The Colony

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#13 of 48 Restaurants in OudtshoornAfrican, International, RR - RRR

What is Travellers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

The Colony

Review

At a glance

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Website

+27 44 272 2101Improve this listing

About

Features

CUISINES

African, International

Meal types

Lunch, Dinner, After-hours

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly

FEATURES

Free Wifi

Full Bar

Outdoor Seating

Reservations

Seating

Serves Alcohol

Table Service

Location

Baron van Reede Street Queens Hotel, Oudtshoorn 6625 South Africa

Does this restaurant have parking?

Yes

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Hours

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Closed now

• Opens at 6:00 PM

Sunday

Closed

Monday

18:00 - 21:30

Tuesday

18:00 - 21:30

Wednesday

18:00 - 21:30

Thursday

18:00 - 21:30

Friday

18:00 - 21:30

Saturday

18:00 - 21:30

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4.1

200 reviews

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Average

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Terrible

mfranks911

Edgware1067 contributions

Best attempt at fine dining in Oudtshoorn

Dec 2023 • couples

We stayed at Queen's Hotel three nights and ate in Colony on our first night. Very big restaurant which was not that busy but nice setting. Broad menu strong in Ostrich, the Carpaccio was excellent. Service was very good and Shannon the manager was a very good host and knowing we are in the wine trade very interesting to chat to. He gave us a tasting of local wines the next evening before we went out. We had been particularly impressed with the Karuso Pinotage on our first evening. Portions were generous and we had no room for desserts. With few diners atmosphere was lacking but it would be very nice in a full restaurant.

Written 17 December 2023

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Paris B

9 contributions

Best food in oudtshoorn , in the gracious old queens hotel !

Aug 2021 • couples

We had a splendid evening having dinner that the Colony, located at the Queen’s hotel. The portions and meals were beyond delicious. We could sample some local ostrich and also enjoy ourselves over good red wine. Romantic and classy - all in the heart of oudtshoorn

Written 1 September 2021

Neil S

Liverpool128 contributions

Old charm meal

Nov 2019 • none

Spent only the one night in oudtshoorn so got a recommendation to try this place. The Colony is within the Queens hotel. It is a nice place and the staff are very welcoming. We tried the potato and leek soup very thick and cream with nice home made brown bread was lovely. I followed with the ostrich steak my first taste. It was. Well cooked and is lighter than a beef steak and very tasty. It was cooked just as I liked it and with the vegetables and home cooked chips was a good choice. My partner had the chicken breast with noodles and this was a nice change with an Asian feel. Something we have missed on this trip. We were served my Christolene who was very attentive, welcoming and a nice personality which complimented the service. Although she was new I would suggest she will be an asset to the restaurant.

Written 10 November 2019

Sandi G

United States36 contributions

MEDIOCRE-DRAW IS THE OLD HOTEL CHARM

Feb 2023 • none

We decided to try The Colony on a Sunday night. A lot of the restaurants were closed and we arrived at our B&B late and The Colony was open, When we arrived to this gracious old queens hotel we thought it was quite charming. I ordered the osterich carpaccio and my husband order the snails appetizers. My first try at osterich was pretty good, his snail appetizer tasted good, but was quite small. I ordered the homemade ravioli which was 4 raviolis in a garlic sauce. It was good, but not too memorable. My husband ordered the fried hake which was overdone and the coating was very greasy - like the oil it was fried in hadn't been replaced enough. I think service was slow because they didn't have enough servicers. Brandy was our server and she was wonderful. We felt bad because the place was filled and she had to serve too many people which made service slow. Would I return? Probably not.

Written 26 February 2023

BackPacker800547

Bilston1668 contributions

Disappointing

Feb 2020 • couples

The Colony looks lovely, and due to load shedding was full of candles. That meant chips were off the menu but that was okay. We had a very nice glass of wine each, one chenin and one pinotage. Both excellent, and they came with some bread to appetise One of us chose a chicken breast dish, oddly combined with a overly sweet sauce in a vaguely French style and then with stir fry vegetables and noodles, both cooked on their own. We asked for steamed vegetables instead and stir fried ones turned up with no noodles. Regardless, nothing was going to rescue that sauce. The other then had lamb neck with mash and vegetables. The vegetables consisted of three beans and then a skewer of two partially cooked shallots and a cherry tomato. The meat itself was tasty but the jus was way too thin and overly sharp. I'm sorry to say the waitress was clueless, missing our ten percent voucher to cap a poor service. This was not a good meal, the kitchen appearing to execute dishes beyond the skill of the chef. The waiting was never going to be enough but was also poor.

Written 8 February 2020

Travel star

London6 contributions

Terrible

Jan 2020 • friends

Our second day in Oudtshoorn, we decide to try this establishment. The food is absolutely terrible for such a stylish hotel restaurant. Would I recommend this place? NO

Written 14 January 2020

Stefan C

Oudtshoorn2 contributions

Disappointing food experience

Dec 2019 • none

Wonderful, classy old-world decor and excellent service but what a pity about the terrible food! The starters - butternut soup and a mushroom crêpe - were ok. Mains were the catch of the day and a mutton curry. The fish were cooked to death and bone dry with the curry tasting as if it had been prepared weeks before and frozen until required. Desert and and the cheese platter were also ok, although not spectacular. The kitchen's cooks either don't care or are desperately in need of training and supervision. We are locals who spent quite a bit of money in anticipation of an enjoyable evening but were so disappointed that we do not plan to go back ever.

Written 30 December 2019

Christiaan

Pretoria1 contribution

Sadly Beyond Terrible

Dec 2019 • family

No Happy meals! We saw the reviews on TripAdvisor and got up from another restaurant to try this highly recommended Colony restaurant that was conveniently situated in the hotel that we stayed in. Do you want sanity, excellent service and peace and quiet? If so then do yourself a favour and rather buy a week old pie at the service station and a bottle of wine at the supermarket! We waited a merely 120 minutes with about 10 trips to the kitchen to get our so called food. At least I clocked additional steps on my smartwatch, that is absolutely a positive for the evening! With our two boys of 11&8 it was super fun getting our horrible burned and cold food at 22H00 in the evening. Luckily for us we had our own stash of wine in the car which we went to fetch and the only hardship was getting ice and two glasses to tap some wine to let sanity prevail... The Cape Malay lamp curry tastes like a 80year old cow that was slaughtered out of compassion. The fillet was so overcooked it must have won a month holiday trip in hell to look like that and my creamy spinach was half the stock of a dairy farm inserted to a bowl of spinach to put the happiness on top! Think carefully and buy yourself a boring burger at the Spur across the road to keep the smile on your face... Happy travels!

Written 29 December 2019

Inge2902

Gouda18 contributions

Shuttle service to average food in traditional ambiance

Sept 2019 • none

Food was nothing special, but we enjoyed the meal after all. Interesting wine list. Serving took long, there were two large groups. We were staying in Hlangana lodge which does not serve dinner. But The Colony sends a shuttle to pick you up and bring you back, for a few rands pp. Much appreciated!

Written 1 October 2019

CE730

49 contributions

Great food but took forever

Jul 2019 • couples

Delicious food and a great wine list however the food took forever to come out. Waiting staff and driver were excellent- their service was impeccable, shame the kitchen wasn’t quite as efficient. For a leisurely dinner it’s worth a visit but be prepared to finish a bottle of wine before your starters arrive.

Written 25 July 2019

Cathy H

Cape Town43 contributions

Great restaurant

Mar 2019 • family

We had a wonderful meal at the Colony restaurant. We had the lamb chops which were amazing and the Malay lamb curry which was fantastic. I highly recommend sitting on the balcony.

Written 29 March 2019

JackDoesTravel

Cape Town2 contributions

Outstanding dinner

Mar 2019 • family

What a lovey surprise! Walked past the hotel on our visit to KKNK this weekend and decided on a whim to have dinner. Lovely experience, Lindy’s service was outstanding, the food was delicious. We’ll certainly be back.

Written 24 March 2019

Noel H

Dublin104 contributions

Mixed Feelings

Feb 2019 • couples

We have mixed feelings bout this place because the setting and ambience was really inviting ; the starters were scrumptious....but the mains were a bit disappointing....not that they were bad but they seemed like prepared by a cook rather than first class chef. I had fillet steak and was expecting a melt in the mouth experience but it was slightly overdone and dry for a medium steak.

Written 3 February 2019

Francesca F

South Africa99 contributions

Nice restaurant in Oudtshoorn. In the summer make sure you eat on the outside balcony!

Jan 2019 • family

We were seated on the outside balcony. It was a lovely evening- i had the ostrich & creme brule dessert. No complaints. The lady that served us was very sweety, but non of the staff had aprons/ "uniforms" on, which i would encourage in such a restaurant. Our particular lady was busting out of her top! The food was well presented- tasty. The table was presented nicely & clean. Would suggest, however, upgrading the cutlery.

Written 15 January 2019

Courtney

Metro Minneapolis-Saint Paul406 contributions

Disappointing Against Expectations

Nov 2018 • friends

We had a nice one-night stay in the Queens Hotels while on a Garden Route tour, happening to overlap with American Thanksgiving, so we (a friend and I) were looking for a nice dinner to celebrate the holiday--with the convenience of being in the hotel, we were hoping dinner at the Colony would be nice, but unfortunately it was just average, at best. Walking into the restaurant around 7/7:30pm we found the space to be maybe 40% full, yet we stood around by the door waiting to be seated for over 10 minutes (we couldn't even find a waitress walking around to flag over). Once seated, we were asked if we'd like a bucket of ice for our champagne (we said yes), but it never came. Then we ordered starters and mine was forgotten, until the entres were served (which isn't really the point of a "starter"...), and it was only served with a weird apology about "computer glitches." The serving crew was seemingly quite young and the two women running around the store appeared quite overwhelmed. They did try, but the service overall was just deeply flawed (I stared at my steak for several minutes before she returned within earshot so I could request a fork and knife). The steak, however (once I was given the utensils to eat it), was well-prepared and quite good, but the accompanying cauliflower was unbearably bland. We did enjoy dessert quite a bit. In conclusion : decent food, but it was dramatically overshadowed by subpar service.

Written 14 January 2019

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