Bani's Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Victoria

Not all cultures are represented in fine eateries across the Bass Coast, however during a recent visit to Cowes' main street on Philip Island, I was pleasantly surprised with a Greek offering within a stones-throw of the beach! BANI's restaurant on Thomson Ave. Didn't need any pretentious advertising nor over-the-top interior design to advertise simple high quality home-style Greek fare. The owner Manpreet was extremely accommodating and beyond what I would expect from a busy restaurant manager - even offering time to chat one-on-one. Now the staff are from multiple cultures and the chefs have experience in multiple dishes from across the world, but it is they're focus on Greek food that impressed me beyond description. The passion and the determination to please the customer is a fresh and welcome alternative to the harsh looks and ill treatment I had previously experienced on the island - busy does not mean bad behaviour! So we began with the tzatziki plate (garlic sauce - no photo), and the signature dish - shoulder lamb. The image provided will make you salivate as it was a hefty dish - the meat roughly the size of 2 porterhouse servings! The scalloped potatoes and Greek salad complimented so well, I finished without thinking twice! It is the measure of a good Greek restaurant when the lamb is finely cooked and soft, falling off the bone onto the plate. This place takes it one step further. Scooping tzatziki onto the soft meat and devouring it slowly reminded me of my Grandmother's recipes, and rightly so - this place delivers so much more! After the excitement of the main and a little lightly sparkling ZAGORI mineral water, we tried the Galactobouriko (custard in filo pastry). Many restaurants absolutely soak this sweet in syrup almost making the dish inedible. Bani's reverses the notion and applies very little syrup with just enough cinnamon sprinkled on top. The only quirk was the ice-cream! Though Manpreet assures me that he is eliminating this in favour of authenticity. A quick visit such as this turned into something more as the pleasant service (smiles all round), excellent attitudes and exemplary food elongated dinner to almost two hours! The prices also reflect the servings and quality very well, even besting some of the cheapest Melbournian Greek restaurants! I urge anyone who is visiting to take a moment and enjoy a wonderful meal at Bani's - you WILL come back again and again and again! Mains 10/10, Sweets 7/10(soon to change), Drinks 10/10, Service 10/10,...

This was a 'mixed bag' experience. We started with the saganaki with fig. Loved the flavour. Then my husband ordered the lamb shoulder and I ordered the mussels. My husband was very happy with the lamb BUT the mussels were the worst I have ever had in all my years of eating mussels. The presentation was really good and you could smell the dill on top (I love dill). When I opened the first one I thought it had fallen out as sometimes this happens, so I discarded the shell, but it there was a shriveled up mussel in it. Then I took a bit of the second one and was barely able to eat it. It was dried out and well and truly overcooked. I made my husband try one to which he also said 'not good'. Then on further inspection the broth at the bottom of the bowl had roughly I cm in it so not able to try and rectify the drieness. I have never refused to eat a meal due to it being so unapalatable. We called over our waitress and she informed the manager. When he came over he was apologetic and was happy to replace it but was at a loss as to how they could be so dry when they were just cooked. Not a hope where they just cooked, more like they had been sitting in some bain marie or somewhere for a long, long time. My meal was replaced with Calamari which was perfectly cooked. In all fairness there was no issue with exchanging the meal and the service couldn't be faulted. Great music by the way. This was the first time we had been there for a frew years, but not sure we will be back. Mussels should...

Worst inedible food and experience of the year. When you pay $200 for one plate of food, you expect something more than fish WITH SCALES that tastes like cooker gas, dried up pieces of fish fillet in batter that was more oil than anything that gave up stomach aches, and Greek salad with only one single tiny 5mmx5mm cube of feta, little to no herbs, some pre-made dressing, all whilst having to listen to Britney Spears and Bruce Springsteen for that authentic Greek atmosphere of disappointment. I was trying to make a special evening out with my disabled son, so I didn’t want to make a fuss as I really needed him to eat and relax, but had I been there without him I would have refused to eat any of it and refused to pay. The service people were nice enough, but more busy chatting with mates over a beer, and I had to get my own serviettes and clean plates, after having to consistently spit out fish scales and bones. No herbs or flavour otherwise for the whole dish, other than olive oil that was drizzled all over the whole dish. We did not eat it all, and no, didn’t want to take any home since what we left behind was inedible. I’m still angry and disappointed 2 days later. I have no problem spending good money on good food, but what we got, I would have had better at any local fish and chip shop for a quarter of the price and better dining experience. For friends of mine who live on the island, please tell everyone else you know to avoid this place and take your...