Mosaic Mediterranean Restaurant Braintree — Restaurant in Braintree

Oh dear!

I honestly hate having to leave a restaurant a poor review, but as the in excess of 1.8 MILLION people who have read my previous reviews will vouch, I'm honest and unbiased in my opinions. This isn't one of the quick clicks by a 1st time reviewer but a rather seasoned one. I've the privilege to be officially in Googles' top 10% of reviewers.

This was my first visit here and quite probably my last. We went as a couple on date night hoping this would be a fantastic evening out. We were sadly mistaken.

Upon arrival, we were semi warmly greeted and asked if we'd made a reservation, which we had. We were shown to our table (table 30), which is right at the front in the window where those waiting for take away or delivery drivers sit gawping at you.

It was immediately apparent that these tables are quite rammed in and there's only less than an arms length between tables, we almost felt we should introduce ourselves to the couple next to us as we were almost on their laps!

We were advised that as they were busy, we may have a short wait for our food, we accepted this fact and then ordered. We noticed how cold it was in these seats and even wondered if the air con was on.

I chose the Mosaic Mixed Grill with a side of sauté potatoes, and my partner chose the lamb and chicken mix.

The food arrived in around 30 minutes and was a bit disappointed at the small portions. These are not cheap meals, and I'd have expected a Turkish mixed meal grill to be full of meat, not boney skimpy portions.

You get a pile of lukewarm bland rice, grated carrot, cabbage, and a spoon of lettuce. Under the bland meat was what j can only describe as a sliver of wrap. I'm talking 1 inch by 3 inch slice that I didn't discover until I moved a couple of fatty lamb bones. These looked as if the kitchen had taken any decent meat off them, then fried the remaining bits. At this point, my potatoes hadn't arrived, and after several minutes of gesturing, I managed to point this out and asked for some onion, too. The manager server, whoever, it was that he had greeted up, and we ordered our meal with tutted, rolled his eyes, and went away. Our food was cold very quickly, and around 20 minutes later, just as I was finishing the potatoes turned up, with no onions and no apology either. At no point did anyone ask how our meal was, can I get you another drink, etc.

When we finished our mains we deliberated what dessert to have abd waited, and waited until a full 50 minutes after our plates were cleared (still no how was your meal or any words uttered) I decided to walk to the bar and asked if I could order some, explaining we'd waited 50 minutes abd was asked very rudely and abruptly 'what you want? Nice...

I had the baklava, and my partner ordered the ferarro rocher ice cream. Mine arrived with a dismal squirt of awful cheap uht cream on it, it was soggy and just syrup in taste and tadted pre frozen and her one had a cheap copy chocolate with a premixed chocolate ice cream nutty mix that had been re frozen and just tasted of watery cheap chocolate ice cream.

Eventually, a full 20 minutes after we'd decided these were awful and wanted to pay and leave, we had to flag down the same guy to pay and leave. He didn't ask if we had enjoyed it or anything.

In summary, this is an overpriced takeaway with seats, a cafeteria feel, and echoed throughout. The staff were either rude or couldn't be bothered. This was our 1st meal out in a very long time, and the best part of the entire meal was leaving. Avoid this place, I can not and will not recommend it. It only got 2 stars because parts of the food weren't awful. Just the rest of the...

AVOID THIS PLACE!!!! I would give them 0 stars if I could!!! A massive health risk!! BLACK HAIR amongst the food in my mouth followed by raw chicken…

I'm writing this review with a heavy heart after what was supposed to be a joyous celebration of my wife's birthday at Mosaic Turkish Restaurant Braintree turned into an evening we'd rather forget. It pains me to share this, but I believe it's necessary to convey our experience so others are aware.

This evening 28/03/2025 at 5pm when we arrived at the restaurant, it was a quiet evening with only a couple of other diners, our night took a turn for the worse with our main course. Imagine my shock when, while enjoying my mixed Shish, I discovered a long, jet black hair in my mouth. Given that my wife, daughter, and I are all blonde, it was clear this was not from us. We immediately brought this to our waiter's attention, expecting at least an apology, but received none. Instead, he offered to remake the dish.

When the new dish arrived, my hopes of salvaging the evening were quickly dashed. Cutting into the chicken, I ate half the cube, the texture didn’t taste right. I swallowed it and when I looked at the other half that I had cut, I was met with a piece that was not just undercooked but cold and raw in the middle. I touched it with my finger and it was cold In the middle and hot on the outside. Despite showing our server, again, there was no word of apology, only a quick removal of the plate.

What's more, when the bill came, we were charged for the children's meal and drinks, adding insult to injury. Leaving the restaurant, not a single staff member offered an apology or even a goodbye - a silence that spoke volumes.

The negligence we encountered, particularly with the food safety issue, has left us deeply upset. The lack of basic customer care and apology has made it clear to us that we will NEVER return. This was not just about a meal; it was about how little we felt valued as customers and the potential health risks we were exposed to. It's a shame, and I hope by sharing our story, others will be spared...

WORST TURKISH RESTAURANT

Definitely been to a lot of better Turkish restaurants in Essex then this. On arrival loads of waiters and waitresses standing at bar area and took a while to order drinks and for them to arrive, so slow with bring over bread and chilli and garlic sauce, this is normally giving within a few minutes of arrival, waiter made a inappropriate comment about my skin colour aswell, we order mosaic mixed platter- which was very disappointing, cold meze starter was poor, the dips were basic and nothing special, mixed platter was disgusting meat under cooked and greasy, when we complained to the manager he said why didn’t we tell him the food was undercooked, this is not our job to do this? That’s why you have chefs to cook food to a high standard and quality, over experience was not a great one, I have been to many London Turkish restaurants and when I mentioned to the manager to quality is totally different he said well that is London and this Braintree saying basically it does not need to be good quality to please the people round here, if you’re looking for a good Turkish restaurant try Hasturk in Freeport village a lot better quality food and staff are very quick and polite

Update: thank you for your response, I don’t understand what you mean by 3 reviews when I have only left one,

Firstly why would I lie about coming to your restaurant? Do you want me to take a picture of my online banking and show the payment that was sent from my bank to your restaurant? Quality and treating customers right has nothing to do with the community, I’ve been to many restaurants as you can see on my reviews and the standard I received at your restaurant was poor, also one of your members of staff making a comment about my skin colour was witnessed by others, Maybe address the concerns people make about their visits and not just say “ you have never been here”, my review was what I experienced at you’re restaurant and it shows how you treat you’re customers when you don’t...