Zena Restaurant in Manchester

Amazing customer service , great atmosphere 10/10 - the waitresses made us feel so welcome

The best place in Manchester for Levantine, if you have never ate Lebanese or Levantine food before, I recommend you eat here !! Perfect all round amazing staff, amazing food, amazing atmosphere

One of our favourite local restaurants. So much love goes in to food

Had a great evening, lovely food! Our server rieff was very attentive and knowledgeable, he gave us great recommendations and we had a brilliant time

Rieff was lovely and gave great recommendations! Thanks

Thank you so much to the staff, they welcomed us pretty well and they were very friendly, The meal was just fantastic, Keep up the good work 👏

Excellent food and customer service. Strongly recommend

Amazing place and tastes very authentic. If you're going on a weekend, it's better to book in advance as it will be packed. Prices are on the higher end compared to similar places in Manchester.

Excellent food, came really quick and enjoyed the environment also. Would recommend/go again :)

Amazing food and great value!! Our server moheimin was brilliant and attentive

Always love eating here, food incredible as ever and service to match. Zara was lovely and very attentive. Would definitely recommend & will be back!!!!

Excellent service and friendly staff. Reiff made sure we were well looked after and our compliments to the chefs. Would highly recommend Zena.

We were 2 couples who were celebrating a birthday and enjoyed a deeeelicious meal ! Chicken livers , baby chicken , lamb chops ,hummus,salads etc etc Flawless & delivered with a smile by our fabulous waitress Mercedes ( Merci ) Thank you soooo much We,ll be back again soon ! Best regards Mick X

Positively surprised! Very authentic taste! Trues the fattouche, hummus and mixed grills and shish kebab…just perfect! Must try

The Minimum charge now £25 in the week and £30 on Friday and at the weekend! Shocking. The BYOB policy does not really make this OK.

Demented workers and ill treatment

Amazing food and service, reasonably priced with a great selection. We ordered a selection of hot and cold starters (the mushroom dish was a highlight, but everything was delicious) and realised our eyes were bigger than our bellies (the photo taken is only half of what we ordered)! BYOB for a small charge. Will definitely visit again!

Had a lovely evening. Served by Ed who had great recommendations of the best dishes. Good veggie options too. Would definitely come back

Great service from Ed, great range of veggie options would definitely come back!

Amazing food! We absolutely love it here, and come back time and time again. Reasonable prices, great portions and quality. Would recommend for any occasion. Thank you!

I came to Zena with my friends for the first weekend of 2024. Was an amazing experience. Beautiful food, lovely staff, would definitely recommend. Will be returning.

Friendly and cosy environment Zara was great and very kind

Lamp chops are to die for!!!! Great service from Zara and her team

Zara was lovely ! Food was delicious, really recommend this place

Lovely staff and amazing food. Shoutout to Rieff

Great food, generous portions, attentive staff

The place was nice and the staff were lovely but we felt like we were being rushed to eat soon after we finished our meal. I wish I knew how the food served as I ordered the chicken kebab. It came by itself with no salad/hummus so had to order more food.

Parts of the menu are really expensive. My wife asked for some yoghurt as her main course was a little dry, which was provided, but we were charged nearly £6 for it. Must have cost them about 20p to provide. Also, rice is approx £5 for a tiny dish. Be really careful what you order as you could get totally ripped off like we were. £11 for rice and yoghurt!?! The menu online is out of date too as the prices are higher when you get the bill.

The best Middle Eastern food I’ve had in Manchester! Absolutely delicious, reasonably priced, and the atmosphere of the place is lovely. I’d 100% recommend eating here.

Fantastic night with friends. Even better food. Thanks to all the staff.

Excellent food and service great restaurant with a buzzing vibe.

Best Middle Eastern food in MCR so far :)

They served sheep instead of lamb! Meat was proper grizzly and chewy. How can you advertise lamb and instead serve sheep? Shame on you for your dishonesty. I should getting trading standards involved. Sheep is significantly cheaper than lamb, stop being so cheap and dishonest!

Very nice place to eat always a great atmosphere with amazing food

Myself and two of my friends visited this place today and we really enjoyed the atmosphere and food, the food was delicious and the staff were super friendly, I am coming back here with my family soon, if you have the chance please visit, highly recommended.

Been here a couple of times. Food was fantastic and service was great. Even down to helping me get a comfy chair for my back! Will be back again!

Incredible food and service, definitely recommend!

We were a little hesitant when we came in as the restaurant was empty but we are so glad we did. The food was absolutely delicious - the Arabic salad, mujadara rice and the falafel were perfect and so flavourful. The portions were generous and the staff lovely. A Didsbury gem ⭐️

Best Lebanese in Manchester! Superb all round.

This Restaurant is now my new favourite!! the chicken was delicious and the service was very good as well

i’ve been coming here since they opened and never once been disappointed!! always served hot, flavourful food by the smiliest servers. recommending this restaurant to everyone amazing atmosphere and owners :))🥰

could not recommend this restaurant enough! delicious food met with a lovely atmosphere and welcoming staff. the mixed grill was amazing, as well as the vine leaves which i had never tried before. I will definitely be coming back here again 😁

This place is unbelievable!! I have ate in restaurants all over the world and Zena is always one I return to on a regular basis. The food is always fresh, consistent and amazing. Staff second to none. One of the best restaurants in Manchester and great valve (I’ve tried most of them) See you in a few weeks :)

It's a lovely place to eat. Lovely staff and atmosphere. Warning that it's BYO with a tiny corkage charge if you want beer or wine. It's great.

I once picked up a delivery from this restaurant. The kitchen was so dirty

I. Love. This. Restaurant. 😫 I'll never stop ordering from this place, the food is exquisite 🤌 Amazing as always, highly recommend. 💯

It’s always a great experience at Zena. The staff know about the food and very helpful. The food is some of the best Lebanese I’ve had. Really nice place

Very good food & service. I love the place Very tasty halal food

Pleasant atmosphere and food tasty but we ordered the set menu and realised 3 items listed has been missed off. When I asked for these one was brought. When I asked again we were told a chef was off so we would not get these items. I was disappointed they didn't explain in the first place, clearly hoping we didn't notice. I asked for money off

This place came highly recommended but it ended up being a huge disappointment. We booked for Friday evening 8:30pm, 4 people. We arrived at 8:20pm and had to wait until 8:40pm to be seated. We were handed the menus straight away and asked to order quickly because the kitchen was closing at 9:15pm! We rushed out orders and ended up with both starters and mains arriving at the table at the same time... The food was OK but hardly excellent (my shawarma had very far pieces of overcooked lamb, and hardly any onions or peppers as Dec m described in the menu...). We were then rushed to leave the place "because the staff are students and need to leave at 10pm"... Even asked to take boxes to finish eating later for whatever we hadn't finished eating yet, despite the fact we were clearly still eating! When we asked the manager about this on leaving, she said that it was our fault because we were late (we clearly weren't) and that we asked for both starters and mains to be delivered together (we did not). Nor apologetic at all, but trying to blame us for the poor experience. They're clearly trying to maximise profit by hiring students at low rates and trying to fit as many bookings as possible in an evening, even if it means treating customers like this. I guess others might have better experiences outside of busy Fridays and weekends, but we didn't and were not going back there.

Everything we tried was absolutely fabulous! Great staff. Reasonable prices.

What a little gem! We overall enjoyed our experience. The main courses were delicious and the portions were good size. My husband enjoyed his starter a lot. I didn't so much mine. I had prawns and the shell was not removed completely. Some of my prawns were still in full shell minus the legs and the head. I still enjoyed it though just a bit disappointed. Everything else was outstanding. We will definitely be returning.

لديكم نادله قليلات اتب ولم تكن محترمه عند ما قمتم في تضويفه لم ترو أنه ابنت شوارع

Love it in here. Kebab is delicious, I always share the mixed one. BYOB is always a bonus. Note there is a small corkage fee.

Very good Middle Eastern food, freshly cooked and great choice. Well priced too.

Very expensive, we are regular customers but I didn’t come in for awhile and when i came in a few days ago we found out that the prices has been changed and now it is very expensive:(

Ambiente agradável!! Comida um pouco sem sabor!

Wonderful place, excellent food and nice staff

£30 mezze per person is good value.

The food is stunning, the service can be a little slow at times but it is worth the wait and the atmosphere can be loud (try to sit at the front if you can). But if you are coming to Zena your coming for the food and it is stand out, I have dined in and ordered out too, my preference is dining in but both work well. You can bring your own Booze if you so wish. I have come here on multiple occasions and the food is just wonderful. I would just order as many small dishes. As you possibly could think that you might be able to eat with you and your friends. As mezze food goes I would honestly say staying within the confines of the cold and hot starters is the place to be, although I have also shared the mixed grill a couple of times when ordering in. The Babaghanouj is the best I have had in Manchester, I have been known to make sure i get the lions share of this on the fresh pitta as it makes me so happy. The food is the star here it is so good, and when sharing really works out at good value, I generally believe you can't go wrong, ordering pretty much anything of the menu here.

What a lovely restaurant with a great atmosphere 😍 I would highly recommend Zena Restaurant

What a fabulous experience, great room, lighting, table space, comfort, layout, service, staff numbers, speed of service, menu, and the food OMG, the food! Simply outstanding! As experienced home cooks with fairly high standards we rarely find a restaurant that ticks all the boxes, where we feel that there is unique flavour, high quality, level of ‘healthiness’ to the meals etc. at Zena it delivered in all fronts and being BYO, we were able to drink some great beers and some lovely wine that we brought with us! Even the glasses provided were great! Will have no hesitation rebooking and would recommend highly. Middle Eastern food served this beautifully is a must have! Well done Zena! Greg

We had the kibbe, chicken bourak, fatteh Zena and the mousaka with rice and flatbreads. Everything was cooked to perfection absolutely delicious 5* ! And you can take your own wine

I must say I don’t write reviews however I had to about this place! I ate here with my Middle Eastern family and we all enjoyed the authentic meal, the staff are really friendly and attentive and happy to help us, I would say my father is incredibly picky with his food however was left speechless and had nothing bad to say! Overall brilliant food and atmosphere will definitely return and recommend. Glad I found this place :)

Food was amazing , very tasteful all the right flavours . Great value of money . Restaurant is a great location , easy to get to . Staff were very friendly , helpful talkative and smiley . I had the chicken wings with a side of rice and Arabic salad - was very delicious. Would definitely recommend coming here :)

We rang Zena's on a busy bank Holiday, and they managed to squeeze 11 of us in with no bother. And we were glad they did! The food was absolutely fantastic and the staff were brilliant!! Would highly recommend. We will be back. Thank you.

Beware ordering online. They add a tip to your bill without authority and without telling you. Such a shame to spoil an otherwise good experience. Also, there is no waiter in an online order, so this is just free money, or theft, as I like to call it. Not happy.

Food is lovely with a fantastic choice. Generous portions so do not overorder! Staff friendly Reasonable price Bring your own wine

Amazing good atmosphere and service LOVED IT really good lenanese food can tell the authenticity through the flavours I will definitely be back and recommend to my friends and family

Food was mostly nice, vegetarian mains leave a bit to be desired, but lamb was good and cold meze starter was great. BYOB with £2.50 corkage per person no matter how many drinks you bring so that's great, staff were friendly enough although would love if they were a lil more attentive and didn't clear plates midway through the meal without asking first. Overall nice but bit expensive in comparison to some other restaurants of this style - Didsbury for you, though.

Awful service and staff more interested in talking to each other and have no sense of time. Food pricey.

My favourite Levantine restaurant in Manchester

Very poor service and food came out very slowly and overpriced. I wouldn't recommend at to anyone to be honest.

I cam with my older brother. I had the best shawarma that I have ever had

We had a take away from here. Lovely service, provided me wifi and a seat while I’m waiting. Looks like a nice place for a night out. Food wasn’t impressive, overpriced for a take away.

The food is the saving grace of this place, delicious and authentic. However the service is really disappointing with waitresses grabbing plates over your shoulder while eating your meal and she was confrontational during taking orders when a simple mistake was made.

Excellent food and service. Will go again.

First visit to Zena and the food was amazing. Great value and such wonderful food. You can bring you own alcohol but charged for corkage. But would recommend a visit.

Corkage charge? Really? We asked for a corkscrew and the charge was £2.50. Somebody is going to open the bottle and pour the wine for us, we thought. Nope. What was even more ridiculous, is that the corkage charge is £2.50 PER PERSON! So if you ask for a corkscrew and 10 wine glasses, you will be charged £25 just because you borrowed their corkscrew for literally 2 minutes.

Again a brilliant experience, relaxed atmosphere serving exceptional food. BYoB if you fancy a glass of wine or a couple of beers (tesco next door) I always start with the lentil soup it’s delicious.

Nice mixed kebab & super fresh bread. £2.50 boyb charge which is perfect with Tesco being next door.

Recent visit not the best food. Not up to usual standards. Started charging corkage fees. Not a good idea.

Zena was recommended highly. However the service was very poor. We waited over 45 minutes for our starters to arrive. When we realised something wasn’t right and alerted the person we gave our order to, she hadn’t sent it to the kitchen. We had to re-order and then the starters arrived a reasonable 20 minutes later. Moving on to the mains, they were average. Whilst clearing the table the cutlery was dropped on my hand, hair, clothes and seat by the waiter. He apologised. Moving on to dessert, the waiter was keen to take the dishes away even before we had finished eating. The service was terrible. The Manager offered to waive the bill. It was a decent gesture but my evening was ruined.

We had the platter for two and everything was delicious. Go hungry if you're thinking of getting this as it's a truly great meal. Definitely recommended.

It's a bit expensive for the amount you get in return and the kebabs have no sides. The food quality was good and the service too but again I think it's a bit unbalanced in terms of price vs value

Nice food but not as hot as it should be,slow service

Estábamos de vacaciones en la zona,entramos de casualidad,al pasar por la calle, nos gustó el interior,es muy acogedor. Ya dentro nos gustó mucho más, el personal en todo momento estuvo muy atento y paciente,ya que nosotros no hablamos mucho inglés y tardamos un poco en traducir la carta. Todo lo que pedimos estaba buenísimo, el servicio fue rápido. Otros platos que vimos pasar para otras mesas tenían muy buena pinta. Un lugar totalmente recomendable,de hecho ya lo he recomendado a unos amigos que pronto estarán por la zona ,tienen comida para todos los gustos,carne, pescado, vegetariana etc

Me and my brother went to this restaurant. We both had a spectacular time. The service is first class. The food is to die for. Especially, Viyana who served me, she made me and my brother feel welcome there. She made sure that we were well taken care of and ensured that we enjoyed the food. She makes sure that we enjoy the food. All the staff are very welcoming and very friendly and they all make sure we are well fed and taken care of. Another one of the staff made us feel welcome and his name was Jihad. All the staff are very kind and make sure that we actually enjoy our time

This place is our local favourite. Only trouble is, everyone else has also discovered it and you need to book any night of the week to ensure you can get a table. Order the mixed grill and you won't go wrong. BYOB makes it very affordable in the current economic climate.

Food great, experience not so. Attracts large parties as its BYO, means no dining experience unless you like only being able to hear that large party. Music needs turning on and up as its obvious other diners do need to be listening in on a Friday night. Book another week day if possible.

So, I've travelled up to Manchester to have an Easter weekend of fun, frolics and Spicy Margs. The four of us have been on a lovely walk through the burbs of Greater Manchester and are hungry like the wolf. We phone Zena Restaurant on the off chance that they'll have a table for four on Easter Saturday - lo and behold, they do! Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a young gentleman (with the kind of amazing hair and good looks that Jack Grealish could only dream of) who promptly walked us to our table - and then the fun began... Three of us were meat eaters with one a card carrying vegetarian, so our gem of a veggie ordered a set of sharing starters that we could all get into - namely, the hummus, stuffed vine leaves, mutable (baked aubergine mashed with tahini and yogurt, topped with herbs), the labneh (yogurt) and the Spinach And Cheese Bourak... Absolutely gorgeous, and a stone cold winner for starters. It was at the time of ordering these that we also ordered our meat mains. Deliberating over what to do here left two of the three meat eaters with some big choices to make - as the third meat eater had abdicated her portion of responsibility to the two of us, having self-nominated to go grab a bottle of wine (it's BYOB for those who fancy alcohol with their meal). This writer is a veteran of the Levantine restaurant circuit of East and South London so his mind immediately turned to something that would continue the theme of sharing and was nothing short of a carnivore's feast. Our waiting staff member was a really attentive young woman who also happened to be the boss's daughter. So we knew that what we were about to ask of her was going to go straight to the top... Rather than order three individual meat mains, this writer and the aforementioned staff member engaged in a conversation that went something like this: W: So, I wanna know - can we get the mixed kebab that is on the sharers menu for three? SM: So you want the sharing menu for three? W: No... Ok... So, you know the BIG OVAL PLATTER, you know the one with the mountain of meat? SM: (Smiling) Yeaaa I know the one, haha W: Yessssss! We'll have that please! (cue much whooping, laughter and high fives) As you can see from the photo attached, the Oval Platter was not the mixed kebab. This was a far greater thing, a feast fit for a bacchanal. Kofte kebabs in union with lamb and chicken shish and additional lamb chops (about five?) all garnished with fried red onions, parsley and niceness with a mound of rice and vermicelli in the middle. This was everything and more. I'd like to say at this point that this exchange and the hospitality and vibe from all the staff members was absolutely wonderful. We're talking Champions League levels of hospitality and welcome - which really does make for a wonderful dining experience. Along with the magical meat feast, our certified veggie ordered in the Mushroom Bil Zait (gorgeous and flavorful) and the Ful Madames, both of which repeatedly hit the spot. All in all, we were treated to top notch Levantine cuisine cooked with care, love and attention - three qualities which were ever present in the staff with whom we interacted. No feast can ever be complete without a sweet treat and the team at Zena did not disappoint. One of our table had been in Turkey and had loved warmed up Halva - and to our request, a dish of hot halva drizzled in honey arrived and knocked all of us for six. This was accompanied by a Muhalabieh, a milk pudding set dessert, which acted as a cool palate cleanser. We washed everything down with a small cup of Arabic coffee and the feast was complete. As I sit here writing this review back in sunny South London, my mind drifts back to magical Manchester and one of the many nailed-on highlights would have to be the time the four of us spent at Zena in West Didsbury, Manchester. The foods of Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan that Zena brings together for their customers are of top quality matched also by the levels of hospitality, evident upon arrival. Thanks to all at Zena 🐝❤️🐝

Excellent experience overall! The grilled items were cooked to perfection and the staff are lovely, hardworking and extremely polite and friendly. Had a lovely time time for iftar!

My first name with the kitchen was amazing. Delicious dishes and friendly staff.

Amazing food and great customer service. Best eastern food in Manchester

The presentation as well as the taste was amazing, also the time and temperature of the food served was spot on From start to finish was great experience Very much recommend, also waiters were great thank you MAYIS

Delicious food, particularly the zena's chicken!

So, first of all, it’s a 4 score because you are made to feel a little rushed as they obviously turn tables every 60-90 mins. Also because of the minimum spend of £25pp at weekends, otherwise it would be a 5 score for me. We...

Ze waren heel klantvriendelijk , de eigenaar en ook de persoon die ons ging bedienen🤍 wat een service !! En de sfeer bij de terras is leuk ..

Food quality is perfect. Friendly staff and great atmosphere

Great venue, party of 12 made to feel very welcome, friendly staff, nice atmosphere and very tasty food, recommended