Layali Restaurant — Restaurant in Sydney

Started off with a good impression, friendly and ordered the mothers day $59 banquet.

Came out with two massive bowls of salad and three generous sized dips with some small sausages and pastries which were nice. We thought surely the main dish would have a way for us to use all this salad and dips.

It fell apart from there when we were served a single plate with one shish each of three meats, with two crusty pieces of bread with tomato paste on top and another bowl of garlic and maybe about 15 chips. We thought we'd mistakenly been given the kids meal despite saying we don't need it - no worry our food will come soon. Right? No. This was it apparently. A $59 banquet per head is three small pieces of meat and two dry bread to be shared amongst two people with a mountain of salad.

We left feeling disappointed for mother's Day, absolutely ripped off at the bill and worst of all - hungry. Tried to raise concerns with the guy when paying and he couldn't seem to care less and told us that's how it's served for two people.

If it was genuinely a mistake and we were served the wrong thing - fine. But no way was what we were served worth...

⚠️ Overpriced, Stingy Portions & Rude Management – Avoid! 🛑

Banquet menu $55/pp, promised generous portions: dips and salads (hummus, baba ghanouj, tabouleh, fattoush), hot mezze (makanek, sambusik), a mixed grill (chicken, lamb, kaftah), and a house dessert for each person.

What we actually got was shocking:

Tiny portions of dips and salads. Mixed sambusik not even 1 per person. The mixed grill platter had less than one skewer per person — not remotely enough for a “$55 per person” banquet. Baklava etc. barely enough to go around.

When we raised this with the lady (I assume the Manager), she dismissed our concern, claiming the banquet is “meant for sharing.” When we pointed out the menu is per person, she had the audacity to ask, “Have you ever been to a Middle Eastern banquet before?” — a disrespectful and condescending comment that completely ignored our legitimate complaint.

If I could, I would give this restaurant a negative Google review. Portion sizes do not match the menu or price, and management is dismissive and rude when confronted. Avoid if you value honest portions and...

Hidden away in the industrial part of Castle Hill we discovered this Lebanese restaurant. Going by the name on the parking spaces it seems that the restaurant has a recent name change. The food was faultless, every dish of our banquet amazing but sadly the well prepared and plated dishes was let down by poor service and being over priced from other comparable middle eastern restaurants in the area. On this night there was a large group of people who was clearly known to the restaurant which they fawned over all night while we and another table who were the only other diners were ignored all night. Drinks took an eternity and apart from the 250ml sparkling water we paid $5.50each for, we were never served table water. Very over priced for the experience and a card fee that was eye watering topped off the night. They clearly need to lift their game in the service department, unless they expect their family and friends to fill the restaurant every week and flood Google with...