Haz has been a very welcome addition to dining in and around St Paul’s. The food is keenly priced, but not at the expense of quality; hence, the restaurant seems to be perpetually busy. The staff are diligent and the service is rapid, leading to a high turnover but, at the same time, one never feels rushed.
I have visited the restaurant a number of times, and find it difficult to divert from the lamb shish, as a main course, because it is so good. That said friends who have managed to branch out to the rest of the menu have been impressed.
In my most recent visit, we were greeted with complementary glasses of sparkling wine – a nice touch. We shared some kalamari and taramasalata as starters, and noted the authenticity of the latter – not a hint of pink (food dye) in its makeup. On my prompting, our party of four shared three lamb shish kebabs, supplemented with one chicken shish, and we were not disappointed. As expected, the lamb had the delicious barbecue flavour and melted in the mouth. The chicken, too, was properly charcoal grilled and beautifully moist. These main courses come with vegetables and rice, and are a bargain at £8.95 for the chicken and £10.95 for the lamb. One of our party had a perfectly adequate chocolate cake with ice cream, but there are also a number of Turkish desserts available.
When I first visited Haz, it was with some trepidation that I tried out the Yakut (Kavaklidere) Turkish red wine. I now have no hesitation in ordering this wine, which is also a bargain (in City terms) at less than £14 a bottle.