Bekka — Restaurant in Melbourne

My partner and I attended on Valentines Day. Food was very tasty and affordable. $60 set menu and we got an assortment of food. Entre was dips and bread; main was a cauliflower dish, 2 chicken skewers, 2 prawn skewers, 2 falafels and a garden salad; desert was two small pieces of baklava and tea/coffee.

THE GOOD: On a positive side, we were greeted by the chef, who was very charismatic and nice. He seemed passionate about his food and was happy to talk about the dishes. The (few) staff that were on, were all kind and professional. The food was well seasoned and very tasty (cauliflower was to DIE for). The atmosphere was romantic and the music was appropriate. They had a great selection of alcoholic drinks and a good selection of non-alcoholic drinks (I can't recall if there was non-alcoholic cocktails available). The food was very well priced and the table setting was cute.

THE BAD: I think the portion sizes were a bit small when other competing restaurants are offering larger banquets, with drinks included for about the $80-$95 mark. However, the real vibe killer was the timing of the food. We arrived at about 7:15PM and we did not leave until 9:30PM. Upon arrival our table was not ready so we had about a 5 minute wait. We got the entree at about 8PM, the main at 9PM and then asked to have the desert take away. Service was very slow and they seemed to be understaffed, especially given the busy day.

All-in-all, I'd definitely return. It would be a 5 star place if they got some more staff in to speed up the service to there is only a 30 min wait...

Heard good things and decided to try. Booked an outdoor table online which was very efficient with a comprehensive booking email. Rang to check byo and was told no. No oroblem. Arrived a little early but had a choice of seating. Immediately given food menus and within a couple of minutes was asked to order. Dips entree, fried cauliflower mezza and mixed grill to share for main. Asked for a wine menu and ordered a white. Before the wine arrived dips were served within 2 mins. Cauliflower was served within a few minutes of that and before we could catch a waiter to slow things down the main was served before we had finished our entree. We had to rearrange the table and put the water bottle on the floor to make room. 5 mins later a waiter is wanting to start clearing plates including our half finished cauliflower dish. Felt very rushed to finish so another table could be made ready for the next customer. We only had one glass each of the wine and it was only 1/2 empty so we asked for a lid to take it home. The waiter asked if it was one of theirs (so not sure now if it’s byo or not). He then held it up to the light to see how much was left in the bottle and with a bit of a sigh went off and got us a lid. We were in and out within an hour. Food was OK. Atmosphere quite nice on a warm night. Service very rushed to the point of feeling under pressure to eat quickly and get out. $140 in under 60 mins not sure...

The highlights were definitely the skewers, my favourite being the prawns (and when dipped in that tahini 😩🤌🏻). But all 3 meats were so juicy and flavourful, they didn’t even need the dips to accompany them as they were incredible on their own. I was in shock at how good they were, I haven’t found anyone that makes them as good as this. I love Battata Harra and will order it every time I see it on the menu but I do enjoy them to be more crispy than this - but regardless, they too packed a punch and we couldn’t get enough. The portions were fantastic and considering everything is seasoned to the gods, you will not leave disappointed.

I can’t talk about this food and service highly enough, you need to just see it and try it for yourself. Shoutout to our waiter John who was incredibly friendly, funny and helpful during our visit. I will be proudly recommending this restaurant to anyone looking for amazing Lebanese food, because this is where they’ll find it.

🇱🇧 Mixed dips (Labne, Hummus, Baba Ghannouj) 🌾 Moujadara (Lentils, rice and caramelised onion croquettes w/ beetroot dip) 🥔 Battata Harra (fried potatoes, garlic, coriander + chilli) 🥗 Fattoush salad 🐓 Chicken Tawook (chicken marinated in garlic, lemon + paprika) 🐑 Lamb skewers (shallots, peppers + zaatar) 🦐 Prawns (skewers marinated in garlic +...