Cedars of Lebanon

Cedars of Lebanon
152 E. 200S
Salt lake City UT
801-364-4096

A middle-eastern restaurant in down town Salt Lake offering lamb, beef, chicken and vegetarian dishes. Seating is at tables, booths and they have a private room with floor seating and you can arrange for private parties. This was my first time and my son’s second time and I looked forward to trying out the dishes.
Persian rugs adorn the walls and highly polished wooden floors give you the impression and feel of the Middle East. Sadly we dinned on Sunday and therefore missed the belly dancers who perform on Friday and Saturday only. The lunch menu offers American sandwiches, ham, pastrami, roast beef and the like. Also featured are Middle Eastern delights such as Kafta Kebab (ground beef mixed with parsley, onion and spices, charbroiled and served on pita bread0, Cheese Burek (layered filo dough with melted cheese, baked and served with rice and vegetables) to name a few. The dinner menu offers appetizers of Tabbouleh, Falafel, Humus Dip, and Baba Ghanouj as well as many others.
You can pick your main entrée individually or for two which is a cost saver; we picked the lamb and chicken kebab for two which is served with basmati rice. It was a difficult choice since they offer such delicacies as lamb tagine (a slow-cooking lamb stew in a curry sauce flavored with a blend of aromatic spices such as turmeric, cumin, ginger, cardamom and cinnamon) or Pastilla (a Moroccan dish of chicken in a special sauce with spices and folded on filo dough). To start off our dining adventure we picked a bugler dish with tomatoes and cumin served with pita bread which I found to be extremely tasty.
The kebabs are marinated and charbroiled and served atop the basmati rice, I found the beef to be succulent and moist but the chicken was a little dry or perhaps a bit over cooked but still very tasty. The combination of the kebabs pairs well with the aromatic basmati rice and assorted vegetables. The potions are ample for large eaters and they offer to go boxes for your left overs. We paid $29.95 for our dual serving which is slightly less than if ordered separately.
If you have never eaten Middle-Eastern food you owe it to yourself to try out The Cedars of Lebanon or if you are an experienced diner then you are in for a memorable time. Top off the meal with a nice glass of wine and a good dinner companion; nothing could be better.