Middletons Steakhouse & Grill

Middletons Steak House inhabits what was in 2011 still a Mongolian buffet-​style restaurant, and has completely overhauled the interior design to reflect the urban cosmopolitan menu choices in stylish wall furnishings, comfortable booth seating areas, and makes good use of features such as the first floor central balcony onto the ground floor as well as the rustic windows.
The prices are adequate considering portion sizes — a Middletons grill for under GBP 16.00 includes three variations of meat with sides of onion rings and wedge fries, and even a salad with steak for GBP 11.00 can be a filling meal. Deserts, all under GBP 5.00, are smaller in size now — the latter half of 2013 — than memory from earlier in 2013 serves, but — while prepared freshly — aren’t always satisfactory.
A repeated issue with Middletons Steak House is the inability to cook to order. Customers who ask for rare-​cooked steaks receive medium rare-​cooked steaks, and those who ask for blue-​cooked steaks receive (medium) rare-​cooked steaks. A steakhouse should be able to differentiate between these varying degrees of bloodiness, and while it’s hard to find better in Norwich, it’s rather easy elsewhere. Additionally, on occasion, deserts are not prepared properly, like crème brûlée portions that have been raw underneath the hard caramel crust. That said, staff have no problem in having dishes sent back to the kitchen and prepared again when notified.
Staff are friendly, though — because the restaurant is usually completely busy — it takes time to be served, after the initial quick ordering process. A discretionary 10% service charge is automatically added to parties of 8 or more.