Manousheh — Restaurant in Sydney

I hate to do it, but I’m giving this place just two stars.

I first starting coming here a couple of years (or so) ago, and my partner (who is from Lebanon) said that the food was very authentic. We loved it, and would dine here regularly. It was incredible value, with the food being delicious with a decent portion size. We would normally spent about $50 or so, and we would leave completely satisfied.

However, ownership of the restaurant seems to have changed, and I no longer recognise the people that I used to interact with. The food itself is still ok, but they have dramatically reduced the portion sizes to the point where it no longer offers any value, and it’s actually quite an expensive place to dine now.

I went there with my partner today, and we ordered the Cauliflower with Tahini, and also the Lebanese Sausages. When the dishes came out, the portion of the cauliflower was SIGNIFICANTLY smaller than it used to be, but it was still $18. There was very little cauliflower on the plate, and the bowl of Tahini was also very small and insufficient for the amount of cauliflower.

The sausages were decent value still though.

On our previous visit, we ordered the hummus as a side dish, and not only was it a very small portion now, but it was absolutely drenched in oil. I love olive oil, but even I have limits. I had to tip the bowl on its side to pour most of the oil out. Yes, I understand that olive oil is traditionally put on top of hummus, but this was excessive.

So, overall the food is still ok (although it’s worse than before), but the pricing is completely out of step with what they are delivering.

I can’t imagine going back there anytime soon, just on a value basis. I don’t mind spending good money on restaurant food, but I really hate being ripped off, and that’s what the experience is now.

It really is a shame, because this place used...

I am a regular customer but have found service particularly at weekends is very poor. I ordered take away food this morning (Sunday) and never got a receipt with a number as the lady serving me forgot to give me one, I was reassured by her that she would keep an eye on my order and let me know when my order was ready. I stayed in the store in front of the entrance to the counter, there were also 4 customers waiting on food, after 15 mins I enquired about my food. I was then handed my food that had been sitting on the counter for approximately 5 minutes. When I asked the lady who served me why she didn’t let me know it was ready her excuse was she forgot and without even an apology she walked away. I asked another member of staff but she just brushed over my enquiry. Hardly how you treat customers but I did notice that one of the staff who use the register also handled food from the display cabinet without washing their hands or wearing disposable gloves. Another point to add is one of the staff was drinking a soft drink whilst interacting on the register with a customer, no thank you etc, small things like this make a difference to the customer experience of you’re store. The sore decor etc is very well presented and welcoming but it’s a shame about the weekend service. The staff are very young , not sure if that’s part of the poor weekend service but a very disappointing customer experience. Just to note that by the time I got to eat the food it wasn’t as good due to the fact it was...

Manousheh is not your average Lebanese corner bakery.

I wandered in with two friends last Saturday morning and was immediately greeted by the friendly staff and incredible aroma of baking Manoush (It resurrected a beautiful summer I spent in Beirut, the fresh fragrance of thyme and oregano)

The restaurant was filling up quickly (it was almost 8.30am) but we managed to snag a table.

We ordered the Fateh and two meat and Zartar & one cheese manoush to share: The Fateh was a bomb, crispy lebanese fried bread, chickpeas bursting with flavour topped with a garlic yogurt sauce! The garlic was robust but not overpowering.

When our Manoush arrived, our expectations continued to be exceeded.

The crust was crisp, flavorful, and chewy. The toppings worked together beautifully. All had a great consistency & were packed with flavor. By the end of the meal we were planning our next visit.

Best of all the staff were welcoming and attentive.

My only recommendation would be to get in early as seats filled within 30 minutes of opening and the que outside got bigger by the minute.

My only criticism would be that they need even more seating than they have with food of...