Mic W.

Loved the location. Like finding a little gold mine in an unsuspecting place. First thoughts while inside was its very inviting, intimate yet sort of community. Enjoyed watching groups receive their shared food. The variety & tastes. Staff were well trained and a pleasure to be served by. I enjoyed the food, but really hoped for a bit more 'something' for the price.. If you have the money it's a great place to try.

Khaled A.

After reading the many great reviews about this place decided to check it out. You should expect to spend 2.5-3 hours in this place if you ordered the 8 courses meal. Pretty expensive too ($180) so I would say go here if you really want to get the experience and have both the money and time to waste, otherwise do another restaurant caused I felt the price is a bit excessive given the portions they provided. The two dishes I enjoyed the most were the monkfish and the appetizers. The rest of the courses were presented really nicely but they tasted just ok.

JA S.

Maha has been a restaurant I've been dying to try for a long time now, as I'm a huge Shane Delia fan, and I finally got around to trying it last month with a friend from out of town. From the moment I arrived to the second I left the service was impeccable; so professional and attentive. The dark timber panelling, low ceiling and dim lighting create an intimate and warm inviting atmosphere. My friend and I decided to do the Soufra and it was nothing short of amazing! It really features the diversity of Maha's middle eastern cuisine. The standouts for me from this four course meal were the hummus w/ lamb and pine nuts, pumpkin soup, delectable salmon, 12 hour slow cooked lamb, the crispy fish w/ cauliflower, fantastically spiced pilaf rice and the trio of desserts - all of which were superb but the Turkish delight doughnuts were exceptionally divine! Before our dessert was brought out we had the privilege to meet Shane who was extraordinarily lovely! A great idea to end the night was the deliciously smelling hand sanitizer our wonderful waitress provided us with, as well as the complimentary spice mix I will be sure to use. A big thank you to Shane and his outstanding staff at Maha, I will certainly be returning soon!

Sheenal S.

Never have I ever been so spoilt or felt so indulgent as I did in Maha. everything about this place is spectacular. I don't even know where to start. you book online on a friendly easy to use website. Receive an instant text confirmation. You get a reminder a day before with parking information. You will need parking because you will need to roll your way home after eating here. You touch the entrance door and walk into a warm loving atmosphere with hot flirty waiters. There is a lead waiter in a suit that takes away your coat and other bulky items like your laptop bag and umbrella. He then skillfully swishes the napkin before he places it swiftly on your lap. He puts down the drinks menu (the wine menu is separate) and offers you still, sparkling or tap water. My fellow yelper friend and I got their mocktails. I got a martini with sour cherry and watermelon juice. Quite sweet and tasted like a redskin. My friend got their Turkish lemony mocktail - very refreshing! We ordered their four course banquet. she is a pescetarian; so, they replaced the meat dishes with suitable ones for her. We started off with bread rolls with carrot dip, olives, beef Kofta, pumpkin kibbeh (was like a cream cheese spread) and saffron spiced chicken wings. Second course was chicken tagine and I've forgotten the rest due to hitting instant food coma! By the time we got to third course, we were so full that we had to ask for takeaway because the food was too good to let it go to waste. The third course was lamb shoulder, swordfish, wheat pilaf, and fattoush salad. Every dish was bursting with flavor and so unique. For example I had never seen such massive cous cous (how did it get that big - I mean this pearl cous cous were like grandma sized pearls). the fish was so delicate and succulent. the lamb shoulder was tender and fell apart easily. Eggplant had never tasted so good. I just ate and ate and didn't need to add anything - no pepper, no salt, and no chilli (God forbid). Each morsel was like heaven in my mouth. The desserts were OK. The sorbet was refreshing. The carrot cake was the best I've ever had. It didn't taste like carrot cake - just very unique and interesting! Turkish delight doughnuts are not for me - fried and the flavour of Turkish delight - no thank you! There were lots of funny moments. I asked the waiter where the toilet was and he responded with "Did you mean the toilet or the nightclub?" Didn't even crack a smile saying that. when we asked for takeaway, he winked at us. As he put our dishes down or cleared our plates, he gazed at us way longer than normal and turned around and just stood there a tad too long (hmm - these Italian men!) Our takeaway was provided in beautiful bags. sturdy bags - the cardboard paper kind, not the cheap plastic kind. The takeaway boxes come with instructions - eat ASAP! HAHA! We cleansed our hands with spritzs of orange blossom and got a present -a bag of some legendary sumac ($8 bucks each) They remembered our stuff as we left. We must have waited for a minute longer and the host said to us "We didn't want to see you go so soon which is why we delayed in bringing your bag." SMILE Great humour. Fabulous food. Great service. Value for money. Felt so indulged and happy. maha is truly special. AND now i'm going to order their recipe book!

Cynthia W.

I want so much to give a higher rating but based on my experience of The Spice Journey Sunday, a three is all I can give. Shane Delia is probably my favourite Australian chef and I loved his series, I have been excited about going to Maha for a long time but the opportunity kept eluding me, but my partners birthday lunch finally lined up perfectly. Walking into the restaurant, I'm immediately surprised, a lavish bar, blue opulent couches and then almost diner style tables, I don't get it, everyone was packed in so tightly as well there was no enjoying intimate conversation. The music a combination of lovely Arabic folk and American rap. The service was attentive, however we were served by at least three different waiters. One of which was not knowledgeable, the other two were fantastic though, there was a gentleman in a suit wondering around asking if everyone "was ok?" The food.. Maybe I expected too much because it was Shane Delias restaurant or because it is the food I grew up with.. But, what was good was incredible and what wasn't good, was inedible. It was great value for what we got at an establishment like Maha, $65 for four courses. The generosity and experience is probably worth me kicking it up to four stars, but I'll review again after doing dinner. The entree was fabulous, I can't fault it. The second course, the pork Jowl I found almost sickly. The dumplings were great, true to the Turkish palate. The main, 12 hour lamb was so dry it was unpalatable. The salmon was overcooked in my humble opinion. The grains unpleasant with no clear flavour of fruit and nut. Beside there being no pumpkin seeds in our salad, it was peppery and delicious. The desert, I can't say enough good things about it. I could go and eat desert there day and night! They were all perfectly balanced and creative and like nothing I've ever tasted before! Just go and try them now! Their bar menu is most impressive, sporting speciality items from all over the globe. A lot of thought has been put in to establishing it. The drinks and cocktails available are most impressive. I ordered a Morning Sunshine, a pomegranate, vanilla and coffee concoction- lovely and did wake me up. Overall, Maha is a very special place. Given the flavour combinations and presentation of dishes I am positive my experience was a fluke and I will be going back to try out the dinner menu, more deserts and delve into that bar! Highly recommended!

Paul S.

It's been a while since I've been back to Maha, my enduring memory was of generous servings and excellent service. It's good to see some things never change... with the addition of Shane Delia the food is now a notch above. The food is exceptional, balanced, flavoursome and innovative in its execution. Cocktails are fantastic and the staff knowledgeable and friendly. I had the 5 course menu, which was just perfect... if you're a bit hungry and I recommend you go in hungry... try the 6.

Linda P.

Absolutely loved our entire dining experience here! Food was amazing and more generous serving sizes than expected so we walked out after the 6course menu extremely full and satisfied. Meals were brought out at a really nice relaxed pace so we never felt rushed nor did we feel like we were waiting. Staff were knowledgeable, friendly and proficient. Absolute value for money for a high end restaurant! They even gave us take home digestive herbal teas to have before bed!! Would recommend this place to everyone.

Catherine W.

A basement restaurant in Melbourne but apart from that, pretty distant from any other cliché. Dark, with a great fit-out, you instantly feel like you belong here. A quick lunch is very well catered for, though time and time again the desire to stay longer sees me order 'just one more thing'. Middle Easter fare, a fusion of sorts, sees a plethora of tasty dishes fill the menu. If a la carte seems all to hard- choose one of the many set menus. The booze list is extensive and complete, carefully selected to match the style of the menus. Try not to leave without dessert!

Lona J.

Brilliant. Such a treat. First time back in Melbourne for 20 years and Maha was the only restaurant on 'my need to do' list. And we certainly were not disappointed. We ordered the four course menu with wine and loved every morsel. The staff were very friendly and helpful. Would recommend to anyone.

Gavin C.

I'm not sure about you, but I rarely feel so satisfied after a meal. Not just because the food was magnificent, but it was presented so well, served so excellently and all in an excellent atmosphere. Too much to recommend, but the lentil dumplings on a bed of labna were amazing.

Two S.

Rumi What a lovely restaurant. It's a 4.4 on my non app available scale. This is a lovely restaurant which delivers extremely well on style and food. The decor is black and gold. It's a stylish and sophisticated interior which welcomes. You get the general sense immediately you walk in that you're in the hands of people who know how to provide a superior dining experience. We chose the four course banquet which delivered extremely well. There is more than ample food in this option. The starters were amazing. The flat bread was absolutely beautiful and with hummus it was utterly extraordinary. Sounds strange to go off about a piece of bread but I've never tasted it's equal. It was exceptional. I also can't praise the delicate cucumber with black sesame speeds enough. It seems odd again to say say so, but the way cucumber is prepared at middle eastern inspired places like Maha and Rumi almost completely reinvents the vegetable for me. My dish of 2017 was the simple cucumber with dill in the seasonal feast at Rumi. It's done here beautifully at Maha too. We loved it, got quite distressed finishing it and wanted more. The spicy olives were a revelation too. Beautifully flavoured and neither too hard nor too soft, it'd be hard to do olives much better than they were done here tonight. They were delicious. The kingfish cerviche was gorgeous too but was a tiny serve for two and we looked over with alarm when the neighboring table scored a much larger offering. The salmon kibbeh was pleasant and served with an extraordinary crispy puffed bread the texture of which was incredible. Next course was borek with black garlic, spinach, feta and mushroom. I've had plenty of boreks in my time but none of them tasted anywhere near as good as this one. We went quietly nuts over this dish as it was utterly adorable. The quail with apricot was superb too. You cannot cook quail any better than this, I'd suggest. The meat was beautifully moist and the flavours divine. The lamb was pulled shoulder and slow cooked. It was lovely as well although less polished than the other dishes. The swordfish was lightly grilled served with capers and was very nice indeed. We also absolutely adored the charred broccoli tabouleh. It was divine. I cannot imagine the skill that went in to cooking this dish, ie to present such a gorgeous deep charred flavour but without it ever tasting burnt. We went nuts over this dish. It is amazing. The five year aged Persian rice was very fine as well, a lovely accompaniment to the other dishes. We chose a Saloman Gruner Veltliner for our main wine and it proved to be a sound choice which went well with most dishes. We also chose a glass of Tellurian Grenache from Heathcote to go with the meat dishes. Again, it was a good choice. The wine list is very good and not overdone. There are plenty of good wines to choose. The sweets were incredible. A dark chocolate parfait, Black tahini mousse and Turkish delight doughnuts. I wasn't prepared for how good these would be. They were outstanding deserts. We loved them and could not fault them in any way. The only slight downer on the night was that we were not permitted to take part of the dessert home with us in a doggy bag. The servings are generous here and we were both very full by the time dessert arrived. We wanted to eat half of the sweets and take half home to enjoy later but the possibility was snappily dismissed by our server which was immensely disappointing. We'd paid for the food and wanted to eat it. I think the non doggy bag policy is silly and a little mean. We picked forlornly at the remaining dessert for several minutes and ate probably half of what was left. It was strange to finish a lovely meal on a slightly down note like this. Overall, it's a very very good restaurant though. You feel good being there and the fit out out is lavish, impressive and generally very comfortable and pleasing. We were slightly perturbed by how close the tables were and heard lots of the next table's conversation and boy could one of them talk. But, we did our best to ignore them and concentrate on the very fine food which proved very easy. It's all about the food and most of the food is exceptionally good as is the overall experience. There's little doubt this is one of Melbourne's best restaurants and we will definitely return in the future.

Danny T.

was here for the five course dinner.. maha had been on my hit list for a loooong while now... and I had reaaally high expectations. especially for the 12hr roast lamb shoulder. it was good but not great. my local pub does a lamb shoulder exceptionally well. I have to say though the surprise was the air dried egg ricotta almond was really good... for its size it packed a lot of punch in flavour and satisfaction. The WA barramundi was good but nothing special. Just a good quality piece of fish that was cooked well. Nice and juicy melt in mouth. The skin could be crispy lightly salted though. overall the experience was good.