Bashir's Taverna : Comments

Being in the food business (we own a highly rated restaurant in NYC) it is not common for my wife and i to be impressed but in Charlottesville we found two gems and Bashir is one of them.We went on a Saturday evening and the place was full of distinguished clients so we felt home. The staff was ok but discreet.
the cold soups as appetizers were decent but the entrees really made a great impression on us from the super flavorful and moist rosemary leg of lamb to the to die for apricot glazed ham. the homemade yogurt really enhanced the mint sauce for the lamb.It was connaisseurs food not for the non initiated. The wine from Algeria was surprisingly good and inexpensive for the quality.We do not usually indulge in dessert but my wife tried the Baklava and she loved it and i take her word for it. the only complaint : the music for the belly dancer was a bit loud and prevented us from hearing each other.
It was a wonderful experience. We were really pleased to find such a gem in a small town like Charlottesville

I have to say the belly dance (started around 7:45～8pm Saturday evening) is great, very sexy and special, wonderful dancer.

However, the food really dispointed us. bread is cold, butter is regular butter you could get from gocery store. They put a lot of effort to decribe how good the daily special appretizer and geek salad is. I certainly hope they put equal amount of effort in preparing it. The appretizer is tiny size of bread with a piece of cheese on it. The salad is regular salad you could get anywhere, nothing really special.

For entree we had the ham (17.99? we sample it), lamb ($18.99) and shrimp ($18.99). Ham is the best, we wish we only had the ham. lamb is kind of plain taste, favor is barely on the outside. It could also be more tender. Both dishes come with overcooked vegetable. Shrimp was really unfresh, they put a lot of spicy favor and herb, still far from covering how unfresh the shrimp is.

Long story short, food is below average, if you consider the price, its way below average. Two people could easily pay more than $50 to just enjoy the belly dance. It is a nice downtown place, I just hope that the food could be better.

The food at Bashir's is excellent!! His apricot glazed ham is to die for. The fresh salmon with dill sauce is amazing, the salads are fresh and crisp. Love the decor of the inside of the Taverna and Bashir and the wait staff are friendly, helpful and eager to make the dining experience a tasty and memorable one. Bashir is also an incredible caterer! As an out-of-towner hosting a reception, he helped me from start to finish with the food, rentals and everything else in between.

Did not like the food very much. okay atmosphere, but would not go again.

Iwent to tatstethiscville "event which was to support and generate funds for the food bank,the salvation army and meals on wheels. the top restaurants were represented. Bashirs was amazing with their fresh salmon purses in filo dough and their apricot glazed ham. their table was always surrounded by guests. the food was superb.keep up the good work. you are the best.