Lemnos Taverna — Restaurant in Melbourne

Well, we arrived at this restaurant at 7pm last night with my 9yo daughter and my male friend that I have known for over 20 years. We were greeted by either the manager or the owner or possibly one of the head waiters, because he is always there and is always the loudest. As we sat down another waiter came up to us and as we were all getting settled in, one of the waiter's made an a comment about my friend, being the 'daddy' of my child, which then my friend corrected him and said that he is not. That's when both of the waitors made another stupid comment and said,'well, that's even worse...' or words to that effect and began to put on a fake loud laugh. What the? Where did this come from? Why is this happening? We just arrived for dinner, not to be humiliated by two uneducated morons. This was really uncalled for and totally unnecessary. Unbelievably abnoxious and rude comment. Why would they say something like that and then begin to laugh? I was in shock and wanted to stand up throw the glass of water in the waiter's stupid face and leave. However, I somehow managed to regain my composure and continued with the process. I couldn't understand why he would say something like this, I guess he thought he was making a joke and was trying to make us laugh, but this was really unbelievably rude and lame. It was not funny. Ok, so we sat down, while I am still completed frazzled,however then we ordered the food. The food arrived, I had overcooked prawns that were super dry and hard to eat and my daughter had seriously burnt shishkababs. This is a real shame because I have been to this restaurant a few times prior to this and I always loved it, even though the waiter was also arrogant and abnoxious last time as well, but not to this degree. I still cannot believe why someone would make a joke out of this. I am completely stunned. Unfortunately we will never be coming back to this place and will let my friends know about this experience. Its a real shame because the food is usually pretty good here and the ambience and the atmosphere is very lively and great. A total shame. Bad waiter. Rude service and burnt food. Not up to...

The winning dishes here were the dips (tarama) and the char grilled calamari. Was also a decent wine list with a good Yarra Valley Chardonnay for around $50 a bottle. The staff were friendly and helpful and the dishes were served quickly but everything felt rushed like they wanted us to hurry up. If I’m paying $150 per head (food and wine) for a table of four I don’t want to feel like I’m being pushed out the door. The giro platter (chicken and lamb) was tasty but not a generous size, the meat was mixed in together which was frustrating because we had someone on our table who wanted lamb only and not chicken. Most Greek restaurants Will separate the two on the one plate. Ekmek on the dessert menu but not available which was a shame. Every table booked on the Sat night we were there and the noise was really loud and hard to hear, especially during the Belly Dancer’s music. Not sure what to make of a belly dancer in a Greek restaurant (def not traditional). I want to go back for lunch and try some other dishes and give them another chance and not...

After hearing so much about Lemnos, I thought I'd give it a go. I do love Greek food, and I've heard this is top notch. It's a big restaurant that can hold many. It's loud and a little hard to hear yourself think, but the food makes it worthwhile.

At first they couldn't find our booking, but found us a table anyway. They're not big tables, so when food came out, it was a tight fit. For entree I had the Tarama and their bread and while the Tarama was delicious, the bread was nothing startling. It's a dense bread, so it does fill you up. Everyone else enjoyed their entree too. The main dishes were all really good. Everything tasted great and all came out in good time and all together, which goes a long way with me.

It seems to be a very family orientated/run business, and you can tell they are quite authentic and know how to cook. I would definitely come back here again as there's a good size menu, so you can easily try different things each time you visit. I totally recommend coming here for...