Arabella Lebanese Restaurant Newtown — Restaurant in Sydney

The hospitality in this place is pathetic. The owner who approached us is very rude and arrogant, we had to walked out of the restaurant in less that 5 mins of arriving because of the attitude of the Owner.

We booked Xmas party for last weekend Sat, we team of professional arrived and was directed to our table by a staff who looked like he could not be bothered. As my staff walked towards the table, I went toward the counter to inform about our attendance.

A man saying that he was the owner approached me and I informed him that only 12 turned up instead of 15 so we need only 12 chairs and less food. I was asked to take a seat and few seconds later he walks to the center of the table where all our staff was busy having a laugh, and out of nowhere the man turned up and started announcing loudly to the group that we need to pay for 15 banquets even though only 12 turned up with a hostile tone for few mins, all the staff and I around table was taken back and felt uncomfortable with this attitude of his.

As it was a company event, I said I will be paying for 15 expecting him to leave us so that we could continue with our party time. But no, this man continued loudly to the group saying that he wants to offer us a discount, how kind he is and told we can pay for only 14 banquets, I said one word “Ok” again hoping that he would leave us to ourselves.

But can you all take a guess, this guy wouldn’t leave and continued telling us that he did us a favor by not charging us a deposit when we made a booking and how good he was. At this moment it got really embarrassing and we all were feeling awkward, especially me.

I had enough and at this moment and politely said this is a company Xmas party, can we talk about this somewhere else and not here. He became very Hostile and his response was “I AM THE OWNER OF THIS PLACE AND CAN TALK TO YOU ANYWHERE I WANT”. He went on with this for some time and became more annoying.

We all just wanted him to leave the table and finally he did after he made his point… thank god.

We all were like what in the heck just happened, all of us were offended and displeased with this man's unacceptable approach. One person in our group walked out and I followed him to check on him also, I did not feel welcomed as well. Few mins later I got calls from our team saying that they wanted to get out of the place. The starters they got was also taken back. We all walked out.

We found another wonderful restaurant, who were very friendly, and the food was excellent. One of my staff said that she experienced similar kind of attitude from him (Arabella’s Owner) last year when the food was delayed.

We all decided that we will never go back again and will never recommend. We all agreed that this was the worst hospitality experience ever. I feel sad for staff who work there.

I recommend please go somewhere else, will get better service and value for your money.

Never ever again, I failed to check the genuine reviews on Google before bookings. Please don’t make the same...

As we were asked to give a review.. It may be a little long and sour but for your own benefit...

Prices: Fair for the portion. Food: Really good ,although It needs more effort with presentation as we are in an Instaworthy era (eg. Mixed dips and bread in a tray not all separate, we had to ask for the bread as they forgot about it ) Shisha: Really good (you may need waitstaff for shisha only on weekends) Music: pretty nice Arabic music but maybe put it higher so it covers everyone's noise (try it , it works as noise cancellation and trust me everyone will know how to communicate) Service:This is where everything went down hill, From a manager perspective this place is 1- understaffed ,I was shocked seeing same staff handle Arabella and Shishabella with a huge amount of customers at the same time - HATS OFF TO YOUR CURRENT TEAM FOR SURVIVING. 2- Lacking training, they all need to be on the same page ,eg.your teamworker was serving alcohol and drinks by hand not served from a tray, we can do this at home although this falls on management for not training workers ,its management job to notice therefore this will lead to lack of professionalism ( im sorry I cant blame the waitstaff as they are having enough pressure to think about small things like this , they are there to get the job done , get paid and go home meanwhile managers and owners need to keep this going) 3- ordering, menu says plate X comes with mashed potato, grilled vegetables ,mushroom sauce. Receiving order with fried chips instead of mashed potato and no grilled vegetables ( we go back to training "Sorry we ran out of mashed potatos and grilled vegetables tonight , although it will be a replacement of Chips and salad" an easy line that will make customers not doubt your service. 4-Hiring, I understand there was a 'we are hiring' sign, although by looking online you have not posted ads on your facebook page and instagram for waitstaff but only for kitchen hand and pizza maker, you should definitely increase staff on weekends at least , and probably make each staff member responsible for 4 tables per night to be able to focus on orders, build relationship with customers, serving the right dish to the right person. Seek advert is around $225 for 30 days ,indeed has free options , linkedin and facebook jobs is another option too , you are paying expenses for potential assets

Plus,reading review replies is unprofessional, you are not replying to your mate from the area, this can be held against your business.

Please do not take this to heart but take it as an honest review/feedback for the sake of the business ,try as nothing is wrong about testing what works ,I took my time and effort to write this , but hope it will be taken into...

Disappointing Experience at Arabella in Newtown

This was my first time visiting Arabella in Newtown, and while it started off well, the experience quickly took a disappointing and disrespectful turn.

Upon arrival, we were impressed by the restaurant’s lovely décor and the enjoyable playlist. The menu was extensive, offering a variety of delicious options. We ordered dips to start, followed by three main dishes—one for myself, my partner, and my friend who was visiting Sydney. The food arrived at our table, but my friend’s dish took about 25 minutes longer than the others, despite us notifying the staff twice that we were still waiting. Although all the dishes were delicious and well-presented, the delay was frustrating.

The real turning point of our experience came when guests at a nearby table started smoking cigarettes—yes, inside the restaurant, in a closed space with young and elderly people present. Minutes later, more customers were seated to smoke shisha at over three tables. The air quality deteriorated rapidly due to the smoke from both cigarettes and shisha.

This is a clear violation of NSW Health regulations, local council rules, and Fair Trade compliance. It’s completely disrespectful to both customers and staff, who are exposed to these harmful substances.

To top it off, we ordered dessert from two different waitstaff, but it never arrived. When we inquired, they asked us to wait five more minutes, claiming the dessert was being prepared. However, 20 minutes passed and we were still left waiting. When we decided to leave and went to pay, we discovered that the dessert order had never been placed.

Overall, this was a really poor experience, which is unfortunate given how promising the...