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First
of all egg and chips: three organic eggs, with no sticky residue,
served on a shameless mountain of chips.
They
were accompanied by a delicious variety of condiments to rival Vera
and Jacks both in their presentation and their selection,
with the option of buying the ones you become addicted to: Yellow
Devil Sauce, Tomato and Pepper Ketchup and Green Peppercorn Mustard
among others.
Sticky
onion relish is my favourite. There were nearly tears when I discovered
theyd sold out.
Beautiful
surroundings, extremely tastefully decorated with the perfect combination
of glass, chrome, wood, neutral tones, brickwork and leather worn
as aprons by the waiters and to cover the plush comfy chairs.
Despite
being minimalist in appearance the canteen is comfortable and cosy.
The
music is an interesting selection of the occasional choice 80s
tune and obscure mood music, a very enjoyable accompaniment to our
meal.
As
a token gesture to keep one of my New Year's resolutions I had the
decaffeinated coffee, which the menu claims washes the nasty
caffeine out with Swiss water. This made me happy.
I cant
wait to work my way through that menu. The prospect of trying the
Hill Station bittersweet chocolate, mango and lime and toasted coconut
and dark rum ice cream with crispy cinnamon tortillas and Ha!Ha!
honey nuts on my next visit is enough to make me abandon all my
noble New Year's resolutions.
All
this and friendly, not pushy waiting staff. What more could a girl
ask for?
-
Paulette Edwards
Ann
Dirty cutlery, ignored by waiting staff, wrong food order, cold food, overcharged. No thanks. Bizarrely, I do like it as a bar, nice atmosphere, nice lack of students.
John
I went for lunch yesterday (10/09/05) and it was excellent. I had a large plate of boiled potatoes with griddled asparagus, parmesan shavings and two excellent poached eggs. My mum had a chicken and mango salad which was also very good. The food arrived quickly despite how busy they were and the service was very friendly and efficient. Both of our dishes were under £7. I will definitely be returning very soon!
nik
On the three occasions I have been there it has been terrible. The place is great, the drinks are good if a bit exxpensive, the food is shocking. We are not the only people who think this. 27/05/05
Jessica
Over priced £2 for a pint of lime soda, £7 for a little bit of scrambled egg with salmon, there are much better places to go within walking distnaces that offer better value for money and much better food. Try the lions lair or the cornerhouse
BONNIE
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE SPOT. IF I GET BACK 2 THE UK, I WOULD MAKE A POINT OF GETTING THERE AGAIN. WHY LARRY WHY???? THAT FREAKING CHOCOLATE DESERT WAS AWESOME. I HAVE TO FIND THAT RECIPE.
Jennifer
Ha Ha is absolutely atrocious.
I have been on 3 occasions to eat and all 3 times have been terrible.
First time round we were ignored at the bar and given snotty looks from the waitress, so decided to give it a miss.
Second time, the chips were cold and the bread stale with all four meals arriving with notable time gaps.
On our third visit I ordered a bean burger and my boyfriend a beef burger. When the food arrived the waiter came with 2 BEEF burgers. I pointed out my was a bean burger and he apologised and disappeared. My boyfriend got stuck into his burger whilst I waited. After 20 minutes when I started to get very cheesed off I asked the waitress where my food was and she said I had already received it! I pointed out I had no plate in front of me and she rushed off to the kitchen. Another 20 minutes later and it still hadn't arrived so we decided to leave. The manager then told us we had to pay for our drinks and beef burger. I was flabbergasted.
I went home to a cheese sandwich vowing never to step in there again!
JL
I love the fact they have to put posters up to emphasise their 'no microwave' policy...when clearly my pasta had been microwaved! Why else would I have been able to pick up the whole bowlful on my fork???
Second visit (again, not my choice) I had a 'salad' including asparagus, parmasan and new potatoes. It was basically a bow of undercooked potatoes with a couple of forlorn-looking pieces of asparagus perched on the top. They couldn't even get the side order of fries right...and put them in the same bowl as my potatoes masquerading as salad. Really quite awful. And overpriced.
Maurice
My wife and myself called in for lunch and didn't find HA HA a laughing matter the liver
I ordered was over cooked, burnt sounds better and enough
grease on the plate to keep a small garage going for a month
and the salmon what my wife got char grilled left a lot to be desired, a tea and a coffee this came to £22 with an extra portion of so called saute potatoes, decor fine food rubbish!!
Hairy Mary
Four moos for the seafood and noodle soup. Tasty and filling (even as a main course), if a tad over priced. I went on a Friday night, which was a little too busy for my liking, and the service was a bit on the slow side, but the food was worth it.
OJ
I agree with Leah. I've been to various parts of the Ha Ha chain in the last few years and it's been fine (if very expensive).
But the service is now so appalling it's an insult. Like waiting over an hour for a snack of bread and olives ordered at the bar.
When you're out with a group - and let's face it the place is so noisy, that's who they're catering to - you don't want to spend all evening accosting baffled looking staff members to ask where your food is.
Or like going for a meal you've pre-booked and having to wait over half an hour for them to find some glasses for your wine. Apparently they run out, and then can only bring tumblers....
Or waiting over half an hour to get served with a bottle of wine at the bar.
If they're going to have the brass neck to charge chi-chi prices for frankly average food, they've got to have the service to match. Blond wood and a few condiments just don't cut the mustard.
Leah
We've been here a few times and feel the that standard of service, and quality and quantity of food gets worse each time.
We waited over 10 minutes to get our drinks at the bar (just one person behind the bar at 6pm), then waited 40 minutes for our food to arrive. The waitress got the drinks order wrong, the food arrived and although it was tasty, the portions were tiny - we were still hungry when we left. One good thing though, they got our bill wrong, so we got away without paying for 3 cokes - and we weren't going to complain about that!
(Very wrong I know, but if everything else had been OK, we'd have told them about their mistake - honest guv!)
Patrick
I've been there a few times and enjoy the decor as much as the next bovine, but I have to add, to its detriment, it follows the annoying (apparently) nationwide policy of drowning out conversation with music which slowly gets louder as people talk louder to compensate.
That's really my only gripe - their 'home made' sauces are great and their menu different enough to satisfy anyone's gullet.
Debbie
writes:
I love Ha!Ha! The food is interesting and quite varied - the dips
platter is a meal in itself and the tortillas with it make a nice
change from ordinary tortilla chips. We've always had very efficient,
quick, table service there, although trying to get a table, or served
at the bar, can be a nightmare on Friday or Saturday night. Lovely
view (at the moment) of the Winter Gardens.
lesley
writes:
We went to HaHa Bar on our Christmas Lunch - 30 of us in total.
The
food was lovely although there wasnt enough of it and the menu ranged
from the regular menu to the special christmas menu. We drank wine
and plenty of it!! Both red and white were great!
The
waiters were most depressing and looked like they didnt want to
be there at all! The more wine, the better the atmosphere. HaHa
had laid on Crackers and allowed us to take party poppers which
added to the atmosphere.
I love
HaHa normally and this is why it was chosen for our Christmas Party.
However HaHa do not seem to be able to cater for larger parties,
the waitress didnt know whether the cannelloni was veggie or not
(even though it was on the menu as veggie), the potatoes were missing
from the Christmas menu meals, one dessert was missing and none
of us got the coffee we asked for!
If
HaHa are going to cater for larger parties they need to employ some
more friendly and helpful staff and also make sure they know what
they are serving!!
It
cost a huge amount considering there were 30 of us - nearly £700!
I give
it 3 moos.
Allie
writes:
Have visited this bar on several occasions since its opening in
2001 and I agree that the drinks are a tad expensive. However, I
recently ate there with 2 friends and we all LOVED it !
Myself
and a friend chose the mussels which were superbly cooked in cream,
white wine and garlic - very reminiscent of ones I've had in 'Mussel
Capital' Belgium - delicious ! My other friend chose the salmon
on a bed of crispy noodles - again, she thought this was very tasty
and well-presented. We shared a bottle of (non-house) red, which
at £13.50 was reasonable as it was a pleasantly smooth drink.
The
service was attentive, friendly and unhurried, despite the restaurant
side being very busy.
I
would definitely recommend Ha Ha ! as one of the better 'eateries'
in the city centre. In fact I think I'll be dragging the other half
there pretty soon !
Greedy
Cow writes:
What controversy! I couldn't pass up a chance to visit after this
discussion.
My
meal was fine, and I thought it was better value than All Bar One
and the like.
The
service was really good when we were there, even though it was busy.
I did
think the drinks were overpriced, though. I'd give them 3 moos rather
than 4. But that's just my opinion.
John
Mounsey writes:
In a word, HA-HA's is 'fantastic' ! Emma must have indeed caught
HA-HA's on a *very* bad day. The entire concept works extremely
well, and it's so refreshing to have somewhere so "cool" to eat
right in the centre of Sheffield. Funnily enough, or all the dishes
I've tried there to date (and it's been quite a few!) the Organic
Egg and Chips has been the weakest so far. I suppose there's only
so much you can do with egg and chips, but even so after the marvellous
other meals I've had there I was slightly disappointed. But overall
HA-HA is superb. If you haven't been yet then you're in for a treat
... and don't forget to check out the sandwich and coffee take-away
booth next door - "HA-HA - So Good to Go!" - that's cool too, and
the prices are sensible.
Mandy
Bell writes:
Poor Emma, you must have got them on a bad day, which I know
is no excuse, but I was also really impressd with Ha!Ha! Some friends
and I went for my birthday and we really enjoyed ourselves, loved
the atmosphere, a nice mix of people. I was so impressed that I
went the next day with my boyfirend, I am keen to know what other
people think.
Emma,
from Sheffield, writes:
Hi Greedy Cow,
I
went to Cafe ha ha and I couldn't disagree more with what your reviewer
found. My friend and I wanted lunch. Something light.
The
cafe was less than busy but it still took absolutely ages to be
served and that was just for drinks. Not a good point when you're
in the city centre and you want lunch in your lunch HOUR. At one
point we seriously considered decamping to our favourite cafe bar
across the other side of Orchard Square.
When
our food eventually arrived, we were staggered to see that the condiments
tray arrived with a dirty spoon - covered in relish from the last
user. It made us both wonder what their standards of hygiene and
service are.
We
would also say that far from being mid range for a cafe bar, it's
actually highly priced.
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