Haggle — Restaurant in Norwich

Well-cooked food but an awful overall experience.

Upon arriving at Haggle we were placed on a very small table at the front of the restaurant which was extremely isolated and awkward to eat at. Four or five staff would stand at the cashier next to us being lazy while talking the entire time instead of doing their job. All of the front of house staff seem to have been hired for their looks instead of their ability.

The menu is extremely vague and does not provide adequate explanations of what is included with each dish. I purchased an £18 lamb chop dish which had no mention of containing salad, vegetables, or rice, yet mine contained all three and a significantly smaller portion of actual lamb chops than what I expected for the price. As mentioned before, the food was well-cooked and the chef is clearly skilled, but I was left waiting almost an hour for my food with no mention of a long wait on the menu for my dish or from the staff (the restaurant was not full by any means and a wait of this time was unacceptable). Additionally, when I asked for a meat-knife to properly cut my lamb into smaller pieces, I was told by one of the waitresses that Haggle does not have any. Was I supposed to pick up and eat this lamb with my bare-hands? The normal knives were blunt and extremely difficult to use when cutting meat. Why is this restaurant considered fine-dining if I'm expected to eat my food like an animal?

I don't recommend Haggle unless significant improvements are made to the operation of the restaurant. I am not an angry person, but this is the first time in a while that I've been incredibly angry with the service provided. I will not be...

Got heavy food poisoning on the night we had cold/hot starters and mains. Cold mezes did not give that kick in taste, below standart. Staff although with best intentions failed to bring the food in order even though we explicitly said a few times, our mains got cold. I would recommend other Turkish restaurants in Norwich (I would say Gem, you get much bigger portions, tasty and a double size spirits).....In response to the business's reply: 01/08/24: Dear Emma, Thank you for your response and for looking into this matter. To clarify, during our visit, your staff asked us in which order we would like our dishes to be served. We explicitly requested to receive our cold starters first, followed by the hot starters, and then the main courses. This arrangement makes perfect sense to us and ensures an enjoyable dining experience. If your establishment does not have the capacity to accommodate such requests, I would suggest that your staff refrain from asking customers for their preferences in the first place, as failing to meet them can lead to disappointment. Additionally, your message feels somewhat defensive and presumptive regarding the cause of our illness. It is important to refrain from making conclusions about the origin of food-related issues without thoroughly investigating all possibilities. If you genuinely care about addressing this concern, I recommend contacting all customers who dined at Haggle on the evening of July 28th, including myself and my guest, to gather information on what was consumed. This will help in conducting a proper analysis. Best...

We decided to visit late one Saturday afternoon, without a reservation.

When entering, we were met immediately and taken to seats nearby, with the open kitchen visible at the back of the restaurant. There was not much room to manoeuvre around the tables and chairs, but it was not all claustrophobic. The decoration was splendid and definitely added to the experience. There is seating on the level below, which we will try and use next time.

The menus were concise and clearly descriptive.

For drinks, we opted for a glass of Turkish Rose and a glass of Argentinian Malbec. Both were very good.

For a starter, we decided upon the Humus with Tahini. This tasted absolutely delicious, indeed, according to my partner was the best Tahini that she had tasted this side of the Mediterranean. The bread complimented it so well.

For main course, we chose from the Mangal/Charcoal BBQ menu, deciding upon the Tavuk (marinated chicken breast) and Kuzu (marinated lamb). These were both very flavoursome and also worked well with the small amount of Humus that we had left.

We did not try any of the desserts, as we both struggled to finish the main course.

If there was anything that I would say that I did not enjoy, it would be the onions that accompanied the lamb. However, this is likely just my particular palate. Other than...