Geelbek Restaurant

This gem is located in the West Coast National Park.

On Saturday some friends and myself decided to re-visit this amazing venue.

We where very surprised.

When a Restaurant has reached the honour of being the TOP restaurant in the area is is very difficult to improve on that.

Elmorie and her Staff have just done that in my books.

The service was beyond excellent and the food was better than any I have had in a long time and I eat most of my meals in restaurants.

I decided on a real old traditional dish called Denning Vleis which is finely cooked mutton. The mistake most people make with this dish is that the over do the cloves. NOT Geelbek’s staff. It had just that subtle hint of cloves it needed letting you know it is there but leaving you wondering where it is.

Well done ladies.

Technorati : Geelbek

Well eventually we got out to the “New” Paternoster Lodge.

It is a beautiful venue overlooking the bay.

Sitting on the veranda offers a sense of peace and tranquility.

Ordered a Rump steak and was quite surprised.

The meat was tender and done correctly.
The most refreshing part of the meal was the fact that fresh veggies was served with it.

The let down was that the presentation needs serious improvement, if you run an upmarket venue your presentation must fir your ambiance.

The service was rather slow with waitresses standing chatting with each other rather than serving their tables.

Over all the experience was not to bad but needs a whole lot of improvement to meet the standards required to cater for the trade they hope to attract.

Or maybe it is one of those venues that prefer not to attract trade.

Technorati : Paternoster Lodge

So we now have one of the famous Cattle Baron Steak Ranches in Langebaan.

I went there shortly after they opened and had to wait so long to be served that eventually I got up and left.

Understanding the Restaurant trade very well I realized that it was a case of opening problems and that they have not yet fallen into the routine that results in good service.
So I thought that I would give it a month or two and then go back before writing the review.

Well went back this afternoon and took a friend and fellow chef with me.

I ordered a dish called Fillet Piccata, it looked stunning on the menu even though the picture supplied was of one of the other pan fried dishes.
My friend ordered the Prawn and Avo salad.

The service had improved somewhat but was I really disappointed with the meal.

I was given a plate with one baked potato on it and a pan with three really thin slices of meat swimming in a lake of instant mushroom sauce.
Now as we all know fillet is one if the most tender meat cuts there is and there is no way that fillet can be cut that thin (4mm) and be cut with the grain and then cooked in a pan. the meat will simply disintegrate. No what I was given was definitely not fillet, it was sirloin that had been tenderized, I had my friend taste and her first comment was it tastes like meat, something fillet does not have.

I then called the manager over who simply treated me like an Idiot and insisted that it was indeed Fillet.

I sincerely hope that this is not the standard of food they hope to serve to our visitors, specially not at R74 a shot.
that price I would gladly pay for a decent piece of fillet but for 120g max of tenderized sirloin…. come on that is really taking the client for a ride.

Cattle Baron wake up and get it right.

Technorati : Restaurant Review

I recently decided to take a drive through the West Coast National Park and re-discovered a well known secret.

Smack bang in the middle of the park is an old historical building which has lovingly been converted and is personally run by one of the Icons of tourism on the West Coast, Elmarie Leonard and her wonderful staff.

The drive was really pleasant and the reception was warm and friendly.

The first thing that greets you after the feeling of peace and quiet has stopped overwhelming A visit worth whileyou is a sign that explains that you have now entered the West Coast time Zone. (here things take a little longer)

The setting is idyllic and really old world.

The food is real value for money and the taste is out of this world.

I had a dish called spicy steak which is basically steak strips served with feta, guacamole, salad etc and is served in a ciabata roll.

Presentation is good and the taste is excellent, could be a little more spicy but then that is personal taste.

I had some wonderful companions for lunch which attests to the peace and quiet of the venue.

Congratulations to Elmarie and her staff.

A place really worth visiting.

Got treated to lunch, for my birthday, recently by a friend.

Kind of had a hard time deciding where to go but finally choose the Blue Bay Lodge.

Boy what a surprise.

Awesome Fillet Medallions served on a bed of Rosemary Mash topped with Sun dried Tomatoes. The meat was so well prepared that you could cut it with a butter knife. Real compliments to the chef.

The view was astronomical from this really old farm house, must be one of the first house built in Saldanha Bay.

If anyone knows the history please add it here.

Last night the 10th of January we decided to go to the movies in Vredenburg.
We arrived about 15 minutes early and felt like a cup of coffee, so we walked across to the Butchers Grill across the road.

We entered and asked the manager if we can have a cup of coffee to be told in a very rude and abrupt manner that he does not have time to make coffee.

THIS IS THE WORST OF BAD SERVICES.. being rude and impolite to the customer at the door before they even enter. WOULD HATE TO KNOW WHAT THE SERVICE IS LIKE ONCE YOU GO FURTHER INTO THIS RESTAURANT

Went for supper at Zizi’s Restaurant in Langebaan.

Decided after much hesitation to have a fillet steak, I don’t believe a steak should be covered in a basting sauce. Each cut of meat has its own unique taste and any chef worth his salt should be able to bring that taste out in the manner in which he prepares the steak.

At the price of steak in a restaurant these days you would expect the chef to know this, but alas we have very few who do, most people who pass for restaurant chefs lack the finer training of a Rotisseur or even that of a good griller.

So head first like a brave little soldier I dived in.

This arrived at my table

WOW what a surprise.

There arrived a 300g of fillet steak done 100% perfect.
Medium rare, no basting sauce, just the pure taste of 100% prime fillet done to absolute perfection.

I congratulate Chef Philippe and the ZiZi’s team

We strongly advise tourists to stay away from a venue known as JD’S in Saldanha Bay.
The venue always appears dark and dirty.
It is a local drinking venue and as such has its fair, maybe more than fair, share of drunks.
The management has shown a remarkable lack of care in managing their patrons and on numerous occasions members of the public simply passing by have been accosted by the patrons.
The Virtual Local Tourist.

We would like to commend Spinnakers Restaurant for their consistently good service.
On occasions that we have been there and they have had a busy night, one of the owners at least would come to the table and apologies.
This makes the patron feel as if he is appreciated.
The food has been consistently good.
The waitrons have always been friendly and have made you feel right at home.
On one occasion we where actually advised by a waitress not to order a specific dish as it would not have been what we where looking for at the time, a full meal.

The Local Virtual Tourist.

In all fairness we would like to congratulate The Farmhouse Hotel for the speedy manner in which they remedied the situation.

As often happens in larger establishments and to quote an old saying “there is many a slip betwixt the cup and the lip” and it seems as if in this case it was simply this.

To all the readers we assure you that the Service and the Food at the Farmhouse Hotel is back on the really high standard that we have grown accustomed to.

CONGRATULATIONS TO DOLORES ERIKSEN AND HER STAFF FOR THE SPEEDY MANNER IN WHICH THEY HAVE DONE THIS.