Ramal is very clearly an independent restaurant.  The whole vibe screams as much from the second you pass the front door, but in the same breath, it's clear that a lot of love has gone into the place.

We ended up sitting on the upper floor which is kitted out in a more lavash manner than the ground tier.  Walls are fitted out with stereotypically Middle Eastern wall coverings and lighting.  It was a nice enough space and it's always good to see relatively low-budgeted indies making a strong effort on the personalisation.

It was busy, and also very, very rowdy.   That was probably in part due to the time of year, ie the last Friday evening before Christmas so perhaps not representative of a typical Friday evening, but the place was full of groups who'd largely drank too much.  In other words, there were a lot of irritatingly loud groups who seemed to hang around to chat and become excessively under the influence long after the edible part of their meal was finished.  And I'll come to the probable reason why shortly.....

So, Ramal, as indirectly touched on above, is a BYOB restaurant.  On top of that they don’t even charge you corkage.  So, you can show up with as much booze as you like and open it yourself without any cost etc.  Ramal even supply wine glasses and probably even a bottle opener if you need it.

I honestly have nothing to moan about here.  Great value across the menu with no corkage charge, and no added service charge either hence we popped on a £13.60 tip to say thanks for the unexplained comped dishes and a generally underpriced dinner.  The old objective scorecard prevents me from giving this a 5 star, but in truth, the experience deserved it.

We arrived to find a mini-queue in the door area, with a clear air of frustration from some of said line.  We checked in and were loosely told that our booking, which was made via phone using just a first name, a common one at that, had been taken already by somebody with the same name even though we arrived bang on time.  So we had to wait for 5 minutes until a table came up, amidst other queuers with far less manners/patience than us who were in a similar predicament.  No biggie at all.  It happens right?

Online booking would be a nice addition as the phone booking system did feel a bit disorganised and possibly didn't help with the frustrated queue either.

We started light with Remal's Mutabel (£5.20), a dip comprised of roasted peppers and aubergine, mashed to form a paste and then finished with yoghurt, tahini, garlic and lemon.  It carried a wonderfully varied texture along with huge smoky flavours, served with a more than ample trio of freshly baked homemade pita breads, which were superlative.  Fluffy, light, loaded with flavour, served hot.  The price charged would have been fine just for the bread, let alone the dip which they supposedly accompanied.

Spinach and Cheese Bourak (£4.95) were a dish which is bound to please the masses, and will invoke comforting familiarities with everyone's favourite Indian snack.  Triangular wraps of spring roll pasty, heartily filled with properly seasoned spinach and cheese and then fried to a satisfying crisp.  Simple tasty cooking.

Chef's Spicy Mix (£16.95) was in essence a mixed grill containing chunks of skewered chicken, more generous cubes of spicier chicken and also some delicately spiced lamb kofte.   Everything was beyond tasty and revealed signs of expert grilling.  I'd even go as far as to say that the protein's cooking perhaps exceeded that of our visit to Berenjak earlier in the year.  Our chosen/included side of Remal's 'chips', which are actually more like sautéed potato slices, did their job nicely and felt more proper and a bit more cultured than plain old frozen fries anyway in fairness.

I was bestowed with wine picking duty on this particular evening so perhaps predictably took along some current vintage Chateau Musar, which admittedly wasn’t nearly old enough to enjoy at anywhere near its prime.  But still, it's the quintessential Lebanese red and felt suitably tied-in and of course boujee enough to enjoy with such a festive Lebanese feast.  Had I shown up with 2 bottles of Yellowtail from Bargain Booze, as per all the tables flanking us, the Editor would probably have punched me in the throat before I'd even removed their screw caps.

We were full at this point and could easily have seen out the evening with our wine, but since Xmas loomed on the horizon we decided to get the pre-diabetes elevated ahead of time with a Kunafah (£4.50).  It's a dish which evokes memories of evening dessert bars in Istanbul for me, where I first discovered the dish many moons ago.  Following a year that's seen Tiramisu become obscenely overused, hopefully in 2026 more people will catch onto the brilliance of Kunafah/Kunefe/Kunafa as a dish, despite its inconsistent English spellings.

However….. Both mains were stellar but could be lifted with the addition of a little ramekin of garlic/herb or even a mild chilli-based sauce. Full sized dips are on the menu seperately sure, but just a little pot please......

I've wanted to visit Remal for years.  Literally everyone I talk to who lives in Prestwich has relayed only great things about it, so if you add that to the fact that my death row dinner would be a plate of charcoal grilled meats and freshly baked flatbreads, it's a travesty that it's taken until now for this visit to be fitted in.