El Turco

Our Reviews

• 1.0

  Ladybird

  07/04/2009
  Aka Vine Leaf Restaurant & Bar (Worst reastaurant!

  business

  This restaurant seems have had several neame changes (probably beacuse of the number of bad reviews) but it is now called Vine Leaf Restaurant & Bar and previously the Vine Leaf of Istanbul. No matter what the name, I suspect is still atrocious.In retrospect, we probably should have walked out the minute we were offered 2 oddly places small circular tables to seat the 4 of us for dinner, but after an excellent but weary sightseeing day around York, we decided to stay. Upon ordering, the middle aged-Mediterranean, white-haired waiter, who appeared to also be the owner and manager and only one of 2 waiters in the restaurant, then proceeded to insult us in a very rude and demeaning manner. We were told that our order essentially not expensive enough and that in these credit crunched times he would go broke. Keeping in mind that between 4 of us we had ordered 2 X £19.95 set menus and a bottle of wine ~£15 and this was only our initial order. [Between the 4 of us, we generally end up with 2 bottles of wine and desert and coffee but we had not quite got that far yet]. Owing to his incredible rudeness we decided to walk out-after all the York tourist guide had listed at least 2 dozen more restaurants within walking distance. However before we had gathered our coats, he reappeared with the bottle of wine we had ordered and said that it was ‘ok with the 2 set menus’. We did point out to him that had we ordered 4 x main meals, he would have ended up with far less than £40 for food as the main meals ranged from £6.90-£12.00 and as none of us were very hungry with one vegetarian amongst us, we probably would have ordered the smaller main. The first part of the set menu then arrived which was a selection of mezzas. Following this, the main grill arrived which on the menu promised to be a sizeable dish with a large selection of grilled meats and Turkish delicacies. For a food order totalling £40.00 the dish was absolutely tiny!! It was barely enough for 1 person let alone the ‘2 people’ it claimed on the menu. We decided that we would not stay for dessert or coffee and would leave after our ‘grill feast’. However our favourite waiter had not bought us plates, so we requested plates. He then brought us only 2 plates only and when we requested 2 more, [seeing as there were 4 of us] he had the audacity to refuse! Not only did he refuse, he again went back to his original complaint that we were not spending enough money only more offensively and threateningly. He was extremely rude and out of line and continued to tell us how financially destitute he would be because of customers like us. [Little did he know, that we were in fact in a very celebratory mood after our day in York with its beautiful markets, the ghost tour the boat ride, and we had al collectively decided that the only thing remaining to do on the agenda that day was lots more wine and Turkish delights] The only other staff member who seemed to be about was a middle aged English waitress/cashier who appeared to be the girlfriend of our maître d' from hell. She then proceeded to tell us that we should not take offence as they were simply flippant remarks and insinuated that reprimanding customers was perfectly acceptable. We were aghast, she did not even apologise! As several other customers in the restaurant looked on horrified, a second disagreement broke out between another table and the English waitress/cashier over the disappearance of his credit card for an undue course of time, without his permission. My brother and my two colleagues who were Dutch and French decided that such treatment was unacceptable in any country and that none of us had ever been succumbed to such vulgar service prior to this. We decided to leave the restaurant without bothering to finish the meagre ‘grill feast’. By this time the only other table left in the restaurant was a party of 4 who appeared to be relatives of the manager. One of the men from the table then got involved in the argument and grabbed my brother and tried to force us out, despite the fact that we were on our way out. We were even more appalled. Although we loved our visit to York and plan to visit in the near future, we will obviously NEVER visit this Vine leaf Bar and restaurant again, and ensure that none of our other colleagues do so either. And we would like to ensure that no other unsuspecting visitor or local visit this restaurant either.WORST RESTUARANT IN YORK!
  El Turco

  El Turco