Saray Turkish Restaurant

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  10     

Great service beautiful food, will return and definitely recommend to friends.

Sep 20, 2011 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  8      Value  10     

Recently had a function at Saray restaurant, great value, great service, could not be any happier!

Feb 07, 2011 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  10     

Great food, lovely staff and nice venue. Does get a little loud after 10 pm but we loved the turkish music so it didn't bother us at all. Chicken shish is incredible. We will return!

Oct 16, 2010 

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  2     

The service here was terrible, some people had to wait over an hour for a drink to be served and empty plates were allowed to pile up or new plates were simply placed on top of dirty ones. The music was so loud that it was impossible to talk, even to someone sitting right next to you.

Also, there was no mention on booking that banquets are the only option on Friday and Saturday nights and it's not possible to have two different banquets at the same table, regardless of how many people there are. The food was served so slowly that sides were served 45 minutes before the meat started to trickle in. As if anyone wants to eat plain rice on its own. Felafels were obviously store bought and dry.

I would not recommend the restaurant to anyone and will not ever being going back.

Oct 12, 2010 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  10     

We visited Saray restaurant a couple of weekends ago and had a great time. We chose the $35 sultan set menu which included dips, salads, mains, espresso coffee and dessert, the baklava was the best one I’ve had for some time now. The prices seem to have gone up $5 per set menu since I was there last (about a year ago) but that seemed reasonable considering the amount of food that was served.

It is no longer byo but we had some lovely wine from the wine list so it wasn’t an issue. A table of Turkish people near us had an issue with not being able to byo, they were, unfortunately, causing quite a fuss about the issue. We were actually very impressed at how calm and professional the staff were when having to deal with them for what seemed a good half hr regarding the issue.

The bar prices seem more than reasonable. The food and service was great and it was refreshing change to visit a Turkish restaurant with a modern edge. We will definitely return.

Oct 11, 2010 

6.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  5     

Saray used to be our favorite Turkish restaurant on Sydney Rd. Unfortunately we were less than impressed after our last visit. The prices of the banquet have been bumped up by $10 since the new owners took over. The cheapest banquet is now $30. You can no longer BYO alcohol. You could previously BYO anything, beer, wine or spirits. Soft drinks are no longer included in the price of the banquet.

The Tabouli is made with curly leaf parsley instead of flat lead parsley (which is the traditional type to use) and had next to no lemon in it. If you can't get a tabouli right, take it off the menu. The dessert component of the banquet is a single Turkish Delight (Lokum) per person. No Baklava!

Tea and Coffee is included in the banquet, but only Nescafe coffee. Turkish coffee is an additional charge! We were slightly embarrassed for our overseas visitors from Cyprus who couldn't fathom having to pay extra for a Turkish coffee.

Sadly, the next time we go for Turkish on Sydney Rd, I think we will bypass Saray and try Pinarbasi or Zara. It appears as though most other regulars feel the same way, as the restaurant was no-where near as full as what we had seen it in the past.

Sep 26, 2010 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  10     

Food was amazing! Fantastic live music and belly dance show! Impressive wine list also. It is somewhat loud but I suppose that's to be expected when there are over 100 people in a venue. The freshly cooked Turkish bread with the spicy capsicum dip was a real stand out for me!

Apr 11, 2010 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  10     

Saray Restaurant's recent renovation was a refreshing and much needed change to the Saray I became acustomed too. The ambience and service in the past was terrible, however, it is now very good. I was very impressed on my recent visit, we had a seafood platter which was presented beautifully and most importantly 'fresh'.

The lamb shish is sensational (the best I've probably ever had) and the baklava seems homemade as opposed to the usual dry crap they used to serve. I will definitely go back and recommend to friends. Well done, about time a Turkish Restaurant on Sydney Rd became modern and made an effort.

Apr 07, 2010 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  10     

Great place to either kick back and just enjoy great food or be there Saturday night to really get into the heart of it all by joining in the dancing and merriment.
Attentive staff, first-rate food and lovely, comfortable setting. Well done!

Jun 20, 2009 

5.3 Average

Food  8      Ambience  1      Service  3      Value  9     

Just want good food? Just as well! The ambience, l sitting in a mess hall eating off tin plates, by yourself, would be more inviting. The service, the guy who served us looked like we had insulted not only him, but his mother, sisters, and any other female relative, by walking in. (I've rated the service a 3 because we found him funny, and the other staff member there was good)

But the food was fantastic, we had the banquet no. 2, and the dips alone were worth the money! The pide bread was light, fluffy and warm, the meat dishes were great and plentiful, and the baklava with coffee was divine! We would go back, not only for the food, but also to see if the guy might crack a smile.

Mar 13, 2009