Arda Turkish Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

A hidden gem, but wow, stunning Turkish food! We were visiting from Sydney and I researched where to meet our friends and found good reviews of Arda - so glad we discovered it. The restaurant is quite large with seating both downstairs and upstairs.

We shared everything, which I highly recommend as you can then try lots of different things. For starters we had: 2 dips (hummos and eggplant) served with warm delicious bread; vine leaves (seasoned rice wrapped in fresh grape vine leaves, topped in a special vinaigrette. served cold, 4 pieces); falafel (medallions of ground chickpea, herbs and spice, served hot, with a side of hummus, 5 pieces); and a tabouli salad (freshly chopped crisp parsley, diced tomato, red capsicum, spring onion and bulgur with pomegranate molasses & vinaigrette). The tabouli salad was stunning - so fresh and delicious.

For main course we shared: spinach & feta cheese turkish pizza (juicy baby spinach and melted grated feta cheese, enclosed in a thin boat shaped pastry) which was served piping hot and was really tasty; and two mixed grills (mouth-watering kebabs & grills including lamb & chicken shish kebab, lamb cutlet, doner kebab & kofte) - with all meats flavourful, served with home style pilav and garden salad). All mains were fantastic.

For dessert, we had baklava, turkish delight and the sultans dessert plate. The halva and turkish delight were excellent, whilst the baklava was a little dry and tasteless.

I'd called Arda to check they were BYO before booking but when we arrived we were told they weren't any longer. Thankfully they honoured the byo but important to know for others and the future.

In addition to the stunning Turkish food, the service was warm, friendly and attentive - a wonderful evening with...

Don't you just love when you're responsible for picking the restaurant for a double date night and you get it spot on?! We enjoyed a beautiful dinner service at Arda for the first time.

SERVICE: To be honest we enjoy majority of places we go as the company you're with makes all the difference BUT the times when you receive such attentive and warm service with food that delivers - that is what makes for a stellar evening to remember.

VIBE: The ambience was sultry, sleek and the mood lighting definitely set the scene for a great vibe kinda night. We had the pleasure of sitting by the window where the natural light flowed in. The rest of the restaurant is fairly dark which we didn't mind but something to consider if it's not your vibe. It is also a fairly tight space (downstairs anyway) although there was additional seating upstairs. I would recommend for a date night or group dinner, leave the kiddos at home for this one.

FOOD: Our whole table enjoyed the mixed grill and shared some starters of antep dip (always YUM for chilli lovers) and roasted red capsicum dip with bread, falafels, dolma vine leaves, manti dumplings and tabouli. Of course followed by dessert of kunefeh, baclava with ice cream and hazelnut kadayif. There are also great banquet set menus on offer for stress-free dining. We had all the drinks be it bottle, glass, coffee or tea cup. We love Turkish food and are spoilt for choice in Melbourne where there may be cheaper or more tastier & rustic options, but you're coming here for the overall dining experience - service - refinement.

Our table of 4 had all the courses, drank all the drinks, nothing was spared. The bill was $400 and we left rolling out of there satisfied with our meals & experience....

I had a positive experience and recommend this restaurant. The quality of food and service were really good, everything was clean, including the bathrooms, there was a good variety on the menu and food was brought out quickly. Portions were about average size, we had to get a few starters and mains to ensure we were not hungry. The deserts were excellent. The price was on the expensive side, bordering on the fine dining experience, which it's not, as it is a more casual place, but with fantastic service. The dips platter was quite small and Turkish pizzas were a bit expensive compared to their size. If you are hoping for a cheap meal, this is not the place. Feedback to the owner - fantastic service and food, but may want to review some prices to correspond to the portion size or the other way around, increase the portion sizes, that would definitely make me want to come back on a more regular basis....