wafire grill

We tried and tried, and pretty much every time, WaFire Grill let us down.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of a Middle Eastern place nearby with vegetarian food options. WaFire Grill certainly fills that gap by being there, nearby. However, it was only the first time they delivered the ‘taste’ they’re talking about on their sign. The rest is a bit… blah, to be honest.

Things I don’t Like about WaFire Grill
I’ve always found it confusing when they say their food is Middle Eastern and yet do some dishes from the African continent.

Another problem I have is with their menu: their vegetarian dishes are not labelled. They have a vegetarian mains section on their menu, but they’re not the only vegetarian dishes they offer. So, you have to ask the waitress and she’s another problem.

Talking to the waitress—who I believe is a relative or a wife—is yet another unpleasant experience. She’s simply not qualified enough to do the job and we always get the feeling that she doesn’t want to be there.

WaFire Grill Décor
I quite like the lamps, but because there is nothing on the floor to absorb the noise, it gets quite loud in that tiny space.

WaFire Grill Food
The first time we had something to eat at Wafire Grill was a good experience. The food was nice enough. Nothing special but nice.

This is what we had the first time:

Dips (babaganoush, hummus and tzatziki) with bread (above)

Cauliflower Tahina and Grapes Pomegranate pinenuts with Parsley Tahini (above)
This one was quite good. I was so inspired, I actually made a tagine dish and added fresh grapes to it, which turned out quite delicious.

Baklava with ice cream (above)

My husband wanted to try Knafeh with kataify pastry and Akawi Cheese but they didn’t have it. So, he had to pick another dessert. Again, if the waitress was good enough, she would’ve told us before we picked our dessert. I’ll say no more…

The second time we had the same meze trio but one of the mezes was incredibly salty. The unpleasant waitress didn’t apologise; instead, she delivered a pathetic excuse: “Different chef tonight.”

We were so disappointed, we didn’t order anything else and went somewhere else for a cheese platter afterwards.

The last time I visited Wafire Grill, I was on my own. I wasn’t informed way after I ordered my food that they were BYO only. So, I didn’t get to drink anything other than a mint water.

Here’s what I had:

Ras al Hanout Roasted Pumpkin with Laban and Chermoula (above)

This was quite light on the ras al hanout and needed a little salt to bring out any flavour that might have been in it. Labne was more like yoghurt than the actual labne. Such a disappointment.

Fattoush Garden Salad with crispy bread & sumac pomegranate dressing (above)

That fried bread part was such a contrast to the fresh ingredients. They were like shards of bread. I am well aware that Fattoush salad uses stale bread, but not like this. I actually make better fattoush than this. Perhaps this should be the next recipe I share here.

Conclusion
So much potential, yet so little delivery. We decided to pull the plug on Wafire Grill and not go back. We tried it three times, and it was such a disappointment. You could call it three times (not) lucky.