Haz, E1 7DJ
- (020) 7929 7923/25
- 9 Cutler Street (map of this place)
- E1 7DJ
- 11:30-23:30
- Nearby Tube stops: Liverpool Street, Aldgate
A Turkish restaurant hidden in the backstreets near Liverpool Street
Food
Food is traditional Turkish, with a variety of meat and vegetarian. Being turkish there is a lot of lamb and aubergine on the menu, but they also do a nice selection of fish dishes and a well stocked grill menu.
They offer a good range of hot and cold starters, including sausages, humus, yoghurt and lamb based dishes as well as soups and salads. For mains they offer pasta and couscous, grills, casseroles and seafood, and some fruity desserts. They also offer 4 set menus at differing prices, all of which look good.
Portion size is quite good, although I'd recommend a couple of sidedishes if you are a big eater. Food quality was excellent, with excellent combinations of flavours and wonderfully tender meat.
Prices range from �6.95 to �16.95 for the set menus, with starters at around �3.50, sides around �2, mains between �6.25 (pasta and couscous) and �13.95 (grilled sea bass) and desserts around �3. You definately get good value for your money.
(On my visit we tried the garlic spicy sausage and calamari for starters - both excellent, a knuckle of lamb - large, very tender and served with a rich tomato sauce - and poached lamb with cinnamon pears - a combination i wouldn't have thought of, which was cooked excellently and tasted gorgeous. Stuffed apricots with pistachios and cream looked very nice on my companion's plate, and my fruit salad was crisp and huge. A couple of soft drinks a piece and the added service charge left us with a bill of �42, which we gladly paid --Billy)
Drinks
They have a well stocked wine list, and offer normal fruit juices and beers.
Atmosphere
The restaurant is quite long, and tables are all pushed together in rows - so expect to be sitting next to a stranger. It is nicely decorated and is very much a "City" restaurant.
Service was excellent, and accordingly they add a compulsary 12.5% service charge onto your meal (it doesn't say "optional" so I would take that to mean compulsary) - although the level of service we received warranted this charge. The waiters knew the menu, were attentive and polite and very quick to help.
The restaurant does fill up quickly in the evening after about 7:30pm, so book to make sure you get a table.
(When I visited, we arrived early to a mostly empty restaurant, but it quickly filled and we were slightly hurried out of the door when we were finishing our meal. It was done politely though ;) --Billy)
(Lunchtimes are busy too -- I received today a bottle of wine for giving up a table in a bit of a hurry at the end of a meal -- Surbitonian 2004-10-21)