I am sorry to report that after visiting this restaurant a number of times in the recent past (and reviewing it here with 5 stares), I did so today (13/10/2019) and found that the quality and taste of the food was certainly not up to...scratch. I ordered the deep-fried calamari as a starter (one which I have had often before and thought was brilliant) but today it was simply tasteless. I do not know what was missing from the batter or the calamari itself - it was entirely dull and average. The mussels I ordered, I was told afterwards, were not available, and so I opted for the steak tartare, which I have also had several times before and was always excellent. Today it was stringy and flavourless - the quality of the meat (which practically determines the success of such a dish) was definitely not acceptable. No excuses here. One of my friends had the stuffed artichokes which I also tasted, and, I am afraid, were well below anything that should come out of a restaurant kitchen of this level. The artichokes themselves were tasteless and textureless, covered with a mess of gluey white cheese that added nothing to the ensemble. (I got the distinct impression that they had been microwaved.) The stuffing tasted of a sweetish cake flour - almost like carrot cake. A decidedy peculair comobination. The veal ravioli with butter and sage, ordered by another member of our party, looked very good but I was not offered any to try.
All in all, I am afraid, a failure. I am very sorry to have to remove this restaurant from my list of favourites, very few and far beween as they are, at least in this mining camp called Johannesburg. Service was good as always. But, as they say, not enough to save the day.More