Honest Melbourne — Restaurant in Melbourne

While the food at this restaurant was genuinely good and appreciated by all my guests, I cannot recommend it for group gatherings or events. I recently hosted an event here after pre-booking and coordinating all details in advance. Unfortunately, the experience was marred by unprofessional behavior from the manager and owner.

Throughout the evening, both made uncomfortable and unnecessary comments about how I had organised the event, which was humiliating—especially during the cake-cutting when the manager decided to give “lessons” in front of everyone. The owner seemed far more focused on maximising profit from other bookings than actually delivering service to the booking I had paid so much for. At one point, I was even asked to perform tasks that should clearly be handled by staff.

There was no sense of hospitality or care for customer experience. Despite paying a significant amount and planning everything ahead, I received little to no service. This was disappointing and disrespectful, especially when I was trying to enjoy a special evening with my friends.

I would strongly advise against booking this venue for any event involving multiple guests or large groups.

𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:

I want to clarify a few things from my initial review, as I feel some key details about my experience have been misunderstood by Restaurant.

First, I made sure to coordinate everything well ahead of time, especially with the manager. We had multiple conversations before the event — specifically on 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 1𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 4𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐭 11:06 𝐀𝐌. During these chats, I clearly outlined everything, and I was reassured that hosting our group would be no problem. The manager even asked me to keep in touch with senior staff to finalize things, and I was repeatedly told everything was in order.

However, the experience on the day of the event was a far cry from what was promised. The manager’s behavior was anything but professional. Instead of being helpful, he kept interrupting our gathering with unnecessary and rude comments about how I should have planned better. It felt like he was trying to embarrass me and my guests, especially during the cake-cutting when he started lecturing us in front of everyone. This wasn’t just a minor comment — it was something that made the whole group uncomfortable.

There were also a number of tasks I was asked to take on, like counting bread types for each person and giving the full order instead of staff taking it at the tables. This isn’t what I expected from a restaurant, especially after all the communication we had.

As for timing, we had a two-hour reservation, which I had confirmed multiple times. Towards the end, the manager insisted we were overstaying and that we were “interrupting the entire restaurant,” even though we were still within our booked time. We were then made to go outside for the cake-cutting, and when we finally went outside, the table wasn’t properly set up, and there weren’t enough utensils for everyone.

While the food was great, the service and overall experience were a huge letdown. I really wanted this to be a special event, but it ended up being stressful and uncomfortable. I had hoped for a much better experience, especially after all the planning and communication I did...

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5-Star Review) Date Visited: 20/04/2025 | Time: Around 2 PM

I visited the restaurant today and had a great experience overall — but I feel compelled to share something beyond just food and service.

Upon entering, I witnessed a disturbing scene: a group of 8 young males (two clearly underage) were being completely unreasonable and disrespectful toward the female staff. Despite the servers being polite, patient, and going out of their way to accommodate every request — including re-cooking and replacing an entire meal — they were met with arrogance and entitlement. One of the young men even snapped his fingers at a senior server as if she were beneath him. Totally unacceptable.

Let this be a reminder: paying for food does not give you the right to treat anyone like a servant. To that individual — if that was your sister, mother, or wife being spoken to like that, would you tolerate it?

Kudos to the staff who handled the situation with grace and continued serving all customers with dignity.

Now, to the food:

The noodles I initially ordered were too spicy for my taste. Without me complaining, the server noticed I hadn’t eaten much and asked politely if everything was alright. When I explained, she offered to replace them with a milder version — and they were perfect! Laccha Paratha and Paneer Bhurji — absolutely delicious, fresh, and full of flavour. Staff checked in multiple times to ensure we had everything we needed. Genuine hospitality. Final Verdict: ✅ Food: 5/5 ✅ Service: 10/5 ✅ Environment: Welcoming and respectful

To the staff — thank you for your kindness and professionalism. You deserve recognition for your patience...

[edited review after receiving a response from the owner - thank you for your response, firstly it’s just not 1 individual who is suffering from Gastro, as I mentioned both of us suffered from this issue. Regarding giving a call on the same day, we returned the Bhakhri Pizza as it was half cooked and made a comment to the staff as well, the pineapple macroni that we had, seemed to be half cooked too as we could clearly taste the flour in the macroni sauce, but we didn’t bother to return it as it was already 10 pm. Food hygiene or food safety is not dependent on the number of individuals you hire in your restaurant but is more dependent on the due diligence they have while preparing/serving the food, not to forget, it is also possible due to low quality produce used in preparation, mistakes do happen in such a large setting, but not taking the opportunity to work on it attracts more problems. Good luck! ]

We ate at Honest on Saturday, 27th Jan. I am very appalled by the dramatic shift in food quality that these guys are having. Have always been a go to person for Honest and we drive all the way from the other part to dine in here. Both me and my husband have suffered severe Gastro and loose motions after eating here which is still troubling till today. I had to contemplate so much before posting a review as I never would like to defame a business. But food safety and handling are the two most important things that should be taken care of in such a setting. I request the owner to not use stale food and/or take extra care of the hygiene. If it was about the taste, I would have not bothered to...