Sadly I have more complaints about the night than I have good things to say.
We arrived for a 7.30 start, and finally got our main courses at 10pm. We had some pretty stingy mezze at about 9pm, but it was served just as the dancing started, which meant that we couldn't do justice to either of our jobs as diners and an audience. By the time the main courses arrived most of us were so hungry we would have eaten anything! There really wasn't much food either - three tiny tagines of meat between 5 of us at the table, with 4 chunks of meat in each tagine - not enough for a piece each! Plus two tagines of (frozen) vegetables in what tasted like a tinned soup; and rice - but when the rice eventually arrived (unannounced, 10 minutes after the meat and veg) we'd been so hungry we'd polished off most of the tagines.
The tables in Nur are the same height as the chairs, so you have to lean over the table, which is not good for the digestion and lead to more than a few sore tummies afterwards!
The sweet menu was really limited and some diners near us left when they were told that there was no vanilla ice cream left (surely the most basic of sweets??) - mind you, that was hardly an early exit, it was about 11pm by then!
The sweets (like the previous two courses) were served immediately before the dancing began, meaning that if we wanted to watch Lorna, which we came to do, we ended up with melted ice cream. At a restaurant which has regular belly dancers, I would have thought they would have known how to do justice to both the food and the dancer. The lighting and the music were also poor, which perhaps is more evidence that Nur isn't really bothered about dancing, only about getting bums on seats.
The staff were in short supply, and when you have to pay for each drink you buy as you buy it, it's good to have plenty of people serving. The staff who were there were stressed, not particularly helpful and occasionally bordering on rude. They seemed to feel that the dancers were an inconvenience and didn't seem bothered whether, in going about their duties, they got in the way of the dance.
It was 11.30pm by the time we'd eaten. A long night, and for those of us who'd travelled, a long drive in foggy conditions was still to come. If we'd come by train, we'd have missed Lorna's last set to catch the last train back.
I was told that the restaurant was closed between Christmas and New Year, apart from this night - so this night, effectively a private function, was giving them work they wouldn't have otherwise. I would have thought it was good to get the work, not an inconvenience. As one of the very few restaurants with belly dancers in Scotland, a night full of belly dancers should be a real showcase for Nur, a great opportunity to get a good reputation. An opportunity lost.
I love watching Lorna dance, I love a good night out with bellydancers. Sadly I can't recommend Nur.
Which is why I'm so excited about Lorna's dinner night as part of the Middle Eastern Peace and Spirituality Festival on 3 March! More later - something to look forward to!!
