Opuz Kitchen & Bar Watford — Restaurant in Watford

My boyfriend and I visited the restaurant for the first time for dinner last night. We ordered the hummus to share as a starter, I had the spicy lamb skewer for my main and my boyfriend had the mixed grill. My boyfriend has an egg and nut allergy which he made sure to tell the manager about who was serving us, but he assured us that everything we ordered was free from both egg and nuts. However, very soon after we finished eating the hummus and pitta bread my boyfriend started to experience the exact symptoms he does when he accidentally eats something with egg in it. He was having hot flashes, his throat felt tight and he felt nauseous. Approximately ten minutes after these symptoms started he threw up in the restaurant toilets. When he returned to our table we alerted the waitress as to what had happened, and she was very apologetic and sympathetic. The manager, however, got very defensive about the situation and was constantly talking over my boyfriend. It felt as though he was trying to find any excuse as to why my boyfriend had his allergic reaction, instead of genuinely seeming sympathetic and saying sorry. He allowed my boyfriend to read the allergen book which backed up the manager saying that none of the food had egg or nut in it, even though my boyfriend had still clearly had an allergic reaction. However, at the front of the book there was a message saying that the restaurant is currently using various different suppliers, and due to this the allergen menu may not be completely up to date. We should have been made aware of this as soon as my boyfriend mentioned that he has allergies, as if we had known this information we probably wouldn’t have taken the risk of eating there. In the end the manager gave us a 50% discount on our bill (which he increased from a 20% discount), but it seemed like his main concern was making sure that he still made some money out of us. We will not be visiting this restaurant again and anyone with allergies should be very wary...

Two people, dinner and drinks at Opuz - Uzbek Turkish restaurant. Booked via google reviews at what I thought was Humo Spanish restaurant next door but ended up at Opuz by accident - Had diarrhoea and stomach ache next day.

Organisation: Poor! We arrived thinking this was Humo (restaurant next door where I had a booking). I told the lady I had a booking at 8pm and she didn't say anything and gave us two seats, so from the beginning we were at the wrong restaurant and front of house lady didn't have the common sence to tell me there was no booking for me! This would have corrected the fact that we needed to go to the restaurant next door but you can't teach common sence can you!

Food: We had Cocktails, Olives, chicken shish and spicy lamb kebab followed by herbal tea and ice cream. Olives were very plain. Complimentary bread was good. Chicken shish was average. The lamb was oversaturated in salt (always a warning that something is wrong). Usually they do this to preserve old meat but I couldn't work that out given how busy the restuarant was I thought turnover of food would be fast. After a few bites of the lamb shish I felt nauseous, put it down to the way too excess salt but next day I had stomach ache and diarhoeea.

Service: basic food taking, zero customer skills and poor mannerism. We asked a question and he gave an answer and walked off without waiting for a follow up question or clarification. Waiters are predominantly not native English speakers. I would have asked for service charge to be removed if I wasn't with a lady.

Atmosphere: This is their only plus point. The decor and lighting is very nice and where we were sat there was hardly much kitchen smell, though if u get the back seats you would probably smell of food as kitchen had little ventilation. There was some house style music playing in the background.

Photo of the lamb shish that gave me diarhoea and the...

I've been shopping with my missus in Watford shopping centre and we decided to go for lunch nearby. We saw some reviews and decided to give it a go. What can I say? It was amazing.

The welcome was very kind. The staff were very friendly and making their presence the right way: not too intrusive, not overly absent.

The place looks really good, a very cosy ambience and a nice atmosphere overall, with the right choice of background music.

Now let's get to the actual order: We had a meze combo and one calamari as starters. The combo is a must try. The taste of the meze was amazing. Although I would say that the taramasalata in the mix was 'meh', definitely not made in the restaurant. As main course, I had a mixed grill and my missus had the lamb cutlets. Everything was cooked to excellence and the taste was delicious. A bit of nitpicking now: it was just a little salty for my taste, but right enough to make me order an extra beer, so I'll alow it ;)

The drinks menu is very good and diverse. Plenty options for spirits, wines, cocktails and beers. The cocktail was served with a cheeky gimmick, thumbs up for that.

The bill was moderate, with the service charge included. My personal opinion: In general, I don't like when restaurants are automatically including the service charge on the bill, making it mandatory. This should be down to the customer to decide whether the service was worth the extra charge or not. Yes, in this case the service was excellent, definitely deserves the extra charge, and honestly I would've pay a bit more than that. But please, allow me to make that call, don't impose it :)

The bottom line: we would definitely come back and we highly...