrian kabees i used to have back home. The chicken soup was homemade with real chicken. It was really delicious, healthy and our waiter was awesome and entertaining. Love this place!

The hospitality is just lovely and the food reminds me of my aunt’s cooking which is always a plus. I kept digging into the to-​go packaging hoping for more of that delicious soup.

Absolutely Wonderful. I have had the pleasure of visiting many times, and have tried nearly everything and have never found a dish I didn’t love. Great portions, fast service without feeling rushed, and surely top of the class in Windsor.

I love d atmosphere! I love d food & my favorite is the $ 35 platter! Everything’s in it n it can serve up to 5 people!

This was actually my 2^nd time here. The first time I had shown up just to meet some friends who were there finishing dinner so really didn’t eat there — thus no review (though I did grab a check-​in!).
So now after having a full meal there, I would happily report it was a very positive experience. The service (for the most part — and I’ll explain what I mean in a bit…) was very good and the food was prepared well, good sized portions and really delicious and enjoyable!
We started off with the Falafel plate (not technically an «appetizer» but totally a good decision!) which our server was very polite to tell us that they’re made to order so it can take about 10min before they’re ready. We were both eager to try them so we went for it. However, to address our growing hunger pangs, our dinners came with a choice of soup (lentil or chicken) so we went with one of each. Unfortunately, turns out they were out of the chicken that I ordered as I do NOT like lentils, but I was talked into trying it anyway — which I did. Wow — I was impressed — I liked it! I really liked i! :) I guess you can teach an «old dog» new tricks…
The falafel plate arrived and they were SOOOO good! Lighter in color than what we were both used to, but wow — falvorful and good on their own or dipped in the sauce that comes on the side. Absolutely worth getting!
For our entrée’s my friend ordered the ½ grilled chicken. Of course I had to steal some (all in the name of reviews… right?!?) It was really nice — maybe ever so slightly on the dry side, but not much and flavored well. I would consider that on a return visit. I got the Iraqi BBW plate — wow — really good. The flavor combinations of the meat was really wonderful.
So — clearly the food there is well worth the visit. Our main server was wonderful. She was attentive but not too much so, informative and helpful. The only negative of the evening was another server (I think that’s what he was, but not sure) who actually was the one who seated us and seemed to be our server but then mentioned something about he was ending his shift and she would take over or something like that. OK — no problem. However, he kept showing up and was really pressuring us to finish up. OK — so we were the last customers in the place and I get it — when there’s one table and you can’t leave until the last table is cleared, you want them to get through their meal and go. But normally you don’t project that onto them.
For example, we had ordered tea (which is really good tea, btw), and he came back at one point and asked if we were done with the tea. Having just filled our glasses and the pot was empty, we said «yes — we’re done.» Expecting that he would take just the pot yet he reached to clear our full glasses as well. Odd. He would then show up now and then and ask if we’re done and can he clear the plates. Well, none of the plates were actually empty and it was still 45min before they stopped serving so we were sort of just sitting, chatting and enjoying, but the message was coming through — he wanted to go so we had to hurry up and finish.
Outside of feeling a little like we’re being pushed out the door due to the hour — and the fact it was really just one guy, our main server NEVER made us feel rushed out — quite the contrary actually, it was a great experience.
I will definitely be back and would recommend it to others!