An unpromising occasion for Glyn Mon Hughes – but it turned out fine in the end

ASCENDING the steps on to Eastgate Street Row, we were in a decidedly daggers-drawn frame of mind.

We’d consulted a local website and read some damning indictments about Meze, a tapas and meze bar and restaurant which opened in June. Thinking it could not be as bad, as the anonymous critics stated, we ventured forth.

One unnamed critic wrote about a lack of authenticity in the menu, poor choice on the wine list, non-service of the waiting-on staff.

They’d talked about the cheapest meze being £5: it wasn’t – it was £3.10. And, as it turned out, that nameless correspondent – as well as others – appeared to have written a complete piece of fiction.

This particular restaurant has certainly rung the changes over recent years. It’s been – among others in recent years – Café Nico and Raffles.

Despite taking the name of that most sophisticated hotel in Singapore, Raffles was a Chinese buffet which served lukewarm fried rice and congealed main courses.

We booked a table at Meze for 6.30 and, though there appeared to be no note made of our names, when we turned up slightly late, a table had been laid and reserved.

Full marks, though I think we were a little brave to sit outside on a September evening.

When we asked to move, that was no problem at all.

The waiting-on staff were a delight and the service unhurried, though far from slow.

We ordered wine from the allegedly paltry wine list, finding it far from unsatisfactory. Indeed, the choice appeared wide and suitable to all tastes.

Whites started from £10.95 a bottle to £22.50, while reds ranged up to £25. Rosés were there, too, and sparkling wines started at £14.75.

We went for a Navajas Rioja Tinto (£13.50) which they described as “brimming with ripe cherry fruit flavours and a subtle, underlying hint of oak”.

It arrived and was opened at the table by waitress Kamara, who offered a taste, which was completely contrary to what we had read online.

“It’s metallic and quite heavy for a European red,” suggested Mark, “yet I’m still not getting the powerful taste you might get from a similar wine from South Africa or Australia.”

In many ways, this place tries to be all things to all people, which could be a problem in the future.

You can order hot or cold meze or tapas as a starter, or consider the starters “for real”.

They include soup of the day, chicken wings, whitebait, king prawns in a garlic scented oil served with a crisp salad, or New Zealand mussels, baked with chunky tomatoes and topped with mozzarella cheese, and vary in price from £3.95 to £6.95.

We – somewhat greedily – chose three dishes from the hot meze list, though we could have looked at the cold selection: houmous, tzatziki, kisir, spinach la Turka, patlikan kitzama (grilled aubergines and red peppers with garlic), Greek salad, dolma (stuffed wine leaves) or Russian salad. The tapas included calamari, mini keftedas, midiye tava (mussels tossed in flour, seasoned, skewered and pan fried, the ubiquitous patatas bravas or Spanish omelette.

We asked for sojouk (£4.95), a slightly spiced Turkish sausage, marinated lamb’s liver (£4.95) and gambas – freshwater prawns, cooked in garlic butter and topped with parsley (£4.50). We asked for two to be accompanied with bread – which turned out to be flecked with chopped olives – and salad. The sausage turned out to be slightly fatty, but the liver was tender and bursting full of garlic, but not spicy, which would have spoilt the subtle liver taste. The prawns, in a pleasant lemon dressing, were succulent and plentiful.

“We went the wrong way round,” said Mark. “We went from spicy to subtle. Our fault.”

The main course menu is not that extensive and includes many old favourites: shish kebab, lamb moussaka, kleftico, kefetadas, kokinisto, sea bass and pasta. Everything you’d encounter on a Corfu package do . . .

I went for Medaglione (£14.99) – thinly sliced fillet steak with malted Stilton in a brandy and cream sauce, served with chips. Mark chose chicken kebab (£10.25), which was char-grilled and marinated in garlic and olive oil, served with new potatoes and garlic mayonnaise.

My main course was hugely rich. The meat was excellent, cooked just as I asked, and the serving of chips was small – and just right. The sauce, though tantalising, was cloyingly rich – overly so – and the whole dish just rather salty.

Mark was a little disappointed with his main course.

It was just chicken – “tasty and excellent cooked” – but there was neither salad nor any vegetable to vary the visual aid to stimulating the appetite. Portions were generous – indeed, we took some chicken home to feed our cats who wolfed it down in seconds.

We avoided desserts: they seemed a little ordinary . . . cheesecake, chocolate fondue, blackberry and blackcurrant frangipane tart – hardly the stuff of Greece or Turkey.

But it was a good meal. Good value and, heaven knows, Chester needs new kids on the restaurant block. Those web critics – what’s the betting they are neighbouring restaurateurs fearing their own futures – need to be sure of their facts before committing themselves to anonymous print.

Good luck for the future.

Meze, 1-3 Eastgate Row North, Chester

Tel: 01244 324002

Open: Sunday-Wednesday 10am-midnight, Thursday 10am-1am, Friday 10am-2am and Saturday 10am-3am.

Parking: City centre. Multi-storeys nearby, on-street a total lottery.

Disabled access: On the flat from St Werburgh Street, but a fair walk. Up steps from Eastgate Street. Once inside, 35 steps to the toilets.

Value for money: Good.

Service: Efficient and friendly.

The Bill: £53.14 with wine.