Maven by Morgan — Restaurant in Melbourne

I’ve visited this restaurant before and have always loved it. I’ve even recommended it to friends for the amazing food and atmosphere. But I am genuinely disappointed by my most recent experience. I’ve waited a few weeks to see if the restaurant would have rectify the issue but they haven’t hence this review.

A Wednesday night and the restaurant was less than half full. I was seated and given water, but when I asked for the $49 date night menu , I was told I couldn’t order it because I didn’t have a booking.... I hadn’t seen anything online about needing to book for this menu, so I asked if I could just make one on the spot, but was told no.

Out of curiosity, I went on their website and was able to make a booking for 20 minutes later. The waitress didn’t return, so I approached her, and advised I can make a booking which she said the booking was fine but I’d need to leave and come back, and “not tell anyone.” When I confirmed that she was asking me to wait outside, she said yes.. I met my partner outside trying to comprehend and explain what had happened, but it was the middle of winter, so we decided to go back in. I told the waitress it was too cold to wait outside, but she simply smiled and continued her personal conversation with another waitress, leaving us awkwardly standing at the door of a half empty restaurant. I double checked their website and socials and couldn’t find anything about needing a booking for that menu. When I raised this again, the waitress brought over two managers. They were polite, but there was no accountability or apology. When I explained the situation one seemed surprised I’d been asked to wait outside, and first thing he admitted to was that they don’t state you need to book on their website or social media but they have it listed on “some” 3rd party websites.. (Literally admitting that you don’t need a booking for this deal)

I believe Frankie was the other manager who was a little argumentative and continuously tried to justify the situation and then followed up by saying the waitress was trying to help me… They continued to mention third-party sites like EatClub, even though I repeatedly explained that I was only using the restaurant’s own website and Instagram. After going back and forth for a few minutes there was no apology and they still didn’t offer us a table.

(I know I’m sure you’re thinking why didn’t you just walk out but they would have charged my card as I had made the booking + the food is worth it!)

I Literally had to ask If we could sit down and at least order a few drinks as I didn’t care if we had to wait until 7:15 for food to come out… the conversation ended with the other manager saying they will update their website advising a booking is required.. it has been more then 3 weeks now and nothing is updated so it is evident the waitress made a mistake and made us leave the restaurant for no reason and all the managers had to do was apologise but unfortunately couldn’t let go of their egos and admit a mistake had been made.

Again this doesn’t take away from the quality of the food, and the service we received after we were finally seated (for the second time) was great.

I just hope the managers receive training in customer service as this is the only flaw for...

This was a mixed experience - I would probably have left 2.5 stars but it didn't give me that option. Service was the main issue for the rating, which I explain below. Rarely does an experience at a restaurant be unusual enough for me to write a long review - but here it is.

Service - The most disappointing element of the service was that we (2 ppl) had arrived at 8:15pm (walk in on a Friday so was expecting to wait a little), spoken to the owner of Maven (Morgan) directly, who told us there were no tables available and that we should have a walk around for 20 minutes and come back and there would be one available. We asked if we should put our names down on a waitlist - he said no need. We did just as suggested. We came back in 20-25 mins and, despite informing the host that we had been at the restaurant at 8:15pm and were told to come back at this particular time etc. we found ourselves essentially being treated the same as those who had just arrived. In fact, we saw that those that had originally come in after us (say at 8:20pm) were seated before us. Essentially, the restaurant did not honour the fact that we had arrived early and been asked to come back at a certain time. There was no explanation / acknowledgement provided (if there was one, that would have been OK). We ended up being seated at approx 9:15pm on a 'communal' table (literally a typical table for 4, not a proper communal table). They later shifted the other diners to a table further inside, but it was a pretty disappointing, and in my opinion, unprofessional / deceptive start to the night for a restaurant that seeks to present itself as at least medium-end dining. To be clear, the communal table was just a minor annoyance, the deceptive behaviour was the main issue. The staff were super nice (this review is not to fault them in any way) but we also had to 1) ask for a wine list ourselves and 2) follow up on our wine order when it had not come by the time the third dish was served.

Food - overall, fine and some items were pretty good. Croquette - average, lukewarm. Artichoke tart - very good. Shish - good. Porchetta - very good. Broccolini - average, slightly overcooked and oversauced. Cookie - good.

As I said, a mixed experience. Got to restaurant 8:15pm, came back at 8:35-40pm, sat at 9:15pm, finished at approx 11pm. The worst part was actually the unprofessionalism at the start, which was atypical for a venue of this pricing and made it difficult to really enjoy the experience. I would hesitate to recommend a venue where you can't take the owner at his word without so much as an explanation for deviating from said word, as I think that is a reflection of the honesty of the business. Perhaps an OK venue if you go at non-busy times only, as - with this being a candid review - the food was...

From first impressions, this restaurant looked closed from the street. Upon entering, the atmosphere was confusing, displaying a cheap fit out trying to execute a luxe feel. The front of the restaurant was so dark there were diners using their phone flash light to read the menu while the back end was flushed with natural light from the above window. The service was the most palatable experience here, however the staff lacked experience in understanding cues of diners, taking plates away before they were done, having multiple people ask what type of water we would like and then it never arriving until the third server came over to ask and their timing just being off overall. When it came to the food, we opted for share plates, which was enough for us all, but we were disappointed at the flavours and execution of what we tried. The salmon crudo had ‘Tabasco dressing’ which tasted like straight vinegar and lacked anything that resembles Tabasco flavour. It was so over powering, you could not taste anything else. The crispy potatoes were lacking the crispyness, likely because they were flooded in the spicy feta dip. The burnt carrots were on a bed of white liquid that I would never be able to identify as stracciatella if it wasn’t listed on the menu. All plates didn’t come with a service spoon, so having to double dip the cutlery that we had been eating with into a shared plate wasn’t favourable. Only giving the food 2 stars because the focaccia was the highlight. The areas surrounding our table also felt dirty, having tiny bugs run across my plate before we began eating really set the tone. The glassware served to us for our drinks had a chip in it, and to top it all off, you only have 1 ply toilet paper in the bathroom. When we offered our feedback to the staff, it was taken defensively and no apology offered. Disappointing to say the least as the content you produce online set our expectations much higher than they deserved to be. The menu has a lot of potential, but some dishes need to be revisited to exceed expectations. Would suggest anyone coming here to reconsider as there are many more places in Melbourne that offer an incredible...