Mecca Bah Canberra

I'm surprised that this place only has an average rating of 3. I've been coming here since it opened and have always enjoyed the food. The service is admittedly variable. The only thing that is particularly annoying is the lack of BYO. That's a legitimate choice for a restaurant to make, but if you're not going to allow people to bring their own wine, then at least have a decent wine list!

Went here today for my partners birthday, service was appalling the waitress was very rude, we ended up paying for food that didn't even get served to us but they said that it did, so they made us pay for it. Will never go here again and will tell others to not.

We ate lunch at Mecca Bah on Saturday September 15 2012. My partner and I had already been impressed with Mecca Bah in Cairns, so when we found this restaurant via Google Local we thought it would be the perfect place to have lunch before going on to the National Gallery, having travelled from coastal New South Wales. We ordered a selection of entrees which were adapted to suit the number of our group, with dips and turkish bread plus pastries being sufficient for our party of 5. The courses were brought quickly and the servings were generous enough to slow down even the hungriest members of our party, and there was plenty on the menu to suit the less adventurous. Tagines by the fireplace was a cosy way to spend a cool Spring lunchtime in the ACT. The staff were friendly, efficient and extremely attentive. The food was tasty, fresh and reasonably priced. It was convenient to be able to look up the restaurant's details online prior to our trip, so we knew it would be open when we arrived. If you are travelling from interstate and are unfamiliar with the area there is a parking station nearby and a lift or escalators/ramps via the shopping centre, making disabled access nice and easy. If you like North African cuisine or are just looking for something a bit different, give Mecca Bah a try. Their menu and prices are available on their website at the time of posting this review.

After reading the reviews below I was quite reluctant to join my friends there on a non-aps-pay Thursday night but I was hugely relieved and very very impressed with the service and the food. In mid-winter in Canberra the place was toasty warm, with a large open fire and plenty of warm air coming down from the air-con vents. The warm-looking decor added to the cozy feeling and cut the noise from other diners so that our group could actually hear each other at normal volume. Even with the place reasonably busy, and us just turning up without a reservation, it only took about 5 mins for our drinks to arrive and 15 mins for the food - all exactly as we'd ordered. Really delicious food, at really reasonable prices. At less than $16 my very generous serve of lamb and vege soup came in a huge bowl and was more like Moroccan stew. Even when we realised we all had only $50 notes to sort out the bill, the waiter was most obliging in bringing us all smaller notes, returning in less than 2 mins! The kitchen, visible from the main entrance through the big serving window looked immaculately clean. We've all decided to return there for our next get-together.

Good unusual Turkish food. Particularly good for groups with the banquets and large pizzas. Typically Canberran service though.