Meze — Restaurant in Cannock Chase

First time visiting, the initial welcome was dull we were left standing awkwardly and in the way by the door as we were waiting to be took to our table. Got to our table which was nice, the decor is done really well. Had our drink order took but it seemed an offence that we weren’t buying a whole bottle of wine and just wanted a glass. The food looked good, there were sharing platters available to be able to try most items from the menu. Food arrived hot and on time - cannot fault the food it was tasty (although lamb was tough) I wanted to ask the waiter a question but I think due to the language barrier the boss man is the only one who was doing all the talking and ordering all night so I understand he was busy, however I only wanted to ask a simple question about the dish and he was very abrupt, dismissive and quite rude. It appears if you aren’t regulars the staff aren’t very welcoming as he was joking with the table next to us but was very dismissive with us (a table of 2) we couldn’t finish the platter and asked for a box to take home. I asked at least two waiters and it took over 30 minutes for them to bring a box which I had to box the food myself. I then asked for the bill which took ages so in the end we walked up to the bar to pay. The waiting times were ridiculous and at this point it wasn’t that busy. The car park isn’t free (my own fault as it does state pay and display) however the car park is very poorly lit and I just didn’t see the signs. I also assumed as this is a restaurant the parking would have been free or free after certain hours, ended the night with waiting ages for the bill and a lovely parking...

The food was fresh and on point. The aesthetics were beautiful, and the price was reasonable, considering you were dining in. We went in just wanting a quick snack and ended up sharing a cold meze platter, lentil soup with warm Turkish bread and dips, garlic and chilli king prawns, and a Kymali pide (minced meat). The portions were of good size, although the cold meze could've done with being a little bit bigger. Personally, I would've preferred the bread in larger pieces that I could tear, etc, but the cut pieces were still okay. The ones closest to the oven flame were a bit hard but still edible with the meze. The prawns were lovely. The perfect balance of garlic with chilli, IMHO. The lentil soup was okay. It seemed to be missing some ingredients (more potato and carrot) before liquidising, but that's just me. I didn't like the garnish and would've preferred the pul biber as a powder garnish, but again, that's just me. The pide was tops all the way. I managed a good cheese pull, too. So feeling rather full, my friend and I ordered Turkish tea to help us. The tea took me back to sitting on a back street cafe in Manavgat. It hit the spot. Complimentary Rose Turkish Delight with the bill. Loved almost everything about this place, but my friend wasn't happy to see a halal food serving restaurant serving alcohol, despite enjoying the food. I guess you will have to answer for that yourselves, but I don't need anything explaining. I'd gone knowing that the atmosphere and food would be good. I think I'll try the mixed meat platter for 2 the next...

Used to visit here quite often as the food is great, until they let us down when celebrating my sons birthday. He had moved away from the area, so its a real rare treat for our family to get together. I made a point of visiting the restaurant during the day to take a helium balloon in to go on our table that evening, as it was a surprise birthday meal out, was told that was no problem at all, even reassured me that the table I requested would be reserved and waiting for us, they seemed so very helpful. However, when we got there, the place was packed to the rafters with clearly no tables available or my balloon in sight, it was chaos. We had a pathetic excuse mumbled to us that they dont know what had gone wrong, blaming all and sundry. As it was a Saturday evening, we knew we would be pushed to find something else last minute, so had to stand and wait for over 45 minutes for a table, by which point we were all very hungry. We were then squeezed in, (not the table we had requested when booking) and I had to ask for the balloon, as they had forgot all about it!. Sadly my sons birthday was dampened by this whole experience and I felt so bad for wasting our evening. In my opinion, there was too many people packed in, sitting literally on top of each other, making it difficult for us to even hold a conversation. There really was no point booking a time slot in advance. We left with no offer of any sort of discount and really felt like it didnt matter to them one bit. Because of this, im afraid we have never...