Veyso’s Brasserie — Restaurant in East Hertfordshire

Booked a table for 10 at the end of July for early September with no issues. They asked for £100 deposit (£10 per head), which I had no issues with. When we got to the restaurant yesterday, they had a table of 12 ready (even though I called up the day before to confirm the table and let them know it was now 8 people) but again, not a huge issue.

The two big issues arised during the meal. The first was a 2 hour time limit imposed on the meal, which we first became aware of by the waiter constantly standing by us being about as subtle as a brick through a glass window. Although he was great, he actually didn't mention this 2 hour limit until about halfway through the meal.

I don't have an issue with a 2 hour limit but be HONEST about it. I spoke to the restaurant twice beforehand and they were more than happy to take the deposit and confirm the booking but at no point did they mention this time window. For some context, this was my wife's 30th birthday. If I knew there was a time limit, I honestly wouldn't have booked this restaurant for 8 people. I don't have an issue with a time limit if the restaurant are HONEST and UPFRONT about it, e.g. Sheesh in Chigwell. Once we were aware of the time limit and discussed it with management, we felt pretty much rushed out.

The second issue was when ordering mains. After ordering cocktails and three large starting platters (along with the complimentary bread and dips, which were lovely), we decided four mains would be enough to start with as some of the party wanted to save room for dessert. This became an issue.

Apparently, the 'restaurant policy' is that each person must order one main each. What a load of rubbish. I've never been to a restaurant with this policy in my life and I'm relatively well dined. So after another conversation with management (during the meal), we settled on five mains being enough - although any less, he was prepared to kick us out midway through our meal.

After our mains (which as you guessed by this point was too much), we did not order dessert as (stern faced) management took over from our waiter to clear our table in his efforts to usher us out. By this point, nobody felt comfortable enough to stay for dessert, so we left (probably to their delight).

The food was good (been here before), the waiter was good but the dishonesty in this case was simply appalling. I felt like I was constantly negotiating through my wife's 30th birthday meal both on the time and the amount of food ordered. It's not a case of money, we were all eating and drinking - but I'm not prepared to be told you have to order more if we aren't going to eat it.

I would say Veysos is somewhere between Turkish Kitchen (which is great) and Sheesh (really good but probably overrated). I'd recommend Veysos for the food and ambience - but wouldn't go if there are more than 2 of you, where 2 hours can go faster than you realise and / or you might fancy...

Firstly I’ll mention the positives because I have quite to say. The waiters are lovely, they were attentive and helpful and did their jobs very well. The place looks good too but it was a bit too dark for me. I don’t mind dim lighting but I could barely see what was on my plate. Now for what I didn’t like. We went as a big group for a birthday dinner and brought a cake with us as we wanted to celebrate at the restaurant. They didn’t let us because of their “policy” and what a silly policy because I’ve never been to a restaurant and been refused to bring a cake before especially when booking for a birthday meal. Might I add, there was one other table when we were there so who would’ve even noticed that we lit a small cake on ours? The food was what I expected, I had low expectations honestly because I have been to plenty of these “Turkish” restaurants that have mid range food, plated somewhat nicely but made with ingredients that aren’t fresh and served in a dark room for “aesthetics” over quality and taste just for a big profit margin. The octopus was clearly frozen and not fresh, the meat dishes were okay but I have never been to a Turkish restaurant and had no rice or bread with kebab/grill meals because that’s how it’s always meant to be served. There was just an abundance of cabbage and carrot to fill the empty spaces on the plates. They were very stingy on the chicken caesar salad dressing and it was very average. I would pick a £2.75 Tesco caesar salad over that. We had mixed starters and they were all okay but nothing special. Last thing, I didn’t even bother trying the wine. I wasn’t there when the order was placed so I’m not sure if someone on our table picked it or if it was recommended but no good wine comes with a metal screw on lid. Good restaurants with good, high quality wine use cork lid bottles. I’d make my rating an overall 2 but I honestly think this place is overhyped and overrated enough so I have to give it a 1 star. For its price, this restaurant was definitely not worth it. You’re better off going anywhere else...

Shocking Attitude.

What a joke. Decided to try it on a Tuesday night with my SO as we love Turkish food and this place looked good. Quite upmarket and of a style that would suggest money has been spent on the place.

The menu appeared a bit pricey but we thought, it's independent, let's support it. All very clean and smart inside and we were shown to a table in the back far corner away from the other two tables of diners. The place was virtually empty.

We really enjoy eating a mix of dishes and decided on a couple of hot and cold platters for two and another dish as our meal for the evening. We would probably then have some Baklava and coffees as dessert.

We ordered and were told that we could have the starters but would have to order a main course each as well. This came as quite a surprise and I had to check that I had heard the waiter correctly as I've not experienced this before. He confirmed that each person would have to order a main course.

How utterly ridiculous! The place was empty, there were waiters standing around doing nothing and they basically didn't want to serve us what we wanted. We decided to leave.

So rather than take the £70 plus we would have spent on food and drink they have effectively turned us away and we will never return.

I've heard that they don't like children much and refuse entry to people wearing sports shoes.

I suppose there must be an exclusive set of people (with large appetites) that they are trying to attract from Hertford and the surrounding area (or guests staying at Hanbury Manor) but I imagine most locals will vote with their feet.

I would suggest trying the Turkish Kitchen at the other end if the town. Attentive staff and very welcoming. It's not flash, its not fancy but there is a good selection of well prepared, tasty dishes at a reasonable price and they let you order...