Mihali's Tavern

Just got home and damn my feet are sore. Food and staff were fantastic. Music was excellent and non stop making it so we had to keep on dancing until we were out of breathe and giddy with that feeling that only dancing and singing to Greek music can give you. They only took one break all night contrary to another review. Also contrary to other review I found the food quite tasty and not oily. I am glad there was no dressing on the salad because there were so many other flavours. It was nice to have something to cleanse the palate. To top off the night Mihalis himself sang a few songs. Oh and they catered for a vegetarian in my family bringing her a huge plate of stuffed peppers and roast potatoes. And what makes me qualified to give this review. I am greek. I owned my own restaurants. I am a great cook. Ask my family of six. I have an entertainer in my immediate family who thoroughly enjoyed herself. I would go every weekend if only my feet allowed it.

Dinned here recently for a work Christmas function and having been to numerous establishments for various work engagements i know how a satisfactory dinning experience should be like, sadly Mihalis Tavern was very much under par. First of all the food was very light on and many of us left still feeling hungry, staff were unfriendly and not overly attentive, we were refused to play music in the venue any louder then a whisper, and at the end of the night we were kicked out the door well before they shut. They pocketed a large amount of money for people who didn't attend the event as we had to pay in advance and we received no extra satisfaction for this money. At $55 a head I expected much more then what was provided. Will not be back!

I recently (May 2013) had my birthday dinner at Mihalis with friends and family. What a night! The tavern has been recently renovated and is looking very good! The food was great and plentiful and the service was very friendly and attentive. Nothing was too much trouble. This was the best service I have ever experienced at a Greek tavern. The band was fantastic and we danced well into the night. We were one of the last ones to leave. Thank you Mihalis for a memorable night thoroughly enjoyed by all.

So the one thing that's missing from this potentially really great idea for a restaurant /tavern is the effort in food and entertainment. I agree with a lot of the people who have left reviews that the service is great, but what is service when the food being dished out is either too oily, too dry, lacking flavour or been sitting around a kitchen for far too long. Yes, the foods being served is traditional Greek cuisine, but whoever is cooking it has either no idea about cooking or simply can't be bothered doing their job any longer. Zero substance and zero love in making food always equals zero flavour and zero satisfaction on the taste buds. The dips were very tasteless and old, the fried Greek sausages were so oily that the oil may as well have been served without the sausages, the meatballs were over herbed and spiced which made them awful to swallow, the calamari was deep fried and again someone forgot to let them sit for a few minutes to drain the oil from them, the salad (ironically enough) had no oil or dressing, the bread could have been cut in a lot more smaller slices (it was almost as if each loaf was sliced in 4 big pieces), the chicken and beef meat platter was so dry and hard that it felt like razors down my throat, the prawns were hard as if they just came out of the freezer, the muscles were definitely not fresh and even the potatoes were drenched in oil and over cooked. So the desserts come out and just when I was hoping that it would end well, the Turkish delights were so rubbery that even my Turkish friend was disappointed. The baklava was ok but obviously not made at the tavern (that's why it tasted ok). The entertainment could have some order and the live band should take fewer breaks. Each medley went on forever and it sounded like one big mashed up messy song each time. Whilst I might sound overly critical there are 3 things that I am that qualify me to make such a review, a damn good cook, a lover of Greek music and food and Greek! This place has a heap of potential and I was pretty excited about going, but as I said, zero effort and no love in the place. I score it a 2 out of 10!

I dont even give this place any stars. Just had too so it could post! Firstly, the menu on there website is incorrect and you won't get anything near it! My family and i were celebrating a milestone birthday when the gentleman there that happened to be the 'Manager' called Steve. not only walked off on us when we asked if there was something else to accommodate someone who didn't eat much but also had a verbal argument with us not understanding us as 'paying' customers. $55 a head including abuse was not on my agenda tonight. He also mentioned that 'customers do not come first..' and made us not only feel intimidated but definitely would not be coming back to this place.