We arrived at this pretentious restaurant just before 8 pm on a Thursday evening. After walking down the inappropriate red carpet and being seated inside, load-shedding hit and the lights went out. Most restarants spend money on a back-up generator during these regular blackouts, but...here they save money and have a collection of torches to help their staff get around. So instead of the lights coming back on as would be the case in many 'ordinary' restaurants, we sat in the gloom of the blackness, wondering why we spent so much money on such an expensive restaurant which does not consider their customers' wellbeing.
The busiest person was the barman who was kept very occupied dispensing wine via the many bustlng waitrons.
Unfortunately we had a waiter who came accross as a pompous, unfriendly person who said he would bring bread after taking our order and then disappearing. After more than 30 minutes we tackled a passing "manageress" who brought us some bread.
When the meal eventually arrived it was disappointing. My wife's fillet steak was good but the grilled/steamed vegetables - for which they charge R45 extra - comprised a few slices of peppers and onion on the small long plate. Even when we were finished our meal and the plates were cleared by someone else, we had to ask someone to ask our waiter for our bill.
Sitting in the semidarkenss near the kitchen entrance we had pleanty of time to form impressions about the restaurant. There are too many manageresses who do nothing but wonder around, occassionally talking to one of the many waiters and waitresses rushing back and forth. They don't seem to control the flow of orders or talk to the patrons, so we wondered what their purpose was. The food took a really long time to reach our table, which cannot be ascribed to the loadshedding since the kitchen was all lit up.
If one had all the time in the world and wanted to sit in their courtyard drinking wine, this restaurant is suitable. But if one wants good food and service, almost anywhere else would be better.More