Alasya Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

I place great importance in writing objective and fair reviews. Having said that, I've been to Alasya quite a few times over the years. In past years, it has been good for a cheap slap dash feed of fairly good tasting food, albeit in grubby surroundings. After returning last week, I doubt I'll return.

The business model is just something altogether unusual for Melbourne. Right from the start you are met with complete indifference. A few untrained, borderline literate and clearly minimum wage employees may eventually show you to a table if you persist.

Last week, we eventually gained some attention and were shown to a table. The table was absolutely filthy and actually had dips and various foodstuff smeared all over the surface. There were various foodstuff on the floor and everything simply was 'filthy'. Having made a bit of an attempt to wipe down the table ourselves and somehow carry on without resting on the table, our waitress came back and tossed two sticky and dog-eared dirty frayed menus on the table. It should have been fairly funny as I showed my partner that my menu was actually stuck to the table and had to be peeled off and the rear wiped dry of food debris.

We persevered and ordered an assortment of staples. When our food appeared, the waitress simply said "we are out of tahin(i)". So it was clear we weren't getting that dish So we missed out on a most basic and common turkish staple. Our Felafel dish, when it came, came with hommus substituted for the Tahin(i) it should have had. The Tabbouli was noticeably sour and smelt just 'bad'. I'd guess it was clearly "off". We had also ordered a minced lamb and rice item that was fried - it came out burnt so badly that it was literally blackened and worse still it had been fried in extremely dirty oil and smelt sickening.

I can do 'down and dirty', but Alasya is frankly a disgrace in terms of it's hygiene and general cleanliness. It is no surprise that the restaurant was closed down for a week or more a few years back after giving numerous customers food poisoning. Nothing has changed one bit since then and I'd hazard a guess that the place hasn't been wiped down, let alone painted in many decades.

Prices have gone up appreciably post Covid, but remain quite reasonable.

Can't believe Moreland Council allow this joint to operate as it does. Particularly after Covid. You deserve better.

If you want to live on the edge and cheap prices are your sole benchmark, keep the next day clear (so you can spend it in...

Alasya is a family run restaurant that has operated in Brunswick since 1978 so you'd think they must be doing something right. Having said that, I went with great expectations for a meal of traditional Turkish dishes. The restaurant interior is huge and you could say quaint as it clearly indicates the restaurant has been open a very long time. We were shown to our table by an attentive waitress and handed quite an extensive menu.

We opened with a small selection of dips with Turkish bread (Note: the bread is an extra at $2 a head...) I settled for a Meat Platter that no surprisingly comprised a selection of meats including doner kebab, sis kebab, sis kofte, lamb chops and chicken doner. My friend settled on Moussaka. The food portions were generous with the moussaka slice almost as big as a brick. Flavoursome? In my opinion not really. I was disappointed. There was no distinctive aroma or taste of Turkish spices on the meats which were quite bland (A small Turkish takeaway I frequent in Coburg North does it far better when it comes to kebab and sis kebab). Next to the meat was a small amount of vegetable. The moussaka was said to be good 'good' but I'm not sure if my date was just being polite.

All in all our meals with two Turkish teas , Baklava, 2 pieces of Turkish delight and two Turkish coffees came to just under $40 a head so not a cheap feed. (Based on what we ordered, any of the Banquets would have delivered a wider range of dishes to try and offer better value - a good waitress would have suggested this option...) We came at around 7pm and it was relatively quiet but around 8 pm the restaurant became quite busy with people who obviously like their food. Sadly, my experience doesn't entice me to visit again to try some of the...

Guys be warned Just because it might smell nice, you’re super hungry, it looks busy etc still don’t try it. Dining in we had a mix grill, chicken with mushroom sauce and a pizza and an entree. Probably the worst mix grill I’ve ever had in my life. No actual chicken tikka pieces, instead chicken doner - but one that taste like it’s been sitting there for days. I had two rubbery pieces of meat when in a normal grill you get a shish full. Lamb chop lacks seasoning (as does literally every single item on the menu) and quality. Kofta was okay but again lacked basic seasoning and kick to it. The lamb doner tastes old and was super oily. Being a middle eastern person who’s very used to eating outer northern places for Turkish style food I’d probably place this at the bottom of all. The waitress came back after we had ordered and been waiting for 20 mins to tell us that pizza would take another 25 mins as they had to order the base from a bakery, so we changed our order only for the waitress to come back and magically tell us the pizza would be ready in 5 minutes. Also and for god sakes put a host at the front who is perhaps facing customers. There’s no acknowledgement when you walk in so you’re left looking for a waiter. If you really want Turkish do yourself a favour and drive a few mins down further to Adanali. Or if you want to head further out Go mks kebabs Dallas or Katik - which never fail on affordability and freshness which are go to’s when in the mood for some Turkish food. Also would recommend a lesser known place called miksa which had the best Adana I’ve...