We absolutely love this place, so much so, we got engaged here last night 💍♥️ The staff went above and beyond to make sure everything was just perfect. Our server, Laura, was absolutely lovely, professional, friendly and attentive. The food is just the best in Exeter. Our absolute favourite restaurant and it is just so cozy and beautiful too.

If you're looking for authentic Moroccan food, this is definitely NOT the place. I had high hopes for this place, but was left utterly disappointed. I truly feel bad that Moroccan cuisine is being represented in this way. The "pastilla" was abysmal , then I was served their version of a "tajine" with Persian rice and Lebanese bread.....honestly a joke. Didn't even bother getting dessert or tea after that. Moroccan themed restaurant without Moroccan food.

Based on a recommendation of one of my friends we decided to eat at Al Farid Restaurant in the centre of Exeter when visiting the area. Al Farid, as well as a full menu, offers the opportunity of a shared Meze, which is a series of mixed dishes. We decided to go for this option. Our choices were Hummus Beiruti, a chickpea puree with hot pepper, parsley, garlic, lemon juice and tahini; Tzatziki, which is grated cucumber mixed with yoghurt, garlic, fresh mint and dill; Batata Harra, which is new potatoes sautéed with sweet peppers, garlic, onions and spicy harissa sauce; Grilled Moroccan Sausage, served on a skewer with a sweet and spicy sauce; Aradis, a Lemongrass, garlic, coriander and harissa marinated set of grilled tiger prawns and Izmir Kofta, which are cinnamon spiced lamb meatballs slowly braised in a tomato sauce. These were served with Pita Bread and we added to the selection a Fattoush Salad, a mixed salad with olives, lemon, fresh mint and olive oil dressing and some flatbreads. The food was cooked so wonderfully and the flavours were amazing. My husband thought the Batata Harra was his favourite as it was very spicy, he would select the Hummus and the Moroccan Sausage as numbers two and three. I loved the potatoes too but think that the juicy Tiger Prawns win for my favourite flavours, closely followed by the juicy lamb koftas. A thoroughly enjoyable and filling meal. I'd recommend it to anyone visiting Exeter.

We've had high expectations since it was recommended by some friends and boy ... it was an amazing experience. Spoiler alert, do not expect it to be Michelin star because this is about something else. Al-Farid is about tradition, home made, coziness and AWE, friendliness and socialising. We enjoyed every minute of it. Well done everyone in there. Photos won't do it justice. Definitely coming back and 100% recommend 👍🏻

Visited Friday night with my wife. Restaurant has a great look. The food was tasty, especially the lamb tagine. Only downside was the jug of Sangria, which didn't seem to have much alcohol in it. Would return but next time I would a order a bottle of wine.

Went here yesterday on a whim and got some food to share. Everything was such good quality and so so tasty. Would highly recommend the sharer plates as a great variety to chose from. Also had baklava and tea for dessert. Which was delicious. Staff were friendly and service was fast. Will be going back for sure.

Four of us went for a dinner for the first time, but it won't be the last. Amazing atmosphere with great food! Staff were friendly too.

1st time here, definitely won't be the last the staff were so helpful, main seating is upstairs but as two off us were on crutches, they allowed us to sit downstairs, plenty of lovely foods to choose from ,mostly vegetarian/vegan ,were able to sort out foods for our son who is dairy and gluten free,I wasn't so hungry so they let me have two starters so I had one starter as a main ,lovely and relaxing atmosphere

Overall a decent visit. Firstly the architecture/decor. The building itself is really old so navigating the narrow flights of stairs can be a challenge to the elderly or those with walking issues. That being said, the decor is amazing and feels really cosy with the various ornaments, furniture, lighting and benches. Variety of seating options both indoor and outdoor across the 4 floors making great use of the space available. Props to the staff, friendly service and somehow never sounding out of breath despite carrying stuff up and down stairs all shift! Food was good. Quite expensive but also served with good portion sizes. Some of the starters are the price of a main at other restaurants but again the quality and portion size was good. It's not the best I have tasted hence 4/5 but still a very good meal enjoyed by all in our group. Next time I would like to try some of the balcony seating or some shisha if the weather permits.

We've been here a few times and always have a fabulous meal. Everything has been beautifully presented, and very tasty. As we're still not over familiar with Moroccan food we often go for a meze which is ideal for us to try various dishes. Always great, friendly service, in a relaxing atmosphere, I can't wait for our next visit.

Beautiful food was very delicious and authentic. There was a waitress called georgia there that was amazing very attentive, knew the menu well and gave fantastic recommendations. She suggested the meze for 2 and it was spot on really enjoyed it. Atmosphere was also lovely and liked the decor.

Firstly, the interior of this restaurant amazed me from the moment we stepped in. Then we were greeted and shown to our table by friendly staff and I instantly knew we were in for a good meal. Menu was so extensive, and we were positively overwhelmed by the choices of meze dishes. Every dish we had was delicious and incredibly moreish!

I first visited this restaurant in 2016 and I was a bit dissapointed because the menu was limmited and, on that occasion, the food was not cooked as I thought it should have been. Today I had something to celebrate and I decided to read the menu online to see if something changed because the atmosphere and decor was (and still is) authentic & amazing, arranged in a fusion of Middle Eastern & Morrocan style. The menu was different so I gave it another chance; and I am happy I did!!! The food is tasty, healthy and looks appetizing. Most of all they have variety so even a fussy person will find plenty of intriguing options to choose from. We will go back because there are still many more tempting dishes to try. It is also worth mentioning the staff were very friendly, courteous and eager to please. In conclusion, a little hidden gem, in the Exeter city centre, well worth seeking out. Thank you, Al Farid 🙏! *Update: we went back today for a 🎂 meal and it was fantastic! Richard went above & beyond to make everything perfect. I called in a few hours before to ask if they can improvise a cake and when they brought the dessert one had a 🕯 in it; they sang with us and they even bought a birthday card!! In business as in life little things weigh a lot so thank you, my darlings, for being so sweet and running this business in such an amazing way! 🙏🌹🌹🌹

3 of us had a meal here on a sunday. Place wasn't too full. We went for platter of 6 meze and ordered 3 extra. We also ordered flat bread. The meze comes with a small amount of pitta bread. So we were happy we ordered extra. The meze options are extensive. From chicken,lamb,calamari and loads of veggie option. Each meze was £6.50. Food was good, enjoyed most of it. Ambiance and service was good. We were pretty full after all that food. Each dish of meze comes on a bed of salad so don't order extra.

Read the reviews and had to visit. We stopped off for lunch and what a meal, it was delicious. The duck, molasses and walnut tagine was sensational and even the saffron rice was absolutely full of flavour. Attentive service, reasonable prices and incredible decor. We only wished we had visited in the evening as it would be amazing in the dark with all the lighting but we will be back for that for sure 😊

Cramped restaurant as its in an old historical building, quite unique when you walk in. As 6 guys, we optioned for their unlimited meze as you have to have a minimum of 6. They explain 1st course is the dips, 2nd other vegetarian meze, and 3rd some other meze. The dips where good as well as some meze dishes... but I'm very disappointed that the unlimited meze only served 2 meat dishes which were the meatballs and chicken wings (which isn't Arabian as it comes sweet chilli sauce), if you want certain mezes like the Moroccan sausage you have to pay extra which we weren't told when choosing this option. Another problem is that they took all our menus, so I had no idea what mezes I could choose from, if I had a choice.... If you go here, I suggest paying options you want, like their mains and certain mezes. If you like unlimited salad, go for the unlimited mezes.

An excellent restaurant hiding out near the cathedral. From the front it looks like part of an ancient church house. Inside it's a whole other world, as though it was in the back streets of Marakesh rather than those of Exeter! The staff are very knowledgeable and friendly - you can tell they love working here and eating the food themselves. And the food really is excellent, and plentiful. I went for the Mixed Shish Platter and it was BIG! Plenty of lamb and chicken (all halal) together with rice, vegetables, bread and dips. And if you think it defeated me... You'd be right! A little black mint tea set it off just so 👌🏻

The food was so authentic and delicious. The staff were lovely to the customers and somehow very attentive even though they were spread between 4 floors! The price was high but very reasonable for the high quality of food and service. The shisha lounge was very cosy. The staff working that area were really friendly and helpful when explaining the hookah. Absolutely would recommend for a great evening out!

A must on any culinary visit to Exeter. I've walked past this restaurant on numerous occasions previously, but this was my first ever visit. I'd definitely recommend booking ahead, as the restaurant was heaving (albeit on a Saturday evening). Everything was delicious, with the food being served by effusive staff. Cannot wait to return and try the mezze.

Halal menu. Excellent food. We had grilled squid with salad for starters (hummus and olives as appetisers) and mixed grill for mains. We had the low-to-the-floor seating. Great service from the waiters. The décor was distractingly beautiful, with all the shoes, clothes, designs, and other trinkets strung up on the walls. Couldn't have picked a better restaurant for our 3 year anniversary.

Read the reviews and we decided to visit on very busy Saturday , luckly they had a cancellation and put on the waiting list. Resturant was very busy but service was so smooth. i found some reviews are very unkind and when i see how this independent resturant in such beautifull characterful building runs by very hard working staff ,who are none stop try to please the customers , i decided to give this resturant 10 out of 10, as i feel i absouley step to Marakesh. staff are friendly and knowledgeable who are care about the business, we order some tagine and a few mezze and they all cooked perfectly and serve very quick. Their kiss by rose cocktail must try. overal thank you to all alfarid team and i highly recommend this resturant and i must visited again. Rob

The food here is amazing! Such a nice atmosphere, we had a lovely evening. The lamb tagine was so good! As was the fig and goats cheese filo starter! Our waitress Shannon was so nice and couldn’t have been more helpful! Definitely recommend!

We visited this restaurant after seeing the reviews as we wanted to try something new. Upton walking in, we were greeted with a warm-ish welcoming. We walked up so much stairs to get to the top floor, where there were seats away from the loud tables. I’d rate the set up of the restaurant a 1 because of the inconvenience of the stairs, they’re so narrow and the space is very small so people can only walk one way. This is a negative thing as the staff have to walk up and down the stairs with plates of food and drinks, which I genuinely feel bad for them for. I hope they’re being generously as it does seem like there’s an accident waiting to happen as harsh as that sounds. Unfortunately we didn’t get our waiters name, but he was so lovely and attentive to both the large table of ladies and also us. He recommended the Hummus, which was delicious. We also paired this with tzatziki - the starters came with bread too. For the mains, we got the mixed shish platter with rice and salad instead of more bread. We received the mixed shish and the rice but didn’t receive the salad, we felt too bad to ask for the salad as the waiter would’ve had to go all the way back downstairs, then come back up just to give it to us. The food was lovely and flavoursome, I wish we got better pics but it smelt so lovely so we tucked right in. Overall the bill came out to £64.35 - Casablanca - bottled beer £4.95 Coke bottle - £3.50 Hummus - £6.95 Tzatziki - £6.95 Mixed shish platter - £42

Such a great place when you’re with a group with varied dietary and ethical requirements. We were one vegetarian, one vegan, and one who can’t eat gluten. We shared almost everything we ordered and loved all of it! Very well marked menu, with lots of option. the flavours and variety are something you just can’t recreate at home. Good value (we were all very full for £20-25 each). Really great and attentive service, easy to access location.

I recently dined at Al-Farid, and it was an exquisite experience from start to finish. The Lamb Tagine is an absolute must-try, and it's a dish I'd happily return for. The staff were not only friendly but also attentive, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The manager's warm greeting made me feel like a valued guest. This restaurant is a true gem for those who appreciate delicious Moroccan cuisine and exceptional hospitality. I can't wait to go back! I highly recommend them. Thanks for a wonderful experience.