Review Achelya Turkish - Melbourne

The food was nice however it was not tasty authentic Turkish cuisine. The dips such as the red capsicum and eggplant dip tasted nothing like true Turkish dips. They did not offer burgul instead of the rice. Work needs to be done on the authentic flavors of mixed grill Turkish cuisine. The ambience was nice.

Was an amazing experience. The food was great service was great and what made the night more fun was a group of Iranian diners who started dancing. Shisha was also a great way to finish off the evening. Thank you we'll be back soon. We'll definitely recommend to our family and friends

This restaurant never disappoints! We always come back for the iskender. Great ambience and super friendly staff

Found this place when we went for a walk in the Docklands. What a great little find. The business owners are lovely people and so friendly. The food was exceptionally good and tasty. We had the dips platter, chicken and lamb kebabs, Turkish delight and hot drinks. All of the dishes tasted authentic and tasty. The kids also thoroughly enjoyed the food. Keep smiling and keep up the great job Achelya team. We look forward to returning for a meal again. Cheers.

Two words about this place !! Fantastic Restaurant..... Let me tell you about the owner first. He is an awesome guy who treats you with smile every single time..And then the food: is simply Superb.... Every single item I tried here had the best taste I ever had. They were fresh, hot and super tasty !!! A must visit place to have best food if you are visiting Docklands or Melbourne...

We have been coming here for the past 9 years and it never ever disappoints! They have the best food which always tastes amazing! We come here at least once a week. Amazing food, great shisha and comfortable ambience! 100% recommend.

I don't normally write reviews but this restaurant/heaven had the best food I've had in my life and they were happy to accommodate 8 people at short notice. I would come here every night if I lived in Australia. It is the best place I've ever been in my entire life, and I've been to Tasmania.

My first time in Melbourne has been a memorable experience due to this lovely place. The staff are so friendly, and the service is impeccable. The owner was so lovely and was very accommodating. 100% recommendation to visit for an authentic ethnic experience. We will be back!

This was our place for a casual meetup with some friends. Despite the bad ratings, we did hit the place up anyways as one of my friends stated that he did have a good experience. A very spacious area and nice ambience to cster any crowd. They do also set up tables outside upon requirement.<br/><br/>My friends got the Doner kebab and I got the kavurma. The main reason we hit this place up was sicne the portions were famously large.<br/><br/>However this wasn't the case here, yet the meats were quite delicious. Was very impressed by the Doner kebab which wasn't too oily and still tasty. The kavurma was a chicken Lamb stir fry which was close to a Chinese Szechuan flavour.<br/>Both were quite good and tasty though I'd go for the Doner next time.<br/><br/>All comes with a rice, some salad and a tasty chutney on the side. Too pricey though it was a good experience. I'd definitely go for the mixed grill the next time I'm there to fill myself up. I'd recommend it to for a nice family outing/catch up if you're in the vicinity.

Had lunch here at 2PM on a Friday night. Had an amazing waiter who was really helpful. We had the dips and bread and a seafood platter for 2. The bread was sensational, but the dips were quite average. The fish in the seafood platter did not wow us, though the chips and calamari rings were decent. The sauce for the mussels/scallop/shrimp dish was quite nice but the seafood itself was hit and miss. Keeping in mind we paid $30 for the 2 of us, it was more than what expected at this price point.

By far the worst "Turkish" restaurant. Terrible service, average food, small portions yet expensive meals. Just don't bother to go there, your local kebab shop would be a much better option.

A major disappointment and very low standard of food. We had  the seafood platter to share with guests from Brisbane. Difficult to find good word to say - seafood poor quality, especially the fish (we guessed it was Basa) no flavour. The salad was swimming in dressing. Would not go back and would not recommend.

My friend and I tried the metre long kebab which is a selection of mixed grilled meats on a long tray which comes with rice and salad. Everything was freshly cooked and tasted so good - our Turkish cravings were definitely met and then some. The dips were really good but the bread was divine! Also the baklava was super moist. This place is really good, I’ll be back for sure!

This is another Docklands disappointment, and does no favours to the struggling precinct. Had dips platter, the metre long grill for two and drinks. Dips and Turkish bread were passable. Dips were not savoury enough (too sweet). The grill main was terrible. Meat was charred dry and over cooked with no flavour/marinade. This is a $60 dish at full price, but a $9 kebab has better meat! Could not eat all the meat, nor the accompanying rice. Highlight were the drinks....! Service was perfunctory. Avoid.

Visited for the first time on saturday night. Was pretty empty when we arrrived however picked up service after a while. We ordered turkish bread and dips, mixed grill and a chicken doner kebab.<br/><br/>Waitresses were nice but absolutely useless. Takes our order without writing it down and just seemed like airheads to be honest.<br/><br/>Entre arrives and of course we were given the wrong dip.<br/><br/>We shrugged it off and then our mains arrive.<br/><br/>It was just a disaster. Doner kebab nothing like i have ever had or seen. A load of chicken on a hot plate with a handful of rice. No bread served with it and no consistency in portion sizes.<br/><br/>And the shisha was expensive for how badly it worked.<br/>No actual smoke and took 20 minutes to kick in.<br/><br/>Nobody came to regularly check the coal and to Change it like other places do<br/><br/>Only one man came to help us but it was not long lived as it stopped working again<br/><br/>And not to mention how expensive it was.<br/>Pretty bad first impression for me.<br/><br/>As a former waitress, when you are not confident or not sure if you will remember a customers order please write it down. Its so important to do so because a little mistake and no communication can upset and irritate customers and that can be avoided.<br/><br/>Everything was a mess and what made me really uncomfortable was that there were young kids on the table next to us while our table and two others were smoking shisha.<br/><br/>The only thing i loved was the hot chocolate and the chicken on the hot plate was delicious.<br/><br/>But will not be returning.

TURNED UP FOR LUNCH. GROUPON EXPREIENCE FOR 6 OF US. $150 FOR 6 PEOPLE. WE GOT SIX MINI LAMB CHOPS, 6 MINI BURGERS (KEFTE) 6 CHICKEN SKEWERS, 6 LAMB SKEWERS. 100 GRAMS OF RICE, 100 GRAMS OF SALAD. 12 PIECES OF MINI BREAD. 4 MINI DIPS. 1 STANDARD DRINK EACH. THATS BARLEY ENOUGH FOR 2. THE FOOD WAS VERY TASTY. THE PORTIONS WERE TO SMALL. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR I SUSPECT, THE GROUP ON DEAL WAS VERY POOR. STAY AWAY FROM THESE SO CALLED MEAL DEALS.

They do take-away! I called in advance to order, Esra took my order and the food was ready for pick up by the time I arrived. To find a decent kebab in that location with this quality is very rare. I'm impressed. Great customer service! I will definitely be back. When I get a chance I'd love to sit in and dine too. Beautiful decor and a mouthwatering menu!

Not the best and not the worst experience. Need to hire more staff as food and drinks came very late to the table. Food is average, could be better.

Total rubbish.<br/>Groupon trap. <br/>Avoid at all cost seriously don't go there please.<br/>IF YOU ARE THINKING "OH COME ON CAN'T BE THAT BAD" I V WARNED YOU.

I’m not a ‘foodie’ nor am I picky with any restaurant experiences as long as I walk out pleased and satisfied in some way.<br/><br/>My experience here was the worst I’ve had in my life at any restaurant across the world. If you’re reading through the reviews and think ‘maybe I should try it since there’s a few positive ones in there’ .. DO NOT TRY IT<br/><br/>1. The service was the worst I’ve ever seen. The waitress complained every time we asked for extra forks because we were only given knives. Not one plate was removed from our table all night so by the end it looked like we were playing jenga with our finished meals. By the time desert came out they finally realised they might have to remove some plates to actually fit anything on the damn tables!<br/><br/>2. The difference in time between the first main (there was 10 of us) and the last was about 45 mins. <br/><br/>3. The food looked like it all came from the frozen section at coles but tasted worse.<br/><br/>4. The bread tasted like it was baked in 2016.<br/><br/>There are so many more things I can write. I never do reviews but putting this here as a warning to anyone who is even considering this place. Please do not waste your time and money here because they don’t deserve it.

Nice atmosphere being located along the water and quite a bit of flavour going on too. But a huge wtf moment to a chicken parma being on the menu since when did the humble parm form part of Turkish cuisine? I had the Iskender which was enjoyable if a tad oily. This can sometimes be the case with this dish. The prices were pretty reasonable given the location and there’s live entertainment of a weekend which gives you a bit more bang for your buck. The metre kebab meal sounds like a fun little novelty option too if you’ve got a hungry dining companion.

Visited with some friends on groupon voucher, was a bit sceptical at first as reviews were not positive, however was glad that we gave it a go. The restaurant was not busy on a midweek evening, understandable due to its location, tucked away on a quiet laneway in Docklands. Large dining space, serving array of Middle Eastern/ Turkish food, and has a shisha section. We had an assortment of dips, mixed seafood and grilled meat. Overall was a nice dining experience, we did enjoy the food, service was warm and friendly too. Though food wasn't exceptionally outstanding, definitely wasn't bad at all.

Not sure why there are so many negative reviews but I found it quite okay. Not busy for a Sunday lunch service, the ambience was quiet and serene. We had the trio of dips that came with a huge basket of bread and a seafood set. The seafood set came with two calamari rings, a small basket of chips, a small plate of mussels/scallops/prawns (2 of each) with bell peppers, two pieces of grilled basa fillets, as well as a bowl of rice and salad to share. I must say that the amount of food was substantial enough, especially after having the bread and dips on top of it all. I don't understand why other people said the portions were small because it was definitely enough for us. I liked the calamari ring a lot but unfortunately there was only one each, the mussels/scallops/prawns were not fresh and tasted frozen, and the fish was alright though not outstanding. On the whole the entire dining experience was fairly nice. Service was friendly, cheerful and prompt and the dining room was spacious with plenty of natural light shining in.

The food was okay. Gave me food poisoning after. Maybe because the meat wasn't cooked properly. The bread and dip trio was good. Not worth the money.

Literally the worst meal I have ever had. The meat was dry, the chips were cold and soggy, the salad had barely any terrible of the terrible dressing on it and also included a big, and the rice was overcooked and bland. And despite the food being barely inedible, it was also ridiculously expensive

The waiter was fairly nice but it ended there. The food was ok but not worth the price. Cheaper and tastier food on Sydney Road! They didn't bring our meals out together and it took about 10 minutes from first meal to last meal. My husband got his meal last and by that time my meal was stone cold. I also had to ask for cutlery as they had only given me an entree knife. When I asked for a dinner knife instead of an entree knife the waiter didn't even know what that meant and admitted that just put out whatever. The restaurant itself was awful. Chairs and tables ripped, dust on the roof and the toilets were disgusting! The decor around the DJ booth was also damaged and dodgy looking. As I had bought guests from interstate here I was pretty embarrassed! Not what you'd expect from a restaurant in Docklands! If you want Turkish go to Sydney Road otherwise try one of the other restaurants in Docklands or Melbourne.

Food was plentiful and the quality was great. The only downfall is the atmosphere, due to people smoking party hookah's. Service was somewhat average but worth giving it a go. Price was very reasonable.

Amazing! The sevice was very prompt and friendly, The atmosphere and music was relaxing and the food was absolutely delicious! 10/10 would go again!

Came here with Groupon - food was good - the dips and bread were nice, and the mixed grilled platter was of really good portion! The only suggestion I would give is for the live music performance to be much quieter - it was way too loud to have a conversation with that loud singing in the background! Other than that will definitely come back!

Groupon voucher. Metre long is more like half a metre. Only fot 1 dip platter instead of 2. They had no chicken sish left or seafood. Meat that came was good and the dips and bread was delicious but discrepancies were huge. Would not go again as I can find what they offered a lot closer to home.

We ate here tonight on a Groupon voucher that states: <br/> "Turkish Metre-Long Mixed Grill <br/>Two or four diners can share a platter of dips before tucking into a metre-long mixed kebab grill; includes a glass of wine." We certainly got three dips that were so-so but much too much with loads of bread. Then we were given a seafood platter only and since the voucher did not clearly describe what is included, we were stuck with all seafood; again ho-hum. We eat some seafood but most of the platter was wasted, I'm afraid. We expected meat which did not eventuate. Sorry, but it's not somewhere we will return to.

went for lunch. this place is a joke and has terrible food and poor service. i wasnt expecting much and i left hungry. go else where PLEASE.

Exact same experience as the lady before, we walked in and were ignored while waiting to be seated, got seated and then got ignored again for 10 minutes until my partner went up to them and asked if we could order. The waitress was really nice but english wasnt that great. We didnt get checked on once during our meal and she walked off after taking the order without asking if we wanted a drink.<br/>The meat on the beef had all the fatty bits still attached and grossed me out. <br/>would not recommend!!<br/>

I was a little concerned about reading the previous reviews so much so that I was warning the family that we may have to do a maccas run afterwards. Please ignore these reviews. We are big eaters and were full. Food was great..sure not the same quantity that you would get from a traditional Turkish Restaurant but who cares just as long as you feel satisfied, and we sure were! Staff were pleasant too! We will be back on a Saturday night for some entertainment next time.

Worst experience by far! I booked a table for 20 guests and we were placed on a set menu. They don't serve their meals to each guest, rather combine every 3 guests and place all the items off the set menu on platters and expect guests to split the food between themselves. <br/>Portion sizes are incredibly small and the price is a clear rip of (charging each guest $45). All my guests left the restaurant still hungry. <br/>Quality of food is shocking being served with dry meat or meat swimming in its own fat. <br/>Staff was pretty bad too, the general manager was rude and did not check on us at any point in time. Most waiters had basic English, barely good enough to understand in basic conversation. <br/>The restaurant failed to spilt a bill amongst 20 people, even tho we requested seperate bills.<br/>Overall a very bad experience and I do not recommend it at all!

The food portions were much smaller than what you expect a typical turkish meal to be. I got the traditional manti and it was disappointing, the traditional manti "sauce" was basically cold tomato puree thrown on top of the manti. We all left hungry that night. There were 8 of us and they would not let us split the bill and then added a mysterious 35 dollars bill at the end of payment. If you want authentic turkish cuisine, this is not the place for you.

We went there around 4pm- there were two tables only with customers. We sat there for like 10 minutes before my husband walked up to the counter to make the order as no on addressed us! The lady said to him "do you need something"- was very rude and grumpy. We ordered a shisha, ayran and a mocktail. She brought us the shisha and just about threw it at us; didnt even say a word or place the charcoal on top. The "fresh" shisha with an apple head clearly did not have enough tobacco as there was no taste. Ayran was fine. My mocktail was literally juice out of the bottle. We stayed about an hour and no one checked on us or even offered extra charcoal. Terrible service and even worse shisha/mocktail.

Loved the atmosphere, staff & the location but unfortunately the food was a failure. We had mixed grill and the kebab was processed meat & didn't taste or look fresh. The quality of the food was far from a restaurant food. I will go back here for drinks & shisha but not for dinner.

Best Sheesha! <br/><br/>For Sheesha fans it's a brilliant hang out. However the ambience is average and food is about average too. The pricing is steep for the quality and quantity of food , atmosphere and overall standard of the place. The staff is very warm. But a great place to go Sheesha and have a few drinks with mates.

I have been here several times. The location and the staff were good, but the food is not. You can get better food anywhere else with better quality. Shisha is not bad.

Have been a few times, always eating the Mixed Grill (never anything else). It's a great meal consisting a tender Lamb cutlet, Chicken and Lamb doner, Chicken and Lamb kebab and an Adana kebab. Great tasting meat, with nice fluffy well seasoned rice. It's a shame that the Dips are expensive ($7 each), because to take this dishes to the next level you need the Chilli, and the Garlic Dips. However, if you come for the Doner Kebab, you're in for a beating of $21.90. Not a big fan of the sheesha but it adds to the ambiance.<br/>*Note: Very good when catering for nut allergies.

TOTALY RIP OFF. Please don't go there if you don't want to ruin your night. The food is absolutely terrible in every sense. I had 45$ banquet but I had nothing but disappointment. I left the restaurant in the middile of serving and so another table. You can spend the money way better than this in any restaurants in Melbourne.

Went for Saturday night dinner service was sharpe and fast I had mixed grille wife and daughter had lamb all were simple good food and very tasty

Good customer service .. Well I was a regular customer of this restaurant before, mostly in the evenings but I didn't find any good things abouti it except rude service .It seems that they don't want to serve the the customer who are not Turks then I stopped going there but when I visited last Friday for lunch and definitely sisha I found the place totally different , very welcoming staff , good food , good environment. And a very very friendly staff who is always trying to make us happy eventhouh we saw them first time. Very very happy with this restaurant , well done , keep it up guys . Thanks al for taking care us .

Great Saturday night out. We usually go to Achelya for relaxed business lunches.<br/><br/>We decided to have a night out and started at Achelya, we did not regret it. The cocktails were great, and cheap. The music and belly dancers were great fun, and a good start to a night out. We ordered option 3 for the banquet which had seafood and meat dishes, a great mix. The food didn't come out as fast as it normally does, however we thought that the idea of the Saturday night dining was to take a luxuriously long dinner, plus all that food cannot possibly be eaten in a hurry! Looking to do our next work function there as well

TERRIBLE AND RIPPED OFF IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD!!!!. DON'T GO THERE, IT IS AN ABSOLUTE RIP OFF IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD! Had a birthday there a few years ago and it was really highly thought of and recommended, and because of that, went my Wife there for dinner, pre a Melbourne Victory match. The platter of meat was stuffed with bread to make it look like there was soooo much on the platter, which there wasn't.The waiter and waitress said ohh you should have told us earlier. Told you earlier???? They knew exactly what they did and besides the service being well very well below your average, S**T IS A BETTER WORD. If we wanted a loaf of bread we would have gone to the bakery, You are shighsters, YOU ARE NOT RECOMMENDED, ACHELYA IS GARBAGE! WE WILL NOT EAT OR GO THERE EVER AGAIN! BE WARNED!!!! BESIDES THE GREEDY OWNER ALI FILLING HIS ALREADY FULL POCKETS, HOPEFULLY BECAUSE YOUR SERVICE IS BELOW SECOND RATE, YOUR FULL POCKETS START TO EMPTY AND YOU REALISE WHAT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND GOOD FOOD MEANS????

Good service. I come here often during the day Pawan is fantastic and so is Erdal the head chef, food is good and the service is fantastic. I have never left the restaurant unsatisfied. I am surprised at the number of unfavourable reviews, as I have never been disappointed to this with the staff and service.

The Heaven in Docklands. I see this Restaurant as my second home. Actually, chef Erdal and my friend Pawan gives me that feeling. I don't care about what People have to say, but definitely its a place where I can get good food, best shisha and main thing peace to my mind whenever I go. i recommend this place for breakfast and lunch when chef Erdal and Pawan works. Both of them being in Hospitality are highly professionals at one end but also good guys taking care of every customer which is really a spot on and best thing about Achelya...go achelya....:):)<br/><br/><br/>-----08 Jan, 2015-----<br/><br/>Absolutely Fantabulous. Your way to Achelya, is the write way. 3 main distinguishing points for this restaurant.<br/>PRICE: Great value for money (specially Shisha)<br/>VARIETY: There is variety of food and drinks at this restaurant.<br/>CUSTOMER SERVICE: Quick and friendly service, helpful and polite.<br/><br/>I would specially recommend this restaurant for lunch and shisha during morning and afternoon times. The guy named Pawan is the best waiter I have experienced in my life. He is simply professional, very helpful and a kind guy. His customer service skills are simply outstanding. You would really enjoy your food and shisha during morning or afternoon times.<br/>In the evening, I would recommend guy called Erran as a gentle polite guy having good customer skills.<br/><br/>I would recommend this restaurant for morning or afternoon times. You will have a life time experience. Achelya is like my second home now. Lol

Do not go there!!!. Went there for lunch with a mate ordered a dip platter and 2 mixed grills as we got half way in eating out mixed grill my mate found a green worm in the f...n meat it was disgusting!!! and cold meat and all green worm turned me off life i do not recomend anyone to even think of going there!!!

Relaxed Casual Atmosphere and Good Food. My friend & I went here on a Friday night to try the Shisha pipes and also wanted to have an early dinner. After reading some of the reviews I was starting to think this was not such a good idea. Could not have been more wrong.<br/>We had a lovely attentive waitress, explained about the pipes and what to order in this regard. <br/>We ordered a Mezze platter and some calamari and beers. The service was very quick and the food substantial and very tasty. The atmosphere was very relaxing and casual.<br/>Whilst some might think the prices are expensive, I think this is about average for this area, as have been to a number of restaurants in the Docklands now. I certainly came away feeling like we had a great experience & when in the mood for casual and some good familiar Turkish favorites, will definitely come again.

Embarrassing. As a melburnian with Turkish heritage this establishment is embarrassing! <br/><br/>The service was less than average. <br/><br/>The lamb sis kebab had an unusual, not so nice flavour. Where were the herbs, spices? Non existent! The salad of a few lettuce leaves... Where was the tomato? Nothing Turkish about this meal. And it was expensive at $23!!<br/><br/>Had to ask for the bill, had to ask them to take it away. But there were two staff standing at the till. <br/><br/>My suggestion, get rid of the food, as you don't do it well. Stick with the sisha as that seems to be your priority.

Rude service + average food. The waitress told us to be quieter for starters which was followed my pretty average food. Plus there wasn't any mushroom in my vegetarian dish which was meant to have mushrooms. I wouldn't go again. Plus the online menu is NOT the same as the one inside. My friend ordered iced coffee and was told that they don't make iced coffee, another waitress came along and said yes they do but it's not on the menu

Good location, the food platters (grill and seafood) were of great quality and taste. Seating is not much of quality when compared to other restaurants in the area. Divided into a smoking (shisha) section and a restaurant section. I have to say there was a band playing live Turkish music on Saturday.

Never ever go to this place .. I can say in my whole life this is one of the worst resturnat which i have ever been . We were there with couple of friends . The quality of food is terrible . The service is terrible and waiters are not trained well . With the money which you are paying here you can have a full course meal in one of the best resturant in Melbourne . You are actually paying for music and belly dancing not for the food . It is very expensive and unreasonable . I will never go back there and never recommend this place to any one . Don't wast your time and money there . I am also writing a complain to Consumer Affairs Victoria and local council about this business .<br/><br/><br/>Consumer Affairs Victoria

One of the best restaurants ive ever been to , such a warm atmosphere , great authentic turkish food , great prompt and professional service , would highly recommend for an exquisite experience. Mehtap my favorite.

Will be visiting again. Our first dining experience at a turkish restaurant. loved it! Food amazing servings were massive and the staff are excellent. My parents joined us as well and my mum is gluten free and we were well accommodated for. Mehtap our waitress was amazing. Make sure you visit.

I have eaten here on more than one occasion and have absolutely enjoyed myself! The food is delicious I particularly recommend the platters I have tasted them all and they did not leave me hungry! My advice is - Don't fill up too much on the Turkish bread to make sure you save some space for dessert! Achelya is one of the few resturants that provide a full show - I had never seen a male belly dancer until I dined here! To top off the night with a bit of shisha - again Achelya being one of the only places in docklands to offer this service was the perfect end to a fabulous dining experience - highly recommend!

Borderline average and not impressed. This is certainly not the first Turkish restraunt I've been too, but should warn others that I think it is overpriced, small portions and very average tasting. I got one of the banquets, with multiple dishes. The first to come out was the Turkish bread. Between all the people on my table, we got a strip not much bigger than the size of two matchboxes each. We had to ask for more, salads, rice, a pasta type dish and then a meat dish with a mixture of lamb and chicken. On there own, they were very plain tasting and with my limited cooking skills would be easy to make myself. Certainly not worth $45 and would have most certainly left starving if not for the pasta and rice. Not something I would try again. On the bright side the belly dancers were good and added to the atmosphere for the short time (maybe 30-60min) they were there.

A Family No Go!. We went to Docklands to enjoy the Australia Day fireworks display. As we have a disabled child we wanted to eat in a restaurant where we could sit out of the hustle and bustle and enjoy a meal. Every place we looked at was booked out and just as we were about to give up and buy from one of the market stalls, we came across Achelya who to our surprise said they had room for us. Not only did they shove us in a dingy corner near the toilets and an unsightly pile of excess furniture, they also placed us across from a guy smoking a hookah. To our annoyance, somehow he managed to blow every puff in such a way that we were choking on his smoke. It took forever to get served and an hour and a half in total for us to get our meals. We have young children and by this time they were starving! In the time we were sitting there we watched 24 customers get up and leave in disgust! After my husband's numerous complaints and attempts to get an ETA on our food, we were just on the verge of walking out (we were going to miss the fireworks) and our meals finally arrived. The seafood platter was yummy, but worth the horrendous service and thoughtless/rude staff? NO WAY!<br/>My advice to all parents considering eating here: if it is a choice between going hungry or eating at Achelya? Do yourself a favour and go hungry! It just isn't worth it. To add insult to injury, we struggled to get our daughter's wheelchair in and out of the venue, which wasn't helped by staff moving tables into the thoroughfare, and they mucked us around so much we were unable to get a good position for the fireworks which was a massive letdown for our kids! Just not good at all Achelya! You seriously need Gordon Ramsay to come and shove a Sheesh where the sun don't shine!

This restaurant has a lot of potential, great locations and capable staff, but an established restaurant should provide good service always. We were treated curtly and it took exceptionally long for service. We had to find our own menus for God's sake!!! The location is great but poor management and overworked staff make this place a definite no go. Please avoid and beware.

Beautiful food and great atmosphere. We recently had our work Christmas Party here and had a great night.<br/>We had the banquet and the amount of food and the quailty and flavour was amazing. The breads for the dips came out warm and were so yummy dipped in the different flavours of of dips, i think we had capsicum, eggplant and a cucumber one. The meats were so tender, I really enjoyed the lamb cutlets and the little rissole things.<br/>The plave had a great atmosphere and was fun to have the belly dancer come out and put on a show whilst we were eating. Best Christmas party we have had in a long time.

Not like how it used to be. A couple of years ago i used to come here a fair bit and i really liked the place as well as the food BUT I don't like waiting very long for my food and i also hate it when workers just ignore you when you need something which is exactly what i experienced here just recently. It has changed and this bad experience just puts you off from wanting to go back. <br/>My advice to the workers - Please change your attitudes and treat ALL customers equally and with respect. Thanks.

Yummy parmass. I love the parmas ! and after the nargile goes so well ! (strawberry, mint and grape) <br/><br/>the food is great always a great atmosphere and great joyful entertainment

Not that bad!. Came here on a weeknight, had some grilled fish, I don't seem to understand why there are a million single user reviews below, these guys were pretty friendly and the fish was actually really tender and tasteful.<br/>The smoke from the water pipes may become overwhelming but there was only one couple using it on the night we went. Maybe we were Lucky? <br/>Overall, not a bad place to try for a weeknight at docklands and certainly do have good food.

Went there on a Saturday night for buffet menu. The menus is very over priced or ordinary food. But the worst part was the water pipes served and the smoke filled place was a terrible experience for all of us who were non-smokers.

Poor service. The worst restaurant that I've ever been. Rude waitress, poor service and poor food. Never back there.

Will not come back.. The worse service and food both, not recommended.

Revolting, huge disappointment! I ordered a Scotch fillet cooked medium rare and a pinacolada mocktail. The meat (not the right cut!) came completely char on the outside to the extent that it was unbearably bitter and red raw on the inside! The drink was literally half pouring cream and half pineapple juice - heart attack in a glass! Paid my $36 bill and left the whole meal untouched, i hope they get the hint! I will never go back!

Not too bad due to quiet night. Ok So I read everything below about service, perhaps because I went on a night where it was not busy, our customer service was fine, food served on time, no delays waiters were nice and communicated well.<br/><br/>The bread and dips were good, ordered the chicken kebab was not too bad I was full afterwards so I have nothing bad to say.<br/><br/>Would try the shisha next time as I saw many people doing that.<br/><br/>Overall was a decent meal and service.

Service was a little slow at the beginning but then they did 180 and were great. Good food, good wine great shisha all in all 8/10 and we will be back. Your staff did a great job

DON'T EVER EAT HERE. Literally the worst place I've ever eaten. Horrible service, horrible manager, and cheap and nasty decor. <br/><br/>Food sucked.

I cannot complain about the food, it's not the best Turkish I've had but it was enjoyable. The disappointing thing about this restaurant was the service. We seemed to have 3 different waiters and still struggled to be able to place our food and drink order, it took ages! One waiter in particular had poor English and couldn't understand or respond to our questions about the menu, another took our wine order and asked "is that a red or white?", we ended up being served a dessert wine with our main meal! The male belly dancer was great but the female was a dead fish, no personality. Also wanted to try the shisha but were never provided with the opportunity despite asking. Won't be venturing back, not worth the parking fees.

Worst!. Horrible experience! Very inattentive waiters and dry meat. Ordered iskender which was meant to come with a side of bulgur. Bulgur was not received with meal, when asked where the bulgur was no justification was given, waiter simply shrugged it off. Ordered coffee, didn't come out for around 20mins, got out of my seat to inquire and they were sitting on the ledge (cold).

Disgusting, would NEVER go back. I went with a group of friends last night for some drinks and sheesha after the fireworks, they were not excessively busy so we ordered our drinks and sheesha. Twenty mins later we were still waiting, my husband went in and asked about our order, the response he got was "it's almost done, we will bring it out in a minute". Ten mins later the waiter came out and asked to take our order again!! By theis point I was really annoyed, I told him this was not good enough, he said "don't worry I'll pay for it". We waited ANOTHER twenty mins and received nothing! At this point my friends needed to leave, we went inside and cancelled their order. At this point the sheesha was ready. We had no service while we were there, seated in the middle of the walkway, took them 15 mins to then bring coal for sheesha. At the end of it all, we went to pay for our drinks, the owner charged us for the sheesha. We let him know the waiter said it was on him, he proceeded to yell at us, was extremely rude and disrespectful. Then basically told us we were making a scene!!! <br/><br/>I would not recommend this place to anyone, the service was shocking, staff and management had no customer service skills and quality of food and drink pitiful.

How disappointing The Reste.... How disappointing<br/>The Resteraunt had great atmosphere and entertainment however if I wanted a show I would go else where I went for the food and it was thoroughly disappointing being of Armenian decent I know how the dishes are meant to taste and achelya doesn't do it justice <br/>Food was cold and rubbery<br/>Obviously reheated <br/>And worst of all didn't stick to traditions of Turkish cuisine <br/>Achelyas chefs have not mastered the Art of spice incorporation nor the balance of Turkish flavors <br/>Do not recommend to anyone

The worst restaurant!. I was very disappointed not only with food but the service at this restaurant. <br/>The chicken was dry, everything was bland (no flavours whatsoever), the food was cold. <br/><br/>The manager himself was very rude, disgusting customer service, does not respect his customers - basically no professionalism. <br/><br/>It wasn't only us, numerous customers around us were furious - either because their food was served VERY LATE or didn't even come to them. <br/><br/>I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone, not worth your money or time.

Wouldnt wish this place on an enemy. So disgusted I've decided to add to previous post.<br/><br/>Rather eat out of a garbage bin.<br/><br/>Would be better service also!

No thanks,absolutely the sheetest Effcking sheeit I've ever eaten, and I can't even tell you what the food was like cause they didn't offer us any food. You are a pack of pigs. Terrible service and the sheesha or whatever the effbag it's called, tasted like my grandmothers flaps. It burnt me inside. You burn me inside. Don't eat here if you value anything in your life: your family will all die if you eat there food.

I sat in a corner that oozed a stench of urine... The establishment could be summarised as utter gutter trash

After about fifteen minutes of waiting for service. A further thirty minutes of waiting for the food we ordered to be served. The food never came and what we did received was disgusting<br/>The dips were dry and the bread burnt<br/>The drinks were overpriced and for twenty dollars a dips you'd expect more than Woolworth's selects spring onion dip.

The single worst place ever. Apparently a table of 7 white guys don't deserve service over the others. The worst case of reverse racism I've ever witnessed. We were there for 1.5 hours and didn't get our first round of drinks or our mains. And the entrees were average at best. Go to maccas, better value and won't include racial profiling

Possibly the worst place I've ever eaten. <br/>Wouldn't recommend a rat from the tip to eat here. <br/>Z--

We walked in Saturday night. Restaurant had 2 tables. There were 6 of us and they refused us a table unless we took the banquet option.

We have been there for a week day team lunch. The food is pretty ok considering the price. I am planning to go there again. The lamb burger( if I remember right) is very impressive.

Disappointing. We had dinner here on a Thursday night - it wasn't too busy apart from one big group of people. The drinks we ordered didn't turn up for about 20 minutes (house wine), it seemed the girl who took our order forgot all about it. The gentleman who then served us was very attentive and brought them right over. He was also kind enough to ask whether we would like to be seated elsewhere due to the noise from the large group. I had a lamb iskender for my main while hubby ordered the steak. My main was very ordinary and not that tasty - if I got it from a kebab stall, I wouldn't be surprised but I would have expected the standard at the restaurant to be better than that. The menu on their website is different to the one we were given - both in terms of what the dishes contain (what they served me wasn't exactly what was on the menu) and prices. Overall it was disappointing and we won't be in a hurry to go back, despite how busy it seems in there on weekends.

Meh. Had been to Achelya about 5 years ago, when docklands was fairly new.....from what I remember, the food and service was just OK. didn't leave any lasting impression though.<br/><br/>Ambience - 1/3 <br/>Service 2/5 <br/>Food - 4/10<br/>Visit Again - 0/2<br/>7/20

THEY RIPPED US OFF!<br/>We spent over $400 for their ORDINARY food, AWFUL service, TRASHY bellydancers and CRAMPED seating.<br/>TAKE YOUR WELL-EARNED MONEY ELSEWHERE. BELIEVE ALL THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS! I didn't, and now I'm $400 less and seething!<br/>I invited a very respected family to this restaurant, because I had been once before and it had a nice atmosphere. But that one good time was a fluke. I was SO EMBARASSED to find for 6+ people they offered only 3 tiny-portioned main dishes, even when we complained, they claimed that they "put more than a usual dish". Their shisha/argileeh was average, the crowd was... We won't even go there. The service is the WORST I've ever witnessed in my life! Half of them couldn't understand your simple requests, if you were even lucky to be attended to.<br/>$39+ for banquet PER PERSON. Their banquet is NOT WORTH IT. It's three entrees, one TINY main course (paella which is SPANISH not Turkish) and four microscopic cut up pieces of C-grade baklava and four Turkish "Delight" pieces (which were left untouched - ugh, they were awful).<br/>If you've ever decided to "see for yourself" how bad this restaurant is, don't say I didn't warn you...

We went into this restaurant with high hopes after just coming back from the middle east. From the start it wasn't good. We were only offered a banquet menu and when we asked for an a la carte menu they said they didn't have one on for that night. So we ordered a banquet, then we noticed other people were being offered an a la carte menu, when we questioned this they said it was for regulars only... The first two serving came out quick, they we waited 40 minutes for them to clear our table before I spoke to them to clear it and bring us dessert. 15 minutes later they cleared the table. Another 10 minutes went by with no desert. A total of 65 minutes of waiting so we were not happy. We went up to tell them we were not going to pay for the dessert as we needed to leave and they would not accept this. After another 5 minutes of arguing with them they still made us pay for a portion of the dessert we never received. We would not recommend this restaurant to anybody. Bad service and bad food.

Waste of Time & Money. Don't waste your hard earned cash here!! Went with a group of friends, 9 in total, made a reservation and got there on time (7:30pm). By the time a few late friends arrived we were all starving so ordered mains only. 1st we had to ask numerous times for our menu's, then they only took the orders of certain people and left before the last 2 people could place their orders for mains. Had to continue asking where our drinks were. 2 of us ordered a glass of wine each and the waitor had to come back 5 TIMES and ask which wine it was we wanted again, and was it 2 glasses or a bottle??!!...And then to top it all off the food was crap!! They had more spanish food (e.g. paella) on the menu than turkish!! There was only 4 or 5 turkish meals on the menu, the rest was things like fish & chips and chicken parma!! If i wanted a chicken parma I would have gone to a pub, not a Turkish restuarant!! And then we had to ask for them to take our plates away at the end of the meal and most people ordered coffee and only 1 coffee came out, and after waiting for over an hour and asking about 4 times where our coffee's were, we all left!! Lived up to the typical Docklands reputation!! Don't bother!! Massive waste of my time and money!!

Great. I loved it, will be back

Fantastic food but service sucks! Totally forgot our entrees and we had to go up to the counter twice to ask for yoghurt to go with our mains! Noticed one couple near us left before their meals came and two other couples who arrived before us were still waiting for their mains when we left!!!

Highly disappointing!!. So we booked a table & arrived at 8.30 pm, got our entrées' around 9pm and then waited....for our mains forever!! We could see people who had come in after us getting their food. At last the waitress seemed to notice us at 10pm and apologized because they had served our food to another table by mistake. She offered us a round of drinks on the house to make it up.Then she came back to say they had run out of one of the main dishes we had ordered. Finally our mains arrived at around 10.40pm, with one main dish still missing and a lamb dish all burnt! By then we had lost our appetite anyway. And guess what...we ended up paying for the round of drinks that were supposed to be 'on the house'!! Needless to say that we won't be returning back ever to this place!!!

Was disgusting! Were seated and forgotten about food took a very long time. Received one plate at a time between 8 people! Dirty rude service. And over priced. Food was terrible and uneatable.

It was pathetic.

Disappointing. Service was disgusting. Got seated on a dirty table and then forgotten about. Had to ask for menus. Unfortunately got seated on a table right in front of the door that constantly opened up to the freezing cold air. The food that we did get was beautiful, except they forgot half our meal, which was not worth waiting for. Would not recommend unless you're a friend of the owners, you seem to get preferential treatment then.

Fabulous Turkish food with great service and very reasonable pricing! Definitely worth dining at.