Maha East — Restaurant in Melbourne

If only Google would have allowed zero or even better, negative stars…

Do yourself a favour and DO NOT plan your special events with this place in mind…

I am absolutely appalled by the manner of their staff (or better to say lack there of)! Not only they disrespected my mother, but they don’t even honour their second chance of making their wrongdoing right!

My mother attempted to book the restaurant for my birthday on Friday night, for which they hung up the phone on her! When she brought it to my attention, I was so furious. These horrible staff or anyone on this planet have absolutely NO RIGHT to treat any other human being like this. When I called to confront the restaurant, a man called Daniel, who claimed to be the manager and head chef too, responded with empathy and said he will do everything in his power to get to the bottom of this, and asked me to give them a second chance to make this right, and to apologise to my mother. He then rebooked us for Saturday night. On Saturday we went to that restaurant, which I will never ever place foot in again, and advise you all to do the same. When I went in, I said I have a booking. They got my name and were like oh! There is no booking under your name! Then I said I had spoken to Daniel, you can check with him. The rude staff member kept on saying you don’t have a booking, and kept on pointing to the door! Like seriously the audacity!!! Worse than all this behaviour is when they realised what they have done. In an attempt to ‘right the wrong’, a few minutes after we exited the restaurant, a female staff called claiming that she is ‘worried’ that we did not turn up for my booking. Then when I told her what has happened, she said oh, this is such a rare occurrence! I mean how rare can it be that this horrible treatment happened to the same person twice in the same week?! I am sure it is not as rare as they are claiming it to be!

All I can say is in order to protect yourself and loved ones, as well as your special events, do yourself a favour and DO NOT deal with...

@mahaeast 📍Windsor

⭐️Taramasalata Filled bun, Salmon caviar, Dill ➖ BBQ Corn & Isot Pepper Tart ✔️ Cured Salmon, Pickled Chilli Labneh, Simit ⭐️ Hummus, Roast Capsicum, High Rise Focaccia ✔️ Roast Beetroot ⭐️ Halloumi, Walnuts ➖ Tuna, Anchovy ✔️ Tomato Harissa Braised Wagyu ✔️ Broccolini, Toum, Roast Sesame ⭐️ Braised Lentils, Rice and Onions ➖ Baklava Tiramisu ✔️ Turkish Delight Doughnuts

Maha East is a Middle-Eastern inspired restaurant located on Chapel St, Windsor. It is the second Maha venue by Shane Delia, also a sibling restaurant to Maha North. It gives off super sexy, sleek, dark bistro vibes. The contemporary mezze style menu offers both a Sharing Menu ($75pp) AND A La Carte.

We dined off the Sharing Menu, definitely add the snacks upgrade if you can for an additional $15pp. They are so tasty and decent in size. The Taramasalata Bun was my favourite favourite of the 3. 😍

For entrees, the dreamy Halloumi as well as the Whipped Hummus and High Rose Focaccia (one of the best focaccias I’ve tried) were stars of the night. The Tuna was topped with anchovy which was a little fish overload for my personal taste, but I enjoyed how textural it was.

For mains, the homely Braised Wagyu melted in our mouths. The sides were just as impressive, so so tasty! To finish, you get some of their iconic Turkish Delight Doughnuts with a creamy Walnut Icecream as well as their new Baklava Tiramisu. I found the dish a little bit dry but I can appreciate its inventiveness. 👏🏽

If you’re looking for an alternative to Maha CBD, this much more intimate and affordable whilst offering the same quality and service. Perfect for after work catch ups or a date. I continue to revisit over and over again!...

One of the three Maha locations, Maha East is relatively smaller with a casual vibe; menu has both ala carte and set menu. Dined at the bar and had the Soufra set menu with the snacks upgrade and also ordered a few other snacks from the ala carte:

Snacks were very good for the most part; scallop was fresh, citrusy and garlicky; wagyu croquette was crisp outside, savory and cheesy; fried bourek buns had a soft doughy texture with flavourful toppings. Chicken wing was tasty as well, meat was just a little dry Meze; grilled iraqi flat bread was flaky outside with a nice spice and herb seasoning, goes well with the creamy hummus containing spiced chicken & mushrooms; savory and nutty. Cured kingfish was very good with the slight charred tasted on the edges, paired with some tangy sweet pickled vegetables. Also ordered the Kataifi wrapped prawns which was very crunchy with a sweet honey sauce Main comes with slow roasted lamb shoulder, Turkish beef dumplings and a side of seasonal leaf salad and aged rice pilaf. Dumplings had a nice chewy texture, with a tangy garlic yoghurt; taste pretty good but a little too sour for me. The lamb shoulder was very tender with a little crisp on the edges of the meat, covered with a creamy savory spice sauce; very delicious Asked the staff and they were ok to swap the dessert to the milk chocolate parfait, which was airy and creamy like mousse covered with a dark chocolate ganache and topped with tahini caramel, very tasty and surprisingly not too sweet. The cardamon flavour of the ice cream was subtle but it was creamy and refreshing

Overall food was very flavourful and delicious; enjoyed most of the dishes, menu is reasonably priced and...