Mama's Canteen

Popped in here before a concert on su day evening.
So glad we did. The food was incredible. Those cabbage rolls are to die for.
Staff were lovely and very friendly, sorry we didn't catch their names but amazing service. Tha k you. Great job mamas canteen.

Decided to have dinner here last minute, great service and food was amazing! So flavourful and fresh.

Four of us had dinner tonight at Mamma’s Canteen Restaurant at Fed Square,: it was our first time but the other couple had been twice before and raved about the food, and no wonder, the food was beautiful and our waiter Julian from Colombia was brilliant, what a lovely young man and so professional. We will definitely be coming back, thank you so much.

Great find at fed square- great service, tasty food - Turkish delights- were delightful
We will be back

Amazing experience of middle eastern right in the middle of the city. Must try the sheesh tawook. Friendly service and full habibi vibes

We’ve tried Mama Canteen yesterday food quantity was way too less we ordered $60 for 2 person meal included 2 chicken, 2 kofta, 2 laham skewer one pit bread, some rice and salad believe me the quantity was very small even skewers were small hardly have 4 pieces on it we tried many Middle Eastern food joints but this one was the worst no taste and highly pricey please don’t get trapped with online photos staff was chatting each other and having fun not looking at customers zero customers service. We end up having subway to fill up Would not go back again.

Transiting through the CBD, kids in tow, we landed at Mama’s Canteen. While we normally opt for Asian cuisine, after a recent great experience at a Turkish place in Balwyn North, we thought we’d try Middle Eastern again. We took a chance with the banquet. Bad move. The portion sizes were not generous. One of the 7 courses we received was a thumb sized piece of cauliflower deep fried. Another course was a 2cm thick falafel no bigger than a 50 cent coin. The meats were overcooked, the rice served with the dry kebabs was tasteless and and they even forgot the Turkish delight. It’s hard to recommend this place for the food. Obscenely overpriced for what is being offered. Clearly they're not interested in customers returning. Fed Square is a busy place with lots of visitors, I hope others pay attention to the reviews and don’t regret their experience like we did. Simply not good enough by the kitchen staff. Mama would be ashamed. There are much better places nearby to spend your hard earned money.

I loved the dinner and the service. Was fantastic.
It really made my day
I recommend the place for sure!

I have to thank this lovely staff who made so special the dinner for my boyfriend and i. We had the sofra (banquet) and it was impressive such amount of good quality food for such a good price. Thank you so much i really felt the Middle Eastern vibes and we enjoyed it so much.

A shame! In the plate you have nothing to eat, the fries are industrial! And the boss is not friendly.

This restaurant was full of great experiences. From the food to the service to the beauty of the premise. If u want to go to a place with Just yourself, a date or family you won’t be disappointed.

Otherwise fairly good evening spoiled by refusal to split the bill after the meal. It was all too hard to split over 2 credit cards. Talk about wanting to go the extra yard for the customer…. Not!
I certainly will not want to be a bother to this restaurant again. Will take my business elsewhere.

I came 10 months ago it was delicious but I visited during Ramadan this year and tried the eftar I was disappointed the lamb diced was frozen and they served it cold.

Had a beautiful hummus (the best I ever had), fattoush and falafel with my mates today.
Everything was fresh and well presented! Really delicious! ️️
Will definitely come again!

We decided to eat here because my friend wanted to introduce us to her culture. The staff members were really sweet, the food came quickly and was so delicious!

Dropped in here prior to the football at the MCG. So glad we tried this out as it was delicious.

Located in Federation Square and backing on to the Yarra, the restaurant is positioned with a beautiful view of the Melbourne skyline, a portion of the river and federation squares stage. With a good number of outdoor and indoor seating it is a nice place in the busy heart of this area.

We ordered the pickles and olives, the Sambousek, and the garlic prawns, with the feast for two to share amongst ourselves. All were delicious and ample enough in size for the four of us.

We completed the meal with a dessert sharing plate (and a couple of additional Turkish delights for the kids).

The pace of meal service was good however the only down side was the sticky table and the other table blowing shisha over our direction.

For the value and location, with the delicious food and good staff it’s definitely worthwhile stopping in should your preference be middle eastern meals.

Had the worst experience here. I specifically told the FOH staff I can't eat gluten (I have coeliac disease) and ordered a meal labelled 'gluten fee friendly' (not sure what this means- gluten free? Gluten free option?). The first red flag was that the person serving didn't write GF on the docket. I had ordered the 'Lebanese moussaka' and was served a dish that was 3/4 rice mixed with noodles and 1/4 bland chickpea and eggplant stew. When I asked the staff member why there was noodles in my rice he initially tried to convince me it was some kind of vegetable. I asked him to ask the kitchen and he came back and confirmed it was noodles. When I asked what kind, he scoffed and rolled his eyes and said he didn't know the specific kind. He then said if the menu said it was gluten free (again, 'gluten free friendly' isn't gluten free) it is gluten free, and walked off. I was made to feel like a nuisance for trying to ensure I wasn't allergic to the food on my plate. Anyway, I didn't eat the rice because it was so obviously full of gluten and made do with the small amount of stew I had been served.

My daughter ordered the shawarma plate- also awful. Dry flatbread topped with chicken, a ramekin of wilted salad obviously left over from the lunch service and some chips.

I'm not sure what I'm more angry at- the rude staff or myself for paying $70 for such a terrible experience.

It’s my second time in this restaurant
There’s a lot of improvement in the food and service I had dips and feast was amazing I like the rice and the kufta, my friend had kabah and falafel and fatouch salad she was very happy with her food, the food was fresh nice and delicious
Quick service even it was busy, friendly stuff
High recommend it

Food reasonable without being impressive. Staff try hard but manager’s pressure is crazy and mistakes made. Had to order the second half of the meal and we never got our 2nd drinks despite ordering three times. Disappointing experience all around!

I stumbled across this little treasure in Fed Square today with a friend & my 8yr old ; Perfect place to sit outside & listen to the live music!

The pomegranate margarita was to die for! Not to mention all dishes we ordered were incredible!

But the service was a tad disappointing.
Cocktails didnt arrive until well after the food.
One dish we ordered, had to approach staff to ask where it was. They had misread a docket & forgotten to prepare it?

Besides that the staff were lovely & extremely friendly!