Ozer

spinfold

1p Breakfast? Surely not? 6th April 2009

2 found this helpful

"Breakfast for one penny!" screamed the dark-green sandwich board placed outside the restaurant. Rubbing my eyes in disbelief (it was 6am on a Monday morning and I was due at work any moment) I stopped and stared, half-asleep, casting my gaze backwards and forwards between the sign and the inside of the restaurant. It looked clean and inviting. "One penny? Seriously?" Were the chefs going to pee in the orange juice or lick the bread before it went in the toaster? Was the dining room a favourite hang-out of Regent Street's rat population?

No, it turned out when I visited later that morning. A breakfast buffet consisting of croissants and toast, selections of unusual jams (rose petal, for example), cereals and tea and coffee, all laid out neatly. The staff welcomed me in and found me a seat. I tentatively chose my breakfast items, taking care to avoid anything with odd-coloured marks (it was easy, there weren't any!) and ate.

Yummy scrummy.

Embarassed to go back up for seconds, I asked for the bill, expecting Ryanair-style "knife and fork" or "restaurant ambience" surcharges to be added. Nope, just a penny.

I gave them 100 pennies and left sharpish fearing they would chase me down the street, accusing me of theft of delicious breakfast items.

They obviously didn't chase me, but it really did feel like I had committed theft. I will definitely be going back tomorrow!

stu

a delight, central london 4th April 2008

1 found this helpful

This is definitely one of my favourites, but I haven't been there for some time. Service is attentive, food is generous, conscientiously prepared, and quite delicious.

Come to that, Turkish food is usually generous and fresh - even in the humblest kebab shop.

Boatfanatic

Ozer's 15th March 2008

1 found this helpful

Dropped in on several occasions now for business lunches. Helpful and efficient service and excellent value for money food which was interesting and well-prepared. Pleasing location, convivial and easy atmosphere, but with a nice buzz. Look forward to the next visit.

Sarah_W

Good meal with friends 1st December 2007

3 found this helpful

One friend and I arrived early for our group booking and were offered a seat at the bar and a glass of bubbly on the house, which made a very positive impression to start the evening. The décor is a modern take on eastern bazaars I guess, with lots of rich reds in evidence. The front part of the room is a bar area, with tables for dining beyond. Our group of six was allocated one of the many round tables which I always like as it makes conversation flow more easily round the group. The crisp white table linen and pretty red ribbons also made a favourable impression in what is, after all, a mid-priced chain restaurant.

On sitting down we were immediately given a small bowl of olives, ditto of hummus and some excellent bread, which was topped up later with our starters. The menu is large, possibly too much so, with choices ranging from traditional Middle Eastern dishes through regular “international” choices to curries. We all stuck to the Middle Eastern theme however. All of us opted for the starter platter, under the impression that this would come as a group offering – instead we were all given a separate glass platter with a selection of small portions of different starter dishes. These were really tasty. Several of us had then chosen tagines for our main courses, either chicken or lamb, and these were also good, and came in HUGE portions – I had three large chunks of chicken and a pile of rice studded with lentils and fruits. The other dishes, moussaka and kebabs, were in more manageable proportions.

Despite having already eaten so much, we all found ourselves tempted by the range of interesting-sounding desserts. This was the point though when the quality of the service started to slip a little, as the restaurant filled up, so we ended up with a long wait for these – forgivable as we were so full and not in a hurry, but even so we started to feel rather ignored as waiting staff attended to newer arrivals. When the desserts did arrive, Chris’s had been omitted from the order, so he faced a further wait, but they obviously made a real effort to hurry his along and it came soon after. We enjoyed our choices, though the yoghurt with apricots and mulberries that I and several others had consisted of rather more fruit and much less yoghurt than we’d expected, and was very rich.