Lalezar BBQ & Meze — Restaurant in Doncaster

Avoid

This is a place with decent tasting food. It was good and we were satisfied with our meal. We had one of their platters.

Price is a little steep, we were in the area for a week but travelled from London and found that the prices here were higher than the prices we were used to paying for similar food in London.

Now service is where I have an issue. We booked this Meal a day in advance and we were a large group of 28. One of us was having a conversation with a waiter and used the word "quiet" to describe the restaurant for that particular evening (it was a Monday at 8:30pm). At that moment another worker dressed in all black possibly the manager seemed to take offense here and was confidently telling us that it's not quiet and that we are lucky to get the booking we did. The restaurant was empty, we were their only customers at the time, upstairs floor had no customers, ground floor was full of empty tables and chairs and not another customer in sight, so of course it was "quiet". This worker might actually have been the manager as he was dressed differently and I was shocked to see the attitude to the restaurant being called quiet. His ego was far too high for a mediocre at best restaurant and it really let the whole experience down considerably.

The same worker claimed we don't know about their restaurant and that they were a big time restaurant. We are customers from London who literally go to various restaurants on Green Lane regularly, we know what high quality good Turkish food is, please don't tell us your restaurant is big time is it's unheard of and in the middle of nowhere, selling mediocre food and being run by someone who had a sky high ego.

We were given menus that looked the same but had different prices to each other on it, very unprofessional. We ordered thinking it was a certain price and then realised after ordering that we had a menu with incorrect prices on it. Also not everything on their menu was available, we wanted lahmachun but apparently their chef who makes this had finished for the day as he started at 8am, makes no sense to me why someone would serve lahmachun at 8am and why this chef would go home at the busiest time of the day for an evening restaurant. The excuses are just lies.

Out meal was also to include tea and backlava but after your meal they don't mention it to you in hopes that you forget. You always have to remind them that you are waiting on tea and backlava because that's what you've paid for. You shouldn't have to wait for your customer to chase this.

As "Big Time" as their manager thinks this place is, it's got to be the worst Turkish restaurant...

Watch out Doncaster, the kings of kebabs are officially back!

• Feb 2024 Update *

Been a while since my last visit and thought I would pop in for a bite to eat (Midweek, early evening). Arrived without prior booking and got seated straight away.

N.B I would not normally advise this on a weekend for a dinner in the evening. Please book first as it gets very busy.

Whilst the portions seem a little smaller (only by a smidge), their food is back to its former glory. Smoky pittas were just as they should be. Restaurant was modern and up to date, staff attentive and ultimately the food was back to how it should be! Smoky, lamby Mediterranean goodness. I won't bore you with the details but I highly recommend the mixed grill. A bit pricey, but you get to take home what you don't eat as a second meal! I am also pretty sure the prices have gone up, but haven't they everywhere. Great to see this wonderful restaurant return to the place it used to be.

Well done 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Update: Wow what a fall from grace. once I would have crawled over hot coal (no pun intended) to get a table here. I don't know if it has changed ownership, but the food is no longer excellent but mediocre at best. The smoked meat dripped bread has gone. The kebabs taste bland and they have removed the chicken wings from the mixed grill. Plus to boot, whilst this was not what I would call a fine dining experience, you could say it was intimate and enjoyable experience. Now it would appear every Karen or Ken has now discovered this place and thinks that raising their voice over the next table is the way to be heard better, resulting in what can only be best described as being at a concert level volume. I cannot blame the restaurant for this directly, however if they limited it to parties of 8 max per table, it would go some way to combat this. No one wants to hear a drunk karen cackling at full volume or what Ken does for a second job!

If you happen to be visiting this place, make it very clear to the person seating you that you would like to be seated downstairs or you will end up regreting it. You have been warned!

Old review (by contrast): I have to pilgrimage to this restaurant once a month to get my grill on. Interior could be better (however this is being fixed as they are closing for a few months soon for a expansion and remodel), but is functional. Please note: It can get very busy on weekends so book a table first. You could chance your luck but why bother. My recommendation is the mixed grill with a large helping of their smoked pitta breads. I still have no idea how they do it but either way you will...

Without Prejudice...⭐⭐ won't be going again in the near future... .Table booked for 19.30 .took awhile to be asked if we would like drinks! (Acceptable. V busy) Drinks arrived. Starters & main course ordered x4 .Starters were very nice reorder drinks... X3 drinks arriving! At last the drinks order was Right 👍🏻...wow

Got to say it was very busy....

20.30 NO main course?? Hmmmm you've guessed it.. they ( were very busy... .Apology given.... will only be a further 15 minutes? ....Response..its ok a little bit disappointing but it's ok... 21.10....NO MAIN COURSE....Apology given! We could have a FREE drink 😂.. Response... (not really acceptable.. another apology.... Yeah....Main course arrives...x4 Ohhhh Really....😱 only one was edible..🤔 but we could....have a FREE drink?? Really... Response...Complain.. about the evening...waiting? Drinks mix up? Main course? .was told various excuses.. to many to list....was told to only ask for one individual when paying the bill.. £140.........ya guessed Ask for the manager.....our Response.... the Delay was an experience ok... the drinks were drinkable while the order was wrong x3 The starters were Nice...tx The main course was not only inedible. It took more than an hour to arrive at the table..what was more difficult to swallow was the constant excuses...& the bill... BILL ... returned 50% discount....hahaha NO free Drinks.....

We all work..we all deserve to enjoy ourselves with our spending money... We don't need to visit restaurants that don't appear to appreciate our custom... This was our experience........ Will let you decide What you want for your money....

Pictures of the meals that x 3 individual people were unable to...