Restaurant review: The good, the bad, the ugly

In South Africa, we have some of the greatest food in the world – there is no doubt about that whatsoever.  When people leave, most of their comments revolve around the incredible tasty food that they consumed in various towns.  Now I am no professional restaurant reviewer, but I have had three very different experiences in Cape Town restaurants that seem to be worthy of writing about.  We did not do a comparative eating session, but went to these restaurants and ate what we felt like on the day.

Pigelle

Personal review:

This restaurant is classy and classic.  It used to be the old ice-rink, so it is very spacious, but elegant.  Service is very good, but when I asked for a glass of water they were rather condescending.  For the meal I had a rib-eye steak which was superb quality and enough food.  Nicky had fish which she enjoyed – and the vegetables we ordered were very tasty.  We attended their “first sitting” so we could not stay for the dancing, but we will definitely go back for that sometime.  The cost was fair for a top-class restaurant, and we were very content with the overall experience

Reviews from http://www.food24.com

The atmosphere is excellent and warm, the service is excellent by well trained waiters, and the food was out of this world. Really a restaurant to visit.

Have just recently become a huge fan of this establishment – management and staff alike run a tight ship.

The food was excellent, the service was outstanding and the live band made it all perfect.

 

Baia

Personal review:

Friends of mine from Scotland hired a vehicle in Port Elizabeth and took a drive down to Cape Town before flying back.  We decided to take them to a restaurant that we had heard very good things about.  We decided on Baia at the V&A waterfront.  This restaurant has great views of the harbor, and it feels like you have entered into a colloquial era with lavish settings.  They sat us down, and it was a bit close to the table of Americans next to us, but we dealt with that.  The waiter offered us wine, and the Scottish people decided to take a bottle.  We had tiny rolls on the table that were freshly baked and tasted good – tried to get some more and got a dirty stare!  We skipped starters and went straight for the main event.  Nicki had a seafood platter and I had a steak.  Food arrived at different times which I would not expect from them, but only about 5 minutes difference, so not that bad.  Nicki was enjoying the seafood which you could taste was done to perfection.  My steak arrived and I was a bit disappointed by the size, but when I tucked in, the taste was incredible!  It had not been grilled like most restaurants – not the way I would normally do a steak, but for this occasion was one very good steak.  Then we shared 2 dessert s.  The night was  going pretty well, and then we asked for the bill.

I have no idea how it came up to the amount that it did, and even for the Scottish friends this seemed excessive.  For the size of the steak I had, it does not really matter how good it tasted, it left a sour taste in my mouth.  We literally could not go to our next restaurant for another month.  Overall, will always remember the food, but would rather put the money into our bond.

Reviews from http://www.food24.com

Decent food, pushy waiter (tried to push a more pricey bottle of wine) and way overpriced in general.

We had dinner there on Friday evening. The food was good, as always, but the service was indifferent and disappointing. We had to call the waiter to the table throughout the entire evening whenever anything was required. Will not go back there soon.

Beluga

A group of friends decided to try Beluga – a restaurant in Green Point.  There were 8 of us, and we were seated quite quickly.  We were seated under the air-conditioner that cools the entire place… even I was freezing, and that does not happen often.  Drinks orders on my side of the table were a strawberry daiquiri, two orange juices, and my glass of water.  The waitress did not write the water down, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt.  Drinks arrived, and of course the water was not there – asked again.  Eventually I had to ask a third time and then it arrived.  The orange juice tasted like it had come from the local corner shop, and we were hoping for something fresher.  The daiquiri was without a doubt very watered down, and we saw somebody at the table next to us return theirs! 

I opened the menu, and with the previous experience decided that there was no way I could justify these prices for a steak.  There was a “paper menu” that Nicki found with prices that we would not clear our accounts out.  I ordered a steak club sandwich and she ordered a butternut dish.  Took a while for the food to arrive, but we excused that due to there being eight people.

Nicki’s plate arrived and there was a lot of white – the porcelain.  The microscopic dish on the side contained the food, and some leaves next to it.  Mine had not arrived, so I took a tiny bit to taste – it was rather good and I was looking forward to my food.  My food arrived and looked smart enough.  I picked up the knife and started cutting through the panina.  I had to cut a while, as it was stale.  I took the first bite, and definitely got a taste that I was not expecting – cheese.  It was awful, I disassembled the panina, put the leaves on the side and saw that they had covered everything in cheese – a horrible cheese at that.  It tasted like old Melrose.  I decided to scrape it all off the meat and the roll, then I tried again.  The taste stayed, and I tried just the meat – it even stayed there, so I decided not to make a scene, and calmly returned the dish.  As 99% of the food was still on the plate, I think it was a really dumb for the waitress to ask if I had enjoyed it.  I said no which she promptly ignored and left.

The other side of the table had ordered the sushi, and seemed to enjoy that.  Our side of the table was not happy at all, and our overall experience was just simply horrid.   We had to ask for the bill three times, which is obviously the magic number there.

Reviews from http://www.food24.com

Tracey and myself go regular to both your resturants and can only rave about the place. It’s like our second kitchen if you ask me. Keep up the work and will see you the weekend.

I went with two separate groups of friends last Friday night and we were horrified that neither the barman nor the waitresses brought us change when we ordered drinks/food.

Went to Beluga for dinner with my friend. Food was very bad! The salmon’s quality is questionable and the service is beyond poor.

 

As a final note, I still think that the “family restaurants” or standard restaurants in this country offer an extremely high level of service and quality for the price that you pay.  If I am going to pay double or triple the price, I expect to get at least the same amount of food with amazing taste and perfect unquestionable service.