Sea Shell is as authentic as it can get for a budget conscious RI (returned Indian i.e. from the Gulf). It placates his nostalgia for good, filling, functional, working class (no indignity here) Lebanese food i.e. Shawarma, kubz and hummus with pickled vegetables and green salad.
The food in Sea Shell and Cedars may be called Arabic, because Lebanese food is also Arabic food. However, Arab cuisine is as varied as Indian cuisine, from Morocco to Yemen. Nevertheless, what is found universal in all the gulf countries is the Lebanese restaurant (like our ubiquitous Udipi restaurants), that lovingly dish out a satisfying, no-frills, standard (minimum variety) but tasty and healthy food at affordable cost to the locals as well as Asian expatriates.
For a gulf returnee, the food in both places is good to bring back the memories. However, in Cedar, you probably pay a lot extra for the ambience, peer pressure, snob value, some convenience and for their & your imagination about ‘up market’.
Navin (from the Gulf)