Shaku Maku — Restaurant in Dublin

I went to this place to have a dinner with a friend. The manager was very kind explaining all vegetarian options to my friend who doesn't eat meat.

THE FOOD: The food was so tasty. We ordered batata Hara, tabouleh salad, hummus, chicken and lamb kibbleh. All of them were so tasty. But my favorite one was the chicken. It was soooo delicious. One of the best that I've had.

THE SERVICE We ordered a drink but we didn't get a glass. It happened the 2 times that I went to the place. The most negative point happened the first time that i went to the place. The waitresses come to my table and ask us to leave the table in 5 minutes. (We were in the restaurant for 1:45). We were still eating and drinking. I ordered drinks to the same person 5 minutes before. Nobody told us that there is a limited time to stay in the restaurant. (She did the same to another group in front of us that arrived way later than us). I think that ask a customer to leave in 5 munutes is totally disrespectful. I do understand that Friday night the place is busy but it is not a way to treat your cuetomer. At least give the customer 10 or 15 minutes. Although my experience with the service i wanted to give the place another chance and went there on a week day as I do like the food. It was very cold. When my friend and I got to the place we asked to a table away from the door as it was freezing close to it. The waitresses said we could not get a table upstairs as we were only 2. We were ready to leave when she changed her mind and gave us a table upstairs. This time the quality of the food wasn't the same. The potato was a uncooked, the chicken was overcooked, cold, and hard to eat. Also the Kibbeh came in a small portion. Only 3 (2 normal size like last time and 1 small one) last time I got 4 normal size. When I asked the waitresses she said that i got less because the kibbeh was too big. Actually they weren't. That was my experience. The place is huge, good atmosphere, good food ON WEEKENDS but it needs a better service. I won't give it...

Once a gem of authentic food in rathmines which has fallen victim to the plague of generalisation which seems to grip many restaurants over time in Dublin. Shaku Maku was, at opening, and for the following 6 to 8 months a masterclass in casual Middle Eastern dining and service. The food was impeccable and the service show casing the renowned Middle Eastern hospitality. No longer.

During our visit on Monday the 30th October 2023 we were very very disappointed. The addition of pizza to a middle eastern menu was an indication of a more general, and less authentic, experience to come. The next indicator was the change in bread. The beautiful quartered breads were replaced with generic pitas served whole, a lack of presentation and a €1.50 price point per pitta. We had the Mnazaleh and moussaka which were almost indistinguishable from one another. Gone were the beautiful melting aubergines in fabulous spicy tomato sauce and earthenware pots. Replaced by the usual cast iron skillet on wood board. The flavours too were subject to the apparent new "generalised" menu and were bland, with the potatoes in one dish being undercooked. The food was not terrible or inedible, but just fine which was a disappointment given previous experience. The service was lack lustre, with one front of house staff simply ignoring 3 tables, resulting in a more active member having to take all three orders in quick succession and making some, understandable, mistakes. This second individual is to be lauded for their work but should not have been put in that situation in the first place and this is a management issue.

Whether this loss of quality and service is as a result of new management is unclear but the new menu, generic bread and inadequate service has resulted in shaku maku being crossed from our list of good quality reliable restaurants, which is...

We have considered going to Shaku Maku for years. When we finally went we found the food was good but I doubt we'll want to go back.

From the outside the aesthetic of the place are pretty interesting, with bright colors that catch the attention. They make me think a bit of Miami. The name makes me think of something Hawaiian. Then the menu is middle eastern and so every time I need to reset my thinking around it.

The lamb I had was pretty good. It didn't even need additional salt that I was ready to add as many other restaurants usually require for me.

The hummus was supposed to be a speciality but personally I found it average.

Inside the place looks ok. It has the feeling of a take away, and that I could see already from outside.

What I truly didn't like was that the waiters were literally running up and down the surprisingly long corridor (I didn't know but there's a second, larger room on the back). To make things worse our table was close to a ramp that connected the two rooms, so when running over there they also made noise and they passed very close to me.

Very distracting. Totally not the vibe one wants while enjoying dinner.

I also really didn't appreciate that when we asked for a dessert they brought us the menu which has literally 4 options and they didn't warn us that one was missing. As bad luck wants it, it was the only option we wanted. Very disappointing when we went to order it and they told us that it was...