Philhellene Provincial Greek Cuisine

Posted by: Sofiemann | 21 August 2010, 6.51pm

Have consistently dined at Philhellene since it opened. It always feels warm and inviting and the owners are both exceptional at making you feel special and looked after. The waiters are very attentive and always on hand to offer suggestions. The food is quite exceptional and very well priced. Have been to other comparable restaurants which are overpriced, rushed through type service and disappointed in the food. Philhellene is a hidden gem which as locals we are so priviledged to have in our midst. Have taken many of our friends and family to dinner at Philhellene and they always insist on going back there with us. Well done guys you deserve it!!!!

Food:			Visit: Sat 14 August 2010 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: arim | 22 May 2010, 8.22pm

I've dined at Philhellene four times now and each time it's been a delight. I was particularly impressed last week when I got to try some new 'cypriot' delicacies which were delicious and as authentic as when i was on the island last. Even though our table was booked for a later seating,I didn't feel rushed and we were able to enjoy dessert also.The two male owners were there & they made sure I was looked after. The shout of the raki shot at the end of our meal was a pleasant surprise. Keep up the great work guys, we'll definately be back very soon.

Food:			Visit: Sat 15 May 2010 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: DONPAN | 19 March 2010, 12.25pm

Have been to Philhellene a number of times and would have to say that the food is consistently good. The thing that lets down this restaurant is the staff (including the owners!!!) - you always feel like it's their opening night as the vibe from staff is one of uncertainty and awkwardness. Once seated the waiter had to be prompted by us to take our drinks order and when the drinks arrived they were placed in front of the wrong guests and once again we had to prompt the staff to take our meal orders. The saganaki was tough and not cooked enough; the calamari was ok at best. The meat platter was great - can't fault it, although the lemons on all the platters looked like they had been cut days ago. Dessert is always a delight. The wait time between courses is way too long. The plates for our dessert were placed in front of us and it took 30 mins for the dessert to arrive. The staff are not friendly and do not go out of their way even a little to make you feel welcome. The owners have a lot to do with this they have a look of being stressed and unhappy to be there and make you feel like you re just another number. I read in another review that the owners are quite rude and patronising couldn t agree more! Maybe they ve been in business for too long and forgotten what it means to provide good customer service and an appreciation to the diners that support you (especially in a suburban locale like Moonee Ponds)

Food:			Visit: Wed 17 March 2010 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: Navy Officer | 28 October 2009, 5.40pm

If I have one complaint about this restaurant, or taverna, it is that they do too good a job and so are too popular. This is the place to go for wonderful food, very friendly service and a night out to make your any occasion.

Food:			Visit: Wed 28 October 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: LouHC | 13 October 2009, 9.38am

A little touch of the south in the northern suburbs! Great service, great food, great atmosphere. We'll be back!

Food:			Visit: Tue 13 October 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: Vianal | 4 August 2009, 2.55pm

If it's great quality, traditional, provincial home made cooking you fancy, in a casual and pleasant setting, then you cannot go past this place - and in terms of ordering, the specials board is the way to go. We too, were told there would be a 2hr table turnaround, we managed this without experiencing any uncomfortable haste however, and all in all I loved our dining experience there - the staff were informative and friendly - but most of all, the food was exquisite - stronly recommend the Artichoke and Broad Bean Casserole and the Chicken Okra if it's available - Desert was amazing, a light poached quince dish with ice cream - It surely has me wanting to go back again!!! (And again...and again..)

Food:			Visit: Fri 31 July 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: viklen | 24 July 2009, 11.57am

Let's start with what Philhellene suggests you will experience at this restaurant..."a wholesome experience around Greek food, culture..." and "a truly memorable and emotional experience". The overwhelming experience of the night was the race against time. On arriving at the restaurant at 6pm, I noted on the reservation list, it stated "out by 8pm". When I asked the waitress about this, she became defensive and stated my friend who had made the booking would have been told we were to leave by 8pm. When my friend arrived, she confirmed that this was not relayed to her. The next 2 hours consisted of the following: the wait staff were constantly coming to our table and rushing us through our courses; they kept hovering around us, waiting to move us through the next course as quickly as possible; this included no time for a break in between courses; with 20 minutes to go at the end of our meal, we felt the pressure was on; as our main dishes were collected, we were told to order dessert immediately and could only order certain desserts because of the time left. There was an air of pressure coming from the wait staff, which in turn made us nervous and did not make for a very relaxing dining experience.
The food was very good, however was unable to be savoured and enjoyed; The calamari was the disappointing dish of the night, with no flavour. The loukoumades were a bit on the tough side; the meat and fava bean dip on the other hand were very nice; for mains we ordered a meat platter for 2 and shared it between 4 of us which was very substantial, as we had lots of entrees.
Overall the 2 hour time restriction - which we were NOT aware of - spoilt our experience; on the bright side, at least we beat the saturday night football traffic home!

Food:			Visit: Fri 24 July 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: M&B | 9 June 2009, 5.11pm

We managed a late booking for an early dinner & were interested to see how "the other type" of Greek food would compare.
The welcome set the scene, very homely, enthusiastic but not polished - this approach matched the decor,the food & utimately the whole experience.
This is not a Greek meat & dips type of place, nor is it swish & humming like George's HR - what you see is what you get - a very comforting home style experience.
We shared 4 entrees & a salad & that was sufficent. The food was very traditional with no modern twists, but all the better for it. The service was quite attentive & it really felt as if we were dining in someones Greek grandmothers home.
Overall a very pleasing & different experience

Food:			Visit: Sat 6 June 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: kim.dale | 17 March 2009, 1.48pm

After reading all the press for this place recently, I guess my expectations were pretty high, sadly the truth of the matter is, it was well below par.

On arrival we were greeting by a young waiter who seated us and then left, not asking if we wanted any drinks or even a wine list. About 20 mins later he returned to take our meal orders.

After explaining that the special was slow roasted goat, my dining partner and I decided that's what we would have. Our entrees arrived some 20 mins later and were o.k. but after another long wait they told us they had run out of goat. I was quite disappointed but moved on and ordered the calamari, which after some time, we were also told they had run out. By this stage I'd had enough. I ordered the prawns which were satisfactory. Overall I felt they were poorly organised and struggled to cope with the numbers they has booked. As a gesture of good will they offered a free dessert, sadly I don't eat dessert.

Food:			Visit: Sat 14 March 2009 Mealtime: dinner
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Posted by: louk | 18 January 2009, 10.56am

A group of us had dinner elsewhere and popped into Philhellene for dessert. We tried a variety of desserts which were just magnificent, they each had a story as to who made them or where the ingredients had come from. We were kind of disappointed that we didn't start the night there..will definitely try it out for dinner sometime.

Food:			Visit: Wed 17 December 2008 Mealtime: supper
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