Rumeli Turkish Restaurant

Overall 4 - Food 5, Ambience 4, Value 3, Service 4

The evening started by walking through an unmarked entrance from the street, up a gawdy, neon-lit, tired-looking carpeted stairway, to be greeted by a very rude and surly lady collecting payment for the meal. She was so argumentative, attempting to charge us more than the agreed meal price that we expected to pay as booked via the website, www.menulog.com.au.

We ordered the $50 banquet for a special promotional price of $35. At most quality middle eastern restaurants, a $50 banquet will get you a good mix of tasty seafood and meats, with deserts, coffee and a good selection of soft drinks.

What we got (and didn't get) for our $50 banquet included:

A selection of dips - they were tasty

Unlimited pide bread

A plate of salad to share

There were none of the traditional Turkish hors d'oeuvres expected in a dinner banquet (such as dolma, beans etc)

A plate of mushy, gluggy Turkish pilav (rice) with 2 skewers of bland meat (lamb and chicken) and salad (brought to our table served already plated, rather than placed on our tables for each of us to serve ourselves)

A bowl of guvec, a vegetable casserole with a couple of pieces of lamb, to share.

Unlimited jugs of Coke and tap water (they refused to serve Diet Coke when requested)

By the time we left around 11:30 pm, no dessert nor coffee was served.

The entertainment was very very "loud". The band was certainly entertaining, with lots of dancing to traditional Turkish songs however the synthesised music became a bit repetitive after a couple of hours. The belly dancing show was probably the best part of the night, particularly the performance by the male belly dancer with his fire twirling and snake routines with lots of audience participation.

Overall my experience at this establishment was very disappointing.... a low-class establishment with mediocre food and service. There are much better Turkish and other Mediterranean and Middle Eastern restaurants with banquets and live entertainment to enjoy throughout Melbourne.   (April, 2010)

Overall 10 - Food 10, Ambience 10, Value 10, Service 10

very good Turkish restaurant. little hard to find as it is upstairs. but i was blown away with the amount of food and of course the quality of it. we were expecting a lot less for the price we paid. and were very well looked after. best Turkish restaurant I've been to in ages!

apparently they have Turkish entertainment and Turkish belly dancers.

i definitely will be checking that out.

and will be recommending!   (lanette - December, 2009)