Harem Turkish Restaurant

Posted by: rewn | 5 March 2012, 1.49pm

The banquets here are amazingly good and fantastic value, you almost have to roll yourself out. Great place to enjoy a long meal with a friends and some Turkish beer!

Food:			Visit: Thu 9 February 2012 Mealtime: lunch
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Posted by: aptrev | 29 April 2009, 11.45am

Visited with a group of friends with high expectations. Unfortunately the service was terrible. We had to hunt for waitresses. Half the menu wasn't available, which we weren't informed of until we went to order. The place was half empty so I'd hate to see it during a busy period. The entree was just a lump of over-salted spinach for $9. I ordered a mixed grill and it was very ordinary. The portions were tiny considering the high price, the salad was bland, the bean dish was terrible. The two courses and dessert took almost 3 hours to come out.

The food and service didn't match the prices.

Food:			Visit: Thu 23 April 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: canberradiner | 24 April 2009, 11.37am

I organised a birthday dinner for a group of friends here. We were slightly disappointed to find that the tent room was very tacky/drab looking after reading others' high reviews of it.

What really made us annoyed was the extremely poor service.

We were waiting at the table for at least 20 minutes without menus, without being asked if we wanted to order drinks or starters (so we had to order from the bar, which we weren't informed). Someone had to get up and find the waitress to get the menus. They finally came and for a table of 20 we had 4 menus - they were sorry but the rest of the menus were at other tables, even though there were only a handful of other people in the restaurant. We made do and picked our meals out, and waited at least another half hour to order before we had to get up and look for the waitress. We found out that several of the meals were "not available" including ALL the seafood items, and several other dishes, however the waitress never actually came out to our table to tell everyone this.

When the waitress finally came out to take our order (about an hour after we arrived!) she said we had to order the banquet because separate meals would take a "really really long time". I appreciate that a big group is difficult to serve, however the restaurant was empty, I was not informed of this requirement when we made our booking, and we had several people with special dietary needs who could not/did not want to eat the banquet anyway. All the food took an unbelievably long time to come out (and we had to stack up our empty platters because they did not bother to collect them) and we were all thoroughly annoyed and ready to leave before they had even served the last dish of the banquet, as it was getting quite late.

The waitress's sour, unhelpful and rude manner really ruined our night, and even though the food was quite nice, it was not good value and I would not go back, nor recommend this place to anyone who wants a pleasant evening.

Food:			Visit: Thu 23 April 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: J L Brown | 22 March 2009, 6.13pm

I ate at Harem restaurant last Friday night, with a group of 7 friends.We ordered the Banquet which was fabulous. Nearly too much food!! The belly dancer was a winner on the night. But the service was apalling. The waitress must have got out of the bed on the wrong side that morning. Nobody would employ a waitress like that. She actually dropped the bill from a height onto the table. Would go back for the food but not for the service

Food:			Visit: Fri 20 March 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: antioxidant | 14 February 2009, 7.20pm

I had a fantastic night at the Harem restaurant...it's great for a big group. The food is consistently really good and the bar prices are very reasonable. It's great for those on gluten free diets as it has gluten-free options for everything...so even those with dietary needs can enjoy the banquets, even the bread and desserts.

If you can get the tent room it's worth it -although expect to be hassled constantly by the owner about confirming your booking!! That was the only negative I can say aout my latest visit...I was called at last 4 times in the month leading up to my party, asking if I still wanted the room as it was in high demand...and once the owner actually said he would give the booking to someone else if he felt like it! I thought that was pretty out of order as I've been a loyal customer of that restaurant. It really soured what has otherwise been a great opinion of the restaurant.

Food:			Visit: Sat 14 February 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: bdare | 13 December 2008, 12.46pm

We asked for a table for two, and were told that because they were busy, we could come in but would have to order a banquet. The waitresses made us feel that we were an inconvenience to them for being there. We waited over half an hour for our empty entree plates to be taken away and mains to come, and that was only after we asked, because we had a movie to see later. The waitresses wore what we thought was inappropriate clothing for a restaurant.
We ended up waiting so long; we got the rest of our mains as takeaway, and were told we should have told the girl who took our order we were in a hurry. Wait staff made us feel horrible and ruined our night.

Food:			Visit: Fri 12 December 2008 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: Newsome | 1 December 2008, 9.45am

This was out first time at Harem, and I'm not sure that we'll go back. We arrived to blaring music which we had to shout over, which was eventually turned down. We ordered a few dishes including tabouli (surely a staple at a Turkish retaurant) only to be told that they didn't have any and would we like to order something else instead? This was not a good sign at the start of a busy saturday night. The other three dishes we tried to replace it with also weren't available.
The food we did get was quite nice, but didn't make up for the indifferent table service (no glass brought with our beer) along with a general feeling that we were a nuisance for being there.

We were disappointed to say the least.

Food:			Visit: Mon 1 December 2008 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: Polly737 | 7 November 2008, 7.50pm

We wanted to try something different and having my brother needing wheat free food we thought we would try Turkish. As soon as we arrived they asked us if anyone was allergic to anything and we advised them. We ordered the banquet and when anything was bought out and my brother wasn't able to eat it, they would let us know and bring him out an alternative. Staff were very friendly and helpful.

Overall a wonderful meal and delightful experience.

Food:			Visit: Mon 3 November 2008 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: stacy_amis | 27 June 2008, 11.55pm

As a previous employee at another well-known Turkish restaurant in Canberra (which, for legal reasons, shall remain anonymous, don't ask), I had high expectations. Harem met all the criteria.

Take the stairs up to a Turkish heaven... complete with rich, exotic decorations and catchy Turkish music (highly addictive - I found myself bopping along to the beats and wanted to get the CD!)

The food was sensational, a delightful blend of spices, and perfectly sized portions. The Lamb Sis Kebap was tender and flavorful, but more rice would have been nice. The Lamb Kavurma was an interesting, as the sauce added another dimension to the meal.

The Turkish Lemonade was kind of funky but funky in that good way, you know what I mean?

We'll definitely be back, but next time, for the Belly Dancers! Ohh yeah!

Food:			Visit: Tue 17 June 2008 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: Iluvfood | 24 April 2008, 5.06pm

I have been to Harem several times and had the banquet and ordered off the menu. We always sit on the floor, but they have proper tables and chairs too. The food is consistently good and I especially rate their pide, which is the tastiest I've had anywhere in Canberra. On Saturday nights they have a bellydancer performing, so it's a great place for large groups and big celebrations.

Food:			Visit: Thu 24 April 2008 Mealtime: dinner
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