Hunger Den — Restaurant in Melbourne

I am writing to warn all of you about the appalling experience my friends and I had at this restaurant today. We visited your establishment to enjoy some tea with friends, hoping for a pleasant experience, but unfortunately, it turned out to be the worst encounter we have ever had in Australia.

Upon ordering four cups of tea, we were surprised to receive them after a 15-minute wait. To our dismay, the tea appeared excessively dark, as if it had been prepared using old tea leaves that were merely reheated. The taste was equally unpleasant, resembling that of burnt butter. Despite adding four tablespoons of sugars to our cups, the bitterness persisted, causing great disappointment to all of us.

In an attempt to address the issue, we promptly informed the waiter about the poor quality of the tea. He assured us that he would discuss the matter with the owner or chef and return to provide a resolution. However, after waiting for an additional 20 minutes with no response, we sought an update from the waiter. He informed us that the chef was preoccupied with a take-away order and would attend to us shortly. Regrettably, even after waiting for an additional 15 minutes, no one came to address our concerns. In total 35 mins wait

Frustrated by the lack of attention and the absence of any attempt to resolve the situation, we decided to approach the counter and express our dissatisfaction to the waiter. We explained that we could no longer wait, as we hadn't consumed the tea, and no staff member had shown any interest in addressing our concerns. Consequently, we expressed our intent not to pay for the unsatisfactory service.

As we left the premises, my friend and I, who were parked in front of the restaurant, noticed an alarming incident unfold. The owner emerged and approached our female friend's vehicle, accusing us of leaving without settling the bill. Our friend attempted to explain the situation, detailing the numerous attempts we had made to address the tea issue, but the owner persisted in harassing her. He resorted to taking pictures of her, causing further distress and discomfort fir my female friend she was harassed badly .

Shocked by the owner's behavior, we decided to intervene and approached him for a discussion. To our disappointment, he displayed a complete lack of remorse and engaged in a heated argument, insisting that we should pay regardless of our dissatisfaction. Moreover, he falsely claimed that no one had informed him about the problem, despite our observations of the waiter relaying our concerns to the kitchen staff on multiple occasions. He even agreed that tea could be not to our usual restaurant standers, to which I asked and still you went ahead to harrase our female friend know that fault was in your service and food. Rather being apologetic your behaviour was unacceptable. He kept changing his statments. We even asked him do you think $18 I would make issue or run away without paying? If we had to do that we would have never waited for 35 mins to give you chance to redeem yourself. Even before leaving we spoken with your waiter and he was understanding and said its okay no need to pay all good.

After this all argument he really got the picture and I could see in his eyes he accepted it was his/ his wait fault, then he said no need to pay. To which I was absolutely not now I will pay as these ($18) has no value but clearly it shows who you are as person. He kepts asking no need to pay etc but of courseI paid as I made it clare it wasn’t about the money from the start

We are deeply disappointed that as Pakistani patrons, we sought to support our own community by visiting a Pakistani restaurant, only to be subjected to such an abysmal experience. The overall lack of professionalism, disregard for customer satisfaction, and the distressing incident involving harassment and invasion of privacy by the owner have left us...

Pros ++ Greeted with brilliant service upon entering the store, our table was greeted with a variety of delicious meals & sides from the selection of menu's. The food arrived within 10 minutes, hot & fresh. the sustenance was displayed in a professional and elegant manner, the dining area was small but it felt comfortable, with the slight sound of international music playing. A medium-sized jug of water appeared to be prominent at each table, leftovers were able to be taken home in takeaway containers, and when leaving we were treated with respect.

Cons - - the outer layer of the business did not have the aesthetic of a professional food resturaunt / business, nor did the interior of the shop, the seats were mildy uncomfortable to guests sitting down to relax. the taller lady at the front counter was partly anti-social and was showing negative emotions and slight hostility / negligence when communication with us i believe this is in fact because we were not celebrating a religious holiday (Ramadan), and were just travelling from the country to find some meals.

Overall, the food was amazing and everyrhing was cooked to absolute perfection, I recommend the chicken parmigiana aswell as the chicken fettuccine, the cheese on these meals was outstanding.

Thank...

We visited Hunger Den for the first time and were pleasantly surprised by how clean the restaurant was. Since it was early Saturday evening it was not too busy and we easily found parking outside on the street.

For the starter we ordered the Nachos. They were served quickly and were fresh and delicious and we quickly devoured them. Next came our mains which were the mixed meat platter, chicken mushroom, chicken parmigiana, and hunger zinger burger. We were again surprised by how well each dish had been cooked and tasted. Everything was absolutely delicious! The mixed meat platter was my favourite since the grilled meats were cooked to perfection with the perfect blend of spices. It included a piece of beef steak as well which was also excellent. The zinger burger was huge and also delicious. We loved the chicken mushroom as well, the white sauce has an amazing texture and was delicious. Chicken parma was also good. We also got the chicken club sandwich as a take away which I haven't tasted yet but it also looks great.

It is a Pakistani restaurant so you have peace of mind that all the food is Halal. The staff were polite and helpful and provided great service.

We will definitely be visiting Hunger Den often and highly recommend it...