Nuba

207B West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC V6B1K6
Tel: (604) 688-1655
Fax: (604) 568-5867
Neighbourhood: Downtown
  • Cuisine: Halal, Lebanese, Middle Eastern, Vegetarian
  • Price: $$ ($15 - $30)
  • Reservations: Recommended
  • Service: Takeout, Catering
  • Meals: Lunch, Dinner
  • Hours: Mon - Thu: 11:30AM - 4:30PM & 5PM - 11PM, Fri - Sat: 11:30AM - 4:30PM & 5PM - 12AM, Sun: 5PM - 11PM
  • Nuba is located in the basement of the Dominion building on West Hastings and Cambie Street. This recently renovated space features authentic Lebanese cuisine.

3.5
  • Food4
  • Service3.5
  • Value3.5
  • Ambiance3.5
  • Reviews35

Reviews

Displaying 1 - 20 of 35 Reviews Found
Rocky to start but ended up being a lovely evening
By azn_msfyt of Delta (179 Reviews)
Submitted Sunday, June 13, 2010 - 2:19pm

Food: everything we had was fantastic. The notables were the lamb chops, chicken tawook and the falafel. Lamp chops were tender but flavorful, chicken was juicy and spiced perfectly and the falafel were seasoned perfectly and not greasy at all. Other dishes such as hummus, taboulleh and najib's special were also very good but not as good as the notables. They also had the best sangria I've ever had. Yum!

Service: there was a mix-up with the reservations - we called in, asked for a time and day and they called back to confirm. They called back again to tell us that they had made reservations for us on the wrong day and were actually fully booked and the only way to get a table was to walk in. Although that was irritating, I walked in at about the time we were asking for and the immediate reaction of the hostess was to tell me the restaurant was fully booked and I explained what happened and a table suddenly opened. I was seated within several minutes and the service for the rest of the night was wonderful.

Value: My compadre and I were full with drinks for a grand total of $55 so it was a great value.

Ambiance: Minimalist but chic. Great place for drinks and food with friends or with a date.

Overall, I would return, especially since they have a very large vegan selection as well as meat options for the carnivores. Great food, service and ambiance - why wouldn't I come back? Bon appetite!

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Nice place for something different
By cocoeater of vancouver (212 Reviews)
Submitted Friday, June 4, 2010 - 8:58am

Went here on a weekday and surprised how busy it was. Nice place but a bit dark as it's in the basement. There are some windows on one side of the restaurant but all you see are mostly legs walking by. Very nicely decorated with a few tables quite close together along the walls. Went and tried the platter for 2 as you get a sample of many of their dishes. A platter of dips including hummus, an egg plant dip, and chopped parsley salad came with pita. Very nice dips and a good way to start, but can be quite filling. Then came the 3 meat platter which had chicken - not very flavourful, lamb - very good, and prawns - very good. A side dish of veggies came as well including fried cauliflower - excellent, roasted pototoes- OK, and a salad - OK. Overall the food was very good. Total price at $45 which is a pretty good value. Service was good but an explanation of dishes would of helped. Would return.

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Decent place for a decent meal
By pickyjerk of kitsilano vancouver (67 Reviews)
Submitted Wednesday, May 5, 2010 - 12:35am

I like this place - I've tried their chicken dish (I don't know what they call it, its a marinated grilled thigh if I remember correctly) and lamb kofta, as well as their vegetarian lentil dish

The food is nice

You may have guessed that its not "authentic" but its a nice healthier twist on that kind of food

You will enjoy everything on your plate and you will almost definitely clean it - servings are well balanced but don't expect a doggy bag. You will be pleasantly full though.

My 3 star all around rating is mostly due to the fact that theres nothing OUTSTANDING about this place- its just very good. I recommend it.

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Wanted to like it more
By discerning_palate of vancouver (36 Reviews)
Submitted Tuesday, May 4, 2010 - 6:39pm

I have been exposed to Middle Eastern food the last few years so was excited about going to Nuba. We were told the owner is Lebanese and when asked about the chef, the waitress only said he had cooked in a something star (can’t remember if 4 or 5) restaurant in Mexico….. She didn’t elaborate to say his specialty was Middle Eastern or Lebanese….OhhhhKaay… Let the food speak for itself. We ordered lamb kibbeh, beef tenderloin, catch of the day, with sides of roasted potatoes and taboulleh. It was hit and mostly a miss for me. The lamb kibbeh had good flavour. Nothing special about the catch of the day though, which was more reminiscent of a fish prepared as west coast cuisine. The tenderloin was done to my liking (med-rare), had a nice slightly sweet glaze to it and the caramelized onions were tasty. But is this Lebanese ‘cause it sure tasted like a regular steak. The tahini rice was not fully cooked through and was very thick and dense. I think I was expecting more of a pilaf not a failed risotto. The potatoes seasoned with thyme were too dry and boring. I know cinnamon is a widely used spice in the cuisine but neither of us appreciated it in the taboulleh. I didn’t mind the ambiance. I know it’s a popular place to hang out with it’s warm dim lighting but there was something about the layout that felt cold.

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Amazing ambiance and service - food not so much
By Jorge Eduardo of Vancouver (West End) (10 Reviews)
Submitted Saturday, April 10, 2010 - 8:57pm

Hipster laden Nuba looks great inside - very nice and trendy, moody lighting and overall great restaurant atmosphere.
Went on a busy friday night and it was at full capacity . Even under these stressful conditions , service was sharp and professional : top-notch.

My girlfriend loves this place and suggested we try it as it's easy on her lactose-allergy: food is nicely labeled as vegetarian or vegan. Going through the menu was a bit more daunting for me with my hipster-allergy, but I finally settled on the beef tenderloin with tahini rice . Sounded great !

The tahini rice ? Too heavy I thought, almost overkill. The meat ? A choice cut of delicious beef, was sadly undercooked
(asked for medium well, received it mostly rare). Baba ghanoush & hummous were standard, nothing special - and my girlfriends' lentil soup was surprisingly bland. All in all was disappointed with food, which is not cheap at around $18 entrees. Portions were decent size.

However, the ambiance and service and overall professionalism of Nuba would make me want to come again.

Dear Nuba -I want to like you. Please make nice food for me next time. And I'll write a better review for you.

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Nuba rocks.....vancouver.
By jkniest of kitslano (6 Reviews)
Submitted Monday, April 5, 2010 - 9:58pm

This is the kind of place which what defines Vancouver restaurant scene……
……….self confident and pride in our city. The menu states every thing is hand picked and naturally raised, even the paper napkin is eco-friendly. Good way to impress first timers like us.
As we waited at the bar had red stripe Jamaican beer and freshly made original mojito.
We took more time than usual to decide, which was noticed by the manager .Who helped us to understand and to choose.
I had arctic char , which was perfectly respected. Never thought this with pair so well with hummus and baba ganoush ,my hubby had rack of lamb which was nicely roasted to medium.
I will be definitely return to nuba, next time with more friends who are looking for this kind of atmosphere and food.

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Very good!
By Food123 of EastVan (9 Reviews)
Submitted Saturday, April 3, 2010 - 12:12pm

First time to this restaurant, and first time to this location at Hastings/Cambie, which has seen many other restaurants here before. Inviting space, a bit dim (but not so dim that one couldn't read the menu!) and very busy for a Wednesday night. We came without reservations, but were greeted with a big smile from the host and seated very quickly. Great start when one truly feels like a wanted guest. Service was good throughout.

I've eaten Lebanese food before so knew some of the items on the menu. Good shared 'little feast', with enough pita to match the quantity of hummus and baba ghanous (other restaurants you'd have to ask for more bread; this was just the right amount). The hot mezzos sizes weren't large, but with a glass of wine each and an assortment of shared dishes, we had only a little room for dessert. Dessert wasn't elaborate (a cardamon custard, shortbread), but nicely finished the meal. We were very satisfied with the whole evening!

Only downside is that it can get very noisy and we had to strain to hear each other, especially later in the meal.

Definitely worth a visit!

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A great little spot!!!
By vancouverbluegirl of Vancouver, BC (3 Reviews)
Submitted Friday, April 2, 2010 - 5:40pm

My boyfriend took me here for Valentines Day and it was just perfect. Great food, very romantic setting as it is very candle lit. The service was great..all the servers were so pleasant and seemed happy to be there. We tried a whole bunch of different little plates and loved everything, great spot to try new food!

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So Good!
By foodie.604 of Port Coquitlam (14 Reviews)
Submitted Tuesday, March 2, 2010 - 9:02pm

Really enjoyed by experience at nuba! Im not a vegetarian but I really enjoyed my vegetarian meal. I've been twice in the last month, the first time I shared La Feast, but the second time I had the green lentil mjadra as it was the best part of La Feast. It was super delicious with caramelized onions and avacado. I also had the Baclava for dessert and a Stella Artois all of which came out to be $14?!

Great value if you know what you want to get.

Service and ambiance was good, make sure you make a reservation!

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outstanding
By hoover77 of Van (4 Reviews)
Submitted Friday, January 8, 2010 - 11:32pm

We had the veg. sampler platter.... fantastic. lots of food for 2 people, excellent value. The best hummus I have ever eaten, handsdown. everything on the sampler was so delicious. service is great, good selection of local beers, funky space. Can't wait to go to back fo another round.

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Loved It!!!!
By djoe of vancouver (17 Reviews)
Submitted Friday, November 6, 2009 - 11:15am

The food was really good. I think it may be more of a lunch place for us, as some of the items on the plate are served cold, but it was all really really good. Loved loved loved the crispy cauliflower.

The service rocked! Our server was super friendly and genuine. The owner even came out...he also cleaned tables...seated people and just genuinely cared about his restaurant. He is 73 yrs old and cute as a button.

For sure we would go back! Great place for lunch as well because the service is fast...oh ya and did i mention - really good!

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Great time, they took really good care of us
By rnayel of North Van (1 Review)
Submitted Thursday, November 5, 2009 - 5:50pm

I'm Lebanese, and moved to the city from Ottawa two years ago. While Nuba doesn't taste like my mother's cooking for every dish, much of their food is excellent.

I was married about a month ago, and two nights prior to the wedding; my groomsmen and I went to Nuba for dinner and drinks. I called in advance and the manager was gracious enough to make us some off the menu dishes. The kebe naye was well executed, and everybody loved their meal. We were a table of 7 and the service was prompt and non obtrusive. Even though we went through a significant amount of pita and drinks, the table was never cluttered and the servers had our bread before we had time to ask for it.

Although the prices might be a bit high for Lebanese food (which is usually consists of tapas followed by a grilled dish) the service and ambiance, particularly with live music on Thursdays, definitely made it worthwhile. Highly recommended!

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It's Ok to try but won't come back
By boss_33 of VANCOUVER (4 Reviews)
Submitted Friday, September 11, 2009 - 4:52pm

I'm a Lebanese guy and I know what Lebanese food tastes Like.
I can tell you simply That Nuba is an OK restaurant but their food doesn't taste really like Lebanese Authentic Food, their recipes is adjusted to suit Vancouverites and their prices is high comparing to the portion that they're offering.

Just want to share my experience with you guys

Good Luck!

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Wonderful and delicious lunch spot
By desktraveler of Downtown, Vancouver (10 Reviews)
Submitted Friday, September 4, 2009 - 5:33pm

Tried this for lunch today with a friend and we were both impressed. The place was full but not noisy and service was good. The decor is nice and they've done a good job to get daylight into a sub-grade space.

The food is delicious. We opted for the 2-course vegetarian sampler for 2, which is great to get a bunch of different flavours, and it costs only $13/person! The waiter mentioned that their vegetarian dishes are their strong points. It started with the baba ghanooj, hummus, and taboulleh - all very tasty with nice, fresh pitas. Then came a round serving platter with several compartments: deep-fried cauliflower w/ lemon and salt (outstanding!), mjadra, falafels, veggie hushwi, and olives w/ feta, plus tahini, hot sauce, and tzaziki as accompaniments. There wasn't one item that wasn't really good. Phenomenal value and an enjoyable lunch.

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Chic New York Style Mediterranean Restaurant
By dan_sprocket of Vancouver (3 Reviews)
Submitted Monday, August 3, 2009 - 7:41pm

There is so much that I like about Nuba... the trendy, urban styling, the cool groove music, the different configurations for seating, and eclectic mix of people, the soft lighting... the incredibly thin wait staff.

It's right at the corner of W. Hastings and Cambie, across from the War Memorial. As you sit at your table, you look up at the street as urbanites scurry by.

I had one of the best dishes of my life there... I always forget what it's called, but it is literally grilled cauliflower, with lemon and salt. Three ingredients for this incredible taste! I have never been disappointed, with the food, service or ambiance. I look forward to taking out of town friends there to impress them with how urbane and cool I am... :)

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A Turkish Delight
By nelliebobellie of Downtown (69 Reviews)
Submitted Friday, June 26, 2009 - 12:28pm

I had heard mixed reviews about Nuba, but was looking forward to trying it out. I went with a group of 4 other people and we decided to start out by getting a few appies (mezze) to share. We chose a few cold plates - the baba ghanooj, hummus, labneh (fresh-pressed yogurt with spices & olive oil) as well as a hot mezze - sautéed eggplant with Lebanese ratatouille (my favourite!). Unfortunately one dish was forgotten by our server so we did not have a chance to try the mjadra (green lentils & rice with onions & jalepenos). We also started with organic apple sangria - I think everyone really enjoyed it. The apple flavour was spiced and very intense - almost like fresh pressed apples. Wonderful!

For the entrée, I chose the lamb chops with taboulleh & hummus and for my side, I chose the roasted potatoes. I thought everything was quite delicious and very well-seasoned. The lamb was cooked exactly as ordered (med rare) and was exceptionally tender. Other entrées at the table were the rainbow trout (last-minute substitution was perch) served with salad and sides of taboulleh and creamy tahini rice (not my favourite). Others in our group shared a few more appies in lieu of an entrée and said that the falafel and the chicken tawook were not only quite filling, but very good.

Even though we were all quite full, we thought the experience would not be complete without at least tasting a few Lebanese desserts. Between us, we tried the baklava, the pistachio cookies (yummy!), the tiramisu and a cardamom custard served brulée style. I don't think anyone liked the custard, as the execution in the brulée caused the custard to become somewhat runny and warmed up the spices in the custard - I found the flavour quite overpowering for a dessert. The star of the evening was the tiramisu made with Turkish coffee. The flavour was incredible. I would go back for this alone, but I thought the entire meal was very good and I would love to back and try a few more dishes.

There are quite a few vegan/vegetarian dishes available and everything is very fresh and well prepared. The ambiance is really nice and we all enjoyed our evening at Nuba.

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Cheap, tasty and nice ambience
By kells of yaletown (27 Reviews)
Submitted Thursday, June 25, 2009 - 8:11pm

I have a friend who goes here a lot and he'd said good things about it.

I thought the place was great, I just shared a couple of mezze plates and they were all cheap and very tasty. One of my dinner companions had a few things go wrong (substitute fish, missing mezze plate, unsatisfactory dessert) but it didn't seem to ruin the night and the staff were quite apologetic and dealt with the issue appropriately.

The ambience was nice and it was just the sort of place I could sit in for a few hours with good friends snacking and drinking.

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Decent place to have lunch
By foodfrenzy of Vancouver (2 Reviews)
Submitted Monday, June 22, 2009 - 3:25pm

I went there for lunch after reading all the great reviews and was slightly disappointed. Firstly, the service was below average. They mixed up our order and didn't bring the drinks until we were almost finished eating. The food was pretty good but the portions were very small. Lunch for 2 people with 2 glasses of juice came to $36 including tax & tips. Overall, this place is decent but nothing special.

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A nice Place on a hot day!
By Kam of vancouver (6 Reviews)
Submitted Saturday, June 6, 2009 - 2:38am

It was a good finish to a hectic day in the kitchen at VCC, taking the culinary arts course. A couple of classmates and i decided to go for lunch, on a very hot day. Thought it would be a lot cooler in nuba since i was baking in the heat, and well i was baking in nuba too. Some of us only wanted a light lunch so we ordered la feast which was excellent! pretty good, for the price can actually feed 3 people or 2 very hungry people. Cucumber water is an excellent exception to the cool hipster kinda place. the decor is very different like a little lebanese cave it was. the lebanese food was awesome particulary cuz it was vegetarian too, no meat and i was satisfied. the cauliflower, humus were excpetional so was the tatziki. hmm very good little niche place that i never thought of going too!

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Outstanding Food/Great Job on Decor=A Winner
By King_of_Kitsilano of My Beautiful Kitsilano (31 Reviews)
Submitted Tuesday, May 26, 2009 - 10:53am

Was curious to see what had been done with the place, it's a difficult location but has promise.

Taking part of the wall on the stairway out and replacing it with glass floods the room with light it was a brilliant move and the other decorations add even more all they need to do now is tile the floor.($$$$$)

Anyway the service was fine and the food better I had a quick bowl of Soup that had some spice I'd never tasted before-quite intriguing, and the Tabbouleh Salad was outstanding.

If you're wondering what this place is like rest assured that the quality that was a hallmark of the old shoebox is still paramount and as mentioned the new space a winner!

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Other Locations

1.Seymour (1.4 km)
2.East 3rd (1.8 km)