Turkuaz Restaurant Crawley — Restaurant in Crawley

In response to the request for more information on my experience and the reason for my rating, by the owner.

I had the Octopus starter,

I'm pretty sure you microwaved it as it was the toughest thing I've eaten in decades, I had to leave most of it and it wasn't particularly tasty, definitely not even close to fresh. I had to ask for a steak knife to cut it and the outside of the tentacle was gelatinous and gross. When a dish has something exotic or special as a main ingredient its best to make sure that that main ingredient doesn't ruin the whole dish, or make people ill after.

Incase anyone thinks I'm just a fussy eater or made a bad choice, I have eaten octopus many times, I enjoy it as a rare treat, and whilst I appreciate that this time it was unlike to have been caught by a nice Spanish guy at 4am in a wooden boat using only a lamp and a bilhook the sameday it's served in La Frank, and it's clearly not going to be to the standard of Riddle & Finns, Billingsgate Market, or Nobu, I still expected a bit better than it was.

Hence 3 out if 5 stars for the food overall.

The main food was ok, chicken and lamb Shish, pleasant enough, nice rice and salad and bread.

The atmosphere, decor and staff were all very pleasant, hence the 4 out of 5 star review for service and atmosphere.

I can't give 5/5 because I reserve that for places like Hakasan, which I feel is quite reasonable.

A 4/5 is like getting 80% in a test.

But only 60% for the food because you lost 20% due to the starter.

So mathematically 73.33%.

Honestly I can go down Tilgate shops and spend less on a far far superior meal but with less atmosphere and they get 4.5/5 for food and 3/5 for atmosphere and service

Normally I don't expand on things when I don't have the most enjoyable meal, I just leave stars because I don't want to take my experience as the standard one, from what I've seen most people think your food is amazing, but as you asked, I have...

Lovely venue inside but the service was terrible. Starters took a long time to come (about an hour ish) but they were delicious, however our plates weren't cleared for another 30 mins despite the staff regularly walking past. A past tables empty plates were left the whole time we was waiting. Another table waited a long time to be asked about a drink so they got up to leave & the staff began shouting at them aggressively for trying to leave. We had to chase our mains which were disappointing for the long wait (no Turkish bread served with the shish or any dips). We was left with empty drinks for a long time & noone came to apologise or take our empties or ask how the meal was. Eventually a female staff member explained they had only 2 staff & lots called in sick - I'd have understood and been accepting of that if they explained before we had the above experience.

In my opinion - food good , a little over priced for the fact some of it felt a bit incomplete for a usual Turkish meal and small. Needs some fine tweaking on the menu for the prices to reflect the contents and standard.

Service shocking- no they couldn't help being only a team of 2 but there were only 6 tables in. The staff shouting aggressively at customers was horrendous. They could have had better customer service all round and addressed the service issues as soon as you arrived so you knew what to expect and we felt a lack of effort and communication all round.

I'm not sure I'd go back given the overall cost v experience. However if the menu and prices were tweaked and the staff had a bit more customer service then maybe I may try again. But given the volume of Turkish restaurants locally I don't feel like id need to.

The female waitress was very apologetic as we left but just felt it came too late. Shame as the starters set the evening up well but it quickly...

Been here few days ago …we ordered chips with our food and they served us with sweet potato chips because they ran out of normal chips…they should of asked firstly instead of shoving it on the plate …we then asked them if we could have rice instead of the sweet potato chips …they brought out 2 big bowls of rice ,overcooked and looked as if it’s been out for ages.The waiter was very rude but the lady was so and so .They offered free dessert but since the food was tastelesss and none of us were happy we have asked them for a comp on the bill…and they did🤦🏻‍♀️They only took out the price of the chips…lol But the steak was not seasoned and had lots of fat mainly,the seafood pasta were tasteless and the calamari in it were harder to chew than rubber,some of the vegetables on the plates were burnt as if they’ve come out of hell…brought a dirty glass to the table …there was paint coming off the seats on our hands and clothes…they only give you one napkin because more would be a fortune I suppose…Very expensive for what you get really…even my mash(never asked for mash ) that I have received with my steak was dry …like how ?!You can do better as the decor looks nice and we really liked it when we stepped in but you have a lot to work on and considering first impression I don’t know how many people would come back to your place really after being so disappointed the first time…It’s sad as for the prices you’re asking people are expecting more but the Kebap across you cooks much better food and cheaper and has respect for his customers also…I expected more as this is not the real Turkish hospitality that I am...