Ali Baba's Tunisian Cuisine

Absolute must try if you're in Rotorua and looking for a unique bite to eat. The food is unique (I promise you've never had something quite like it), it's packed full of flavour, cooked perfectly and the staff are so friendly and helpful. Don't miss out! Seriously, the food was so good I stopped in the middle of eating to write this review.

Great place. I had a lovely lunch here. I had the Kascrute - a toasted wrap of Lebanese bread with meat, veg, and sauce . It was absolutely delicious and served with an excellent small salad and a mild mint sauce. The dish was well presented and tasted amazing. The lone staff member did an excellent job with the lunch time rush provided great service in a tough time. Decor was tasteful and suited the place. Great place all around.

1st time and I award 🥇 for the delicious food and payment method was via Kiosk. The wait time for our meal was around 10mins and the restaurant was not crowded, it was good. I had Lamb Berber which was my first time trying Tunisian food and their chicken kebab had enough meat to feel full after having 1/2 of it. The Berber was cooked in mildly spiced creamy tomato gravy and a side of fresh minty salad on a bed of turmeric rice. They were light and delicious. It reminded me of Biryani which is served part of Indian cuisine. It’s worth it and the total amount was $40 just for the two dishes, it’s a lil pricey but food is expensive in New Zealand. 🤷🏽‍♀️ There were 2 men cooking, cleaning and serving. They were quick, on their feet and responsive if you need anything. The atmosphere was ok, a takeaway would be great.

The Berber chicken rice meal was awesome! The rice was perfectly cooked and the sauce was rich, creamy, and full of flavor without being overpowering. The spices were well balanced—mildly spiced but still very satisfying. Everything tasted fresh and comforting, and the portion was generous. I’d definitely order this again and recommend it to anyone looking for something flavorful but not too spicy.

We heard the place was good and the owner was kind, well spoiler: the food was delicious and the owner was amazing. No exaggeration, will be recommending people travel to NZ to eat here. Clean place, well decorated, extremely welcoming. The place is magic. We had the traditional noodles with lamb and the Berber with falafel but honestly think anything you get here would be great.

First time trying Tunisian food and I loved it! 😋 I got the Lamb Berber — huge portion, so I asked to have the rice and lamb separate to take the leftovers home. Food was really tasty, flavors on point, and the lamb was super tender. Can’t wait to come back and try the pizza! Thanks for having halal options too 🙌

Absolute Flavor Bomb! Ali Baba's Food is a Must-Try! ​Seriously, stop what you're doing and go eat here. Ali Baba Restaurant is not just serving food; they're serving an experience, and it all starts with incredibly delicious, perfectly prepared dishes. ​I went in hoping for a good meal and left completely blown away. The star of the show for me was the Lamb Shawarma Platter. The lamb was marinated beautifully—tender, juicy, and packed with that perfect blend of spices. It wasn't greasy at all, and the way it was piled high next to the fluffiest rice I’ve ever had was just perfect. ​We also shared the Falafel, and they were exactly how falafel should be: crispy on the outside, hot and wonderfully green on the inside, without being dry. They tasted so fresh! ​If you like rich, hearty flavors, you must try the Arayes. The grilled meat-stuffed pita pockets are like savory little parcels of heaven. They’re charred perfectly, giving a satisfying crunch before you hit the juicy filling. ​Every dish here is clearly made with care and high-quality ingredients. From the perfectly spiced seasoning to the freshness of the accompanying salad and dips, Ali Baba delivers 5-star flavor every single time. It’s authentic, satisfying, and genuinely the best I've had in a long time. Go hungry!

We really enjoyed the Kebab wrap and Garlic fries. There was only one person as cook/cashier/waiter when we were there but he was doing all he could to make it seem like there was a whole team working. The kebab was very satisfying and the garlic sauce on the fries was a nice new flavor I hadn’t had before.

I expected better. The lamb pieces on the rice dishes were too thick and chewy, I expected thin slices and better cooked. The amazigb sauce was better than the berber.

I have thought about a mix Kascrute from this place for 9 years. 9 years! Get one, it's good.

Rotorua has so much good food and Ali Baba's was no exception. Our first time with Tunisian food will definitely not be our last. After ordering two kababs the gentleman at the register highly suggested trying the Kascrute, so we hedged our bets and ordered one of each. The kababs were very good but the traditional Kascrute was fantastic. It comes in a folded crispy baked bread that adds a little crunch to the kaleidoscopic flavor profile that is too complex to describe in a small Yelp review. With a sweet chili sauce it was like a party in my mouth. The unique dish was savory, sweet and spicy with so many textures it was hard to keep track of them all. It's no wonder Trip Advisor had almost 1000 positive reviews of this unassuming restaurant. Highly recommended.

Not your usual kebab shop This cafe does serve the usual kebabs - but there also are some interesting Tunisian rice and pasta dishes on the menu. We tried a chicken and rice dish with an Amazigh (tomato and coconut cream) sauce and a falafel salad. The food was really good - delicious and full of flavour and spice. It was very well priced and the service from the young man on the counter was exceptional.

Wow. That was wonderful. Their falafel is yummy. We had 2 Amazigh with falafel and a chicken Tunisian. All were hot, tasty, fresh and delicious. We were really pleased. Thank you

The reviews are all right. This place is family run and the food is delicious. I could taste all of the ingredients each bite. Everything is fresh and made to order. I especially loved the spicy berber sauce and garlic mayo on my lamb kebab. We visited this place a couple of times during our trip because the food was that good. The service was incredible and the owners are very open to answering any questions or making suggestions. It can get crowded at dinner time, but it's because they are that good. PROS: Lamb kebab Berber sauce Fresh ingredients Family run business Prices

Counter service and really good option if you are short in time. The food is really good and it's relatively cheap for the portion you get, for example a falafel wrap (they call it falafel kebab) is $9. We shared the falafel kebab thinking it was only pieces of falafel and not a sandwich. It was really good and the choices of sauces are amazing. You can choose three sauces to go with your sandwich. For my main dish went with the chicken salad with spicy yogurt. Again big portions and the chicken was delicious. It was a bit Spivey so if you are not a fan of hot stuff don't add jalapeños or the spicy yogurt. My wife went with lamb Kascrute which was the best dish between the three we got. The cheese inside the kascrute was amazing.

Delectable Tunisian food. So tasty. Husband loved his kebab. Great service and family owned. Can't recall name of the yummy quesadilla-esque wrap. I got mine spicy and it didn't blunt the flavors.

Our expectations for food were low, especially since we were coming to such a small town. However, we were pleasantly surprised!! After looking at reviews from other Yelpers who have come through this town, I decided to give Ali Baba a shot since they had good reviews and the dishes looked amazing! And right these Yelpers were!! The owner was super nice! We had no idea what to order and sought her advice. She gave us her recommendations and did not lead us astray! We got the first rice plate on the menu as well as the "K" dish right below it. Both dishes were amazing!! We wanted to know if they'd be open for breakfast the next day but sadly they would not be :( Anyhow, I totally think this mom and pop restaurant is authentic, yummy and totally affordable for the quality and quantity of food! Definitely swing by if you're in town!

HUGE kebab with homemade naan bread for $9.50 sign me up! We chose this place because of its awesome reviews, and it did not disappoint!! The staff was super friendly and the food was incredible. The atmosphere was great too!

We came here based on reviews and it did not disappoint. The flavors are delicious and unlike anything we have had before. We wanted the lamb and rice dish, but upon ordering we learned they did not have lamb that night. Instead we opted for chicken and rice dish and it was amazing. We also got the sultan pizza and wow was that good. Highly recommend.

We were only in town for a short time and just needed one place to eat. We chose Ali Baba, and I'm so happy we did! I was with a group of 4. Two people ordered kebabs and two ordered pasta. I got the Ali Baba Pasta and it was delicious! Great food and service

We made a pit stop in Rotorua just to eat here! We ordered the chicken and lamb berber rice along with a lamb kebab. This was just the right amount food for two starving people. We devoured the chicken and lamb berber rice in record time even though it was piping hot when it came. This Tunisian food tasted very fresh although it tastes very similar to Indian food. Both dishes had lots of flavor with well cooked meat and large portion sizes. The owners were very friendly and helped recommend some dishes to us.

Best lamb we've had so far in NZ. Great price considering the touristy location. The kascrute was fantastic and the traditional pasta was really good too. As opposed to the kebab, these were cooked to order (15 min) but well worth the wait. 2nd visit, kebabs. Solid, not amazing... Definitely still worth it.

Clean, fast, super tasty and well priced. This place is my favorite in Rotorua so far! Amazing chicken berber rice dish!

This has to be the most amazing kebab wraps we have ever had. We went with our two teens and all we could hear was silence as we ate. Incredibly fresh ingredients and the lemon tahini sauce was spectacular. The family that runs the restaurant are super cool too!

We had a great dinner experience here. Owner was super friendly and helpful in advising us what to order. I highly recommend stopping by for lunch or dinner!

We were all excited about trying Tunisian cuisine for the first time. Sadly, we still have this culinary goal unfulfilled as the bland, uninspired food in our take out order from Ali Baba's certainly cannot represent the exotic flavorful meals we had anticipated. While I understand that a "kebab" from restaurants in NZ are often not the skewered grilled hunks of juicy meat that one might expect, we did expect more than the dried chips of chicken, lamb and the combination of the two in the "mixed" served in a thin pita bread. The sauces are obviously intended to make the meat more palatable but when we asked if we could get the sauces on the side, we were informed that the "Chef" did not believe in serving the kebabs that way. I wouldn't presume to tell a top Chef in Auckland how to prepare my food (although I believe a great chef would not be offended by a request to meet a personal preference), I was put off by the unwillingness to grant a simple request from what we found to be a basic kebab concession. We conceded to order just one sauce on each kebab, but apparently, our punishment for offending the "Chef" was to receive a mere dribble of sauce, barely discernable, on each sandwich. We ordered the Berber rice and the Tunisian rice dish, each of which were reasonable tasty. There is a rice packet sold in the States called Mahatma rice. It is 98 cents a packet and it is a nice substitute when you have tired of Top Ramen instant noodles and you want a starchy, salty, dry chicken broth powder flavored snack. This type of rice formed the base for both dishes. You could achieve the Tunisian by adding a little more water and stirring to make it a little creamy. I could not tell you what Berber spice tastes like because I could not taste anything unique or interesting in that dish. I guess the even more dried out chicken pieces were supposed to distinguish it further from the Tunisian. Both had a few grilled red onions. The side salads might have been nice if they weren't entirely steamed from being in the same take out box. Rather than the "Chef" having culinary standards, I believe economic factors played into "vision" of the food prepared for us. Overpriced and uninspired, the food from Ali Baba left me still waiting to try Tunisian food.

This is a small restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, as well as takeaway options. J and I stopped by for lunch on a Thursday and were very glad that we did. J got a kascrute with lamb and chicken -- it was delicious!!!! It's basically your choice of protein (chicken, lamb, falafel, or some combination of these) plus some delicious sauces, put in a wrap and baked until the wrapper is crisp on the outside, then additional sauces are drizzled on the outside. So. Good. I got the falafel kebab, which is actually a wrap with falafels and a bunch of tasty fresh veggies with 3 sauces of your choice. Delicious as well!

I was looking for a place to eat. My internet wasn't working so I started to walk around and see what I could found and the smell that came from this small restaurant call me in. Fresh food, super friendly service, hard working people? And great prices. Everything you look for when going on a road trip across the country. We got the lamb kabab and the Lamb Kascrute. It was so good that we order and extra Lamb Kascrute and ate it in the spot.

This was a really great lunch experience. Beautiful decor, reasonable prices, a hospitable host and tasty food. Would recommend for a takeaway or quicker sit-down meal in Rotorua.

I came based on the yelp review, looking for some cheap eats that's not priced too way out like the other restaurants in food alley. The kebab wraps looks so so, but the Berber and Tunisian rice plates were the winners for us. 15 min wait was easy as you try the alley wifi. No skewer lamb shiesh here though.

Great Food. We went early, around 3:00 P.M., and practically had the place to our selves. I had the lamb kascrute (check out the menu for details). Can't say I recognized all the the seasoning but the seasoning and textures were complex with great contrasts . . . very very nice. My wife had a falafel sandwich, it too was really good. Sorry we didn't try the creamy tomato sauce based dishes.

This restaurant has delicious food. The service was good and the food came out quickly. We went expecting a lot because it doesn't look very fancy but the food is very good and I would definitely recommend going there. I got the Kababs which came on a wrap and I really loved it! It was lap very affordable, especially for how much food you get. Just go!

A great place if you want to grab a quick and good meal. We had the chicken kebab and the falafel berber rice dish. Both were tasty, the portions were satisfying and the price was easy on the wallet.

Best food I have had in Rotorua. Really good pizza's and staff are fantastic. Thanks for the great food and service folks :-)

Really excellent! We sampled the Berber rice with both lamb and chicken as well as the kascrute in both lamb and chicken. All was beyond delicious! The chef/owner clearly cares about his food and delivers a superior meal at a very reasonable price. I'm so sorry this place is 8000 miles away from home.

Food and service were both amazing! The staff were very welcoming and friendly. Place is small but cozy

I was severely disappointed after seeing the good reviews. My husband ordered Tunisian lamb rice platter, and I ordered the Berber Lamb rice platter. While my dish was ok minus the fact that the rice has absolutely no flavor, his dish is completely flavorless--both the lamb and rice.