Bosphorus — Restaurant in North Hertfordshire

We recently visited this restaurant as a group of three families, totaling 15 people.

Upon arrival, we were warmly welcomed by a polite and professional hostess who took our orders with care and attention. We ordered two jumbo platters at £85 each, along with several side dishes.

Unfortunately, it took nearly 40 minutes for our food to arrive. When it finally did, the experience was disappointing. Some of the meat and chicken had a noticeably unpleasant, spoiled smell, which was far from what we expected given the restaurant's reputation and prices.

We raised our concerns politely with a different staff member, asking if the affected dishes could be replaced. After consulting with the chef, she returned to inform us that this was the "normal Turkish food taste." One of our group, who has traveled to Istanbul 34 times and is very familiar with authentic Turkish cuisine, clarified that he had never encountered anything like this.

We then asked for the bill, intending to pay and leave. When the original hostess returned with the bill, we mentioned the issue again. She suggested we speak directly with the chef, who maintained that certain ingredients, such as garlic, could produce such a smell. He was courteous in his explanation.

However, during this conversation, a man—who we later learned was the restaurant owner—interrupted and made disrespectful remarks. He implied that customers like us complain only to avoid paying, which was both insulting and completely unfounded. We had every intention of paying and were simply trying to address a legitimate issue with the food. Staff nearby tried to downplay the incident by telling us to ignore him, claiming he was just another customer, despite his clear authority.

In the end, we paid £259 and left feeling extremely disappointed. The poor handling of our complaint, the dismissive attitude, and the owner's unprofessional behavior left a lasting negative impression. We will not be returning and cannot recommend this restaurant to others who value quality food and...

Truly the most awful customer experience I have ever experienced - order arrived 50 minutes late, was told driver was outside but took him 15 minutes to find the house. I called 4 times to see what was going on only to be told it was minutes away. Finally arrived and order was cold as expected. Tried to microwave / airfryer food but was horrendous by then. Called for a refund only to be told I must be lying, apparently it’s impossible for the food to go cold in the containers it arrived in and I was being unfair asking for a refund. In addition, I was told the delivery guy had a crash on the way home from my delivery and apparently that was my fault too because I shouldn’t have been ordering from so far away ( the website let me do this and was within the postcode areas) I was told I had to bring my bin to the restaurant so they could check I wasn’t lying. By this point I was so horrified that I did what he asked and brought my food bin through his busy restaurant and was humiliated that he emptied it out infront of everyone only to laugh that he couldn’t see any meat amongst my rubbish so again I was lying. Now in tears from how this man was treating me, a young guy apologised for him and said he shouldn’t have treated me this way and kindly gave me my refund at last. I used to love Bosphorus but wow this was truly the most shocking customer experience I have ever experienced. He will no doubt say I’m lying again but I recorded the whole thing and will be putting it on...

The food is decent at this place, but I've had late orders multiple times with no apology. After this latest time, I will never order from them again.

Orderd food at 4pm to be delivered around 5, early enough that my young kids can eat too. Didn't get the food until ten to eight because the first delivery went to the wrong place and was taken in by an old lady who I think was very confused, but happens to also live at number 3 just round the corner from me. Stuff like this happens, I get it. Sometimes my amazon parcels go there too. What was unacceptable was the extreme reluctance of the restaurant management to entertain the idea that they had made a mistake. They made me feel like a liar who was trying to pull a fast one. Even the driver came on the phone and told me he'd delivered it (yes, but to the wrong place!) and "that's where the satnav took him so it must be right!". After spending 15 minutes on the phone getting increasingly annoyed and frustrated at the refusal to believe me, their difficulties with listening and the constant talking over the top of my attempts to explain, they eventually (with great reluctance) said they'd do another order. When the driver arrived for the second time, he rang me as instructed. The dawning realisation on his face as I approached from the opposite direction he was expecting was some...