Medusa — Restaurant in Lancaster

AVOID, AVOID, AVOID!

The worst, baffling and frustrating dining experience ever!

Visited as a family on a Saturday in January during lunchtime and it was fairly quiet. We waited by the door to be seated and noticed the spectacles wearing manager/owner who was sitting at a table by the till/bar. He appeared grumpy and although he noticed, instead of seating us he stood up and wondered off whilst the only two other members of waiting staff were serving.

The waitress came over after serving one of the tables to seat us. We ordered hot drinks to start with. My cup was dirty and heavily marked which we politely brought to the waitress' attention, without causing a scene (especially as there's a pandemic going on and there's a possibility of breakout from dirty crockery and utensils). She apologized and replaced the drink.

Although we were having doubts whether to continue eating there as we were already seated we proceeded to place our order from the lunch menu, keeping it to a minimum. We ordered two mains and a starter plus a side. We asked for everything to be served together as we were sharing. The dishes however didn't come out together as requested so we took our time with whatever we got to begin with. By the time we got everything, what should have been hot was lukewarm.

I struggled to chew the only lamb chop from my meat platter and it looked barely cooked and was practically raw inside. I was saving it till last to enjoy but little did I know!

I gently mentioned this to the waitress who apologized but didn't offer to have it replaced. The manager was pacing to-and-fro grumpily, heard our conversation and even went to the kitchen but not once did he approach us to ask if everything was ok or to apologize. We also heard him tell the waitress to mention it to the chef.

Our bill came to £45. There was no reduction nor any apology. The owner/manager was still at his table, by now with an acquaintance.

I asked the waitress to speak to the manager which he heard but ignored (he was a mere meter or so from our table) She responded with a "yeah," gestured in the manager's direction then went off.

I approached him politely and informed him of the issue. He was extremely rude, dismissive, defensive and argumentative. He basically told me "that's how you eat meat" and that he had checked it but there was nothing wrong with it and I should have asked for it well done! I realized at this point that he'd heard my wife and I talking that we should have asked for well done meat.

My wife mentioned her drink, to which his reply was "why are you telling me?! Tell her (the waitress)! Then, in front of other guests he started shouting at the waitress. My wife asked him not to do that and that the waitress was fine and doing her job pleasantly but he on the other hand, needed customer service training. We were not only frustrated but exasperated by this point. However, he continued arguing and later on insisting that he wasn't the manager/owner, that he was "nothing" and basically told us to "do whatever you want" when we mentioned that we'd be sharing our experience.

Suffice to say that this was the worst dining experience in our entire lives! ...

Misleading, expensive and rude staff. We were very much looking forward to spending an evening at Medusa, enjoying the food and atmosphere. It came highly recommended from friends and family. It's actually 40 minutes away from us but it was our first evening out in a long time and we wanted to explore Turkish food. Since we visit Lancaster multiple times a week, we thought it would be perfect to support this business. We arrived a little early and were allowed to choose a table of our choice. It was very quiet. 3 other tables in. The food was served quickly and was nice but we found the portions were small for the price. We unfortunately then experienced a very uncomfortable encounter. The waiter had noted my partner had finished his main meal (i was still eating!) yet he came over and said he'd get the dessert menu, which I found very rude considering I was still eating. He came back with a menu for my partner and also plonked one next to me, still eating. He then took my partners plate and came back and stood right next to me, watching me as I was scooping the last bit on to my fork! I've never felt so uncomfortable and rushed in all my life. I quickly put the food in my mouth and I had just placed the fork back down on the plate (not yet the knife!) and he had already started lifting it off the table. The food had just entered my mouth. We were honestly gobsmacked. I've never been anywhere and experienced something so uncomfortable and unprofessional as that. He came back just as quick, asking what else we'd like. We told him to give us a minute but he had already made the whole evening very uncomfortable. Never have I ever been stood right over and watched by floor staff as I finished my meal. Shocking. It put me off ordering a dessert and another drink. I just wanted to leave, I felt so uncomfortable. My partner still ordered a dessert, which was delicious. Contrary to the early eagerness of being stood over and clearing a barely finished plate, my partner was sat with the dirty plate in front of him for 20 mins before it was cleared away. This place was not busy. We then asked for the bill. Full price for everything. Yet all over Facebook that week and in their own windows were big posters stating 20%off ANY starter and main course. No where did it state/was it made clear that you had to order both a starter and a main course for the 20%off to apply. It legit says ANY course. I have attached the poster that they had displayed. Very misleading! When I asked the waitress about it and said it was misleading,she just apologised. When we told her about the waiter, she again, just apologised. She didn't have anything to say other than she was sorry. Not very helpful. Our evening at Medusa was very disappointing and made us feel totally uncomfortable. I have honeslty never been anywhere else that made me want to run out the door. When you go out to enjoy an evening meal, you don't expect to be in and out the establishment within 55 minutes (especially when you've spent 20 of them with your empty dessert plate in front of you). We definitely will not be returning. Completely...

My partner and I have been to Medusa multiple times for Lunch and a few times for Dinner. The newly introduced menu brings together a wide variety of affordable, delicious and filling dishes. Most of them come with a side of bulgur rice, chips, bread or salad. Minutes after you order a Lamb Kofta or a Lamb sizzler, you’ll be brought a full plate packed with so many different flavours, you’ll want to order the entire menu just to find out how good it can get. Besides 10/10 for food, the staff is always very kind and try to accommodate any need. You need them to tone down the spice on a dish? Done. You want an extra piece of bread with your soup? Done. I organised a 12 person birthday booking at medusa, and all I needed to do was nod at the staff after everyone finished dining, for a show of drums candles and cakes to appear! For no extra charge! Safe to say the birthdayee loved it! Besides their birthday thing, I have to give a special thank you to Layla. She has been the face of the restaurant for me and my partner. She does an amazing job of customer service and ensuring our dining experience is always 10/10. Her adding a starter to my partners meal free of charge because she was torn between two, or her rounding up the receipt to a better price for us, or giving us a taste of a dessert here and a taste of another starter there means a lot. That’s what good customer service looks like, and it certainly...