Let’s just say I have not written a blog about food in some time, for a reason: I have not been disappointed lately, as I have not eaten out for some time.
Well last night the missus and myself decided to head out for a nice dinner, prior to me departing on a small business based road trip.
We ended up having a dining experience at Sirocco, as we have generally always had decent food there, and the menu generally has something exciting to offer. I ordered the Mussels in a white wine and garlic sauce with garlic crouton, my wife going for the Calamari with rice… We sat outside on the top deck, still an imagining view and an awesome place to have a dining experience… However the experience turned sour very quickly. My wife’s calamari was rubbery and ice cold, the rice undercooked and the seasoning not stirred through… just a big clump of spices in the middle. My mussels were not too bad, nice and fresh I must say, however the sauce tasted more like reduced cream with what tasted almost like parmesan, no hint of garlic or wine… It was rather enjoyable, up to the point where I found a curly black hair in the food….
About 10 minutes after our starter plates were taken back to the kitchen, and we were expecting our main course, did a manager come see us and ask if we would like different or new starters…? I mean surely our mains must be almost ready? Her attitude was a little too relaxed for me, her reply to our disappointment, “I’m sorry, neh”
It took the waiter 3 attempts to get our cutlery right for the main course, first bringing my wife a new knife and fork, the second time to take my dirty knife off the napkin and place it on a side plate with a fork, and then the third to get my wife a new knife as hers looked like it had been used as a screw driver in the kitchen… Never mind the 3 times I had to get up to get a new ashtray, as the waiter kept taking it away while we were smoking, I mean it’s really not that hard to give good service is it? Maybe the waiter was a little swamped as the restaurant was really busy… I wonder how the other 4 tables service was????
For mains I had decided on the half peri peri chicken with stir fry veg and chips, my wife on the sirloin steak, aged to perfection, with the same veg, and paprika and garlic roast potatoes…Well, well, well, where do I begin? Let’s start with mine: The chicken firstly was not Peri Peri, more like a bit of chilli flakes in oil basted on the bird… Zero flavour, zero seasoning.. I felt that it tasted as though it was par cooked a week ago, and then possibly frozen and then re heated for service, it was a dry as the namib dessert… the so called stir fry veg was merely just blanched veg put on a plate, no seasoning, oil, butter… nothing….Just boring veg, A packet of Mc Cains frozen mixed beg would have been better… The chips although looked great, were soggy on the bottom from the water from the veg… YUMMY, mash potato chips!! My wife’s sirloin was nice and thick, on the one side that is…It looked like it had been portioned with a butter knife, and inch thick on the one side and a centimetre at best on the other side, so how does one cook this to medium-rare? One doesn’t, the one half is well done and the other bordering medium rare… and according to the menu this is a well aged piece of meat, well it was as tough as old leather, and as tasteless as a well, cheap supermarket beef… definitely nowhere near a week off the bone… The so called roast potatoes were deep fat fried and chewy… now firstly this is not how roast potatoes are cooked, and what would worry me more is that if they are seasoned with paprika and garlic I would hate to know what the oil in the chip fry would look like, perhaps that explains the seasoning on my chips??? and secondly I would hate to have an allergy to garlic and have something else that was cooked in the vicinity of that oil, it could kill a person...
All in all I would say it was one of the worst meals of my life and would not recommend it to anyone I like... The one thing that really got to me was the menu selection, every time I have been there the menu offers a nice selection and variety of choice, I felt like I must have paged through the menu about a dozen times in the hope that I had missed some pages, but alas not. We were told by the manager that the menu had been reduced to accommodate the season that had just passed. Now this is the thing that really grates my carrot about restaurants and establishments in general, in and about Knysna. They all go to the hills to please and satisfy holiday makers in season and do all these wonderful special events, specials etc..., but then come out of season you get the feeling that they just don’t care, but then will bitch that you don’t support them. Like the one local spot that offers a great sushi special that locals love, yet can’t have it in season… it has the feel that they say ^&*( you we don’t care in season, but in hard times please help us… what are they actually doing for us? Standards and consistency are the key element to running a successful restaurant, yet I still have yet to see some anywhere in Knysna. Except perhaps up one or 2 hills...
I challenge any restaurant with a chef at the helm of the kitchen to cook me a decent meal. If it is edible and slightly pleasing Ill pay for it, if not it’s on you...
After being schmoozed by the manager and offered a complimentary bottle of wine and a free dessert, which we regretfully declined, we paid our bill, in full, and headed to Pezula for a decadent dessert that was everything and more to write home about…Z cafe, you are next on my review board, and feel confident that you wont disappoint...
Clearly what was once a great dining experience is now nothing more than a family diner...
Now a day shy of a week later I still have not heard from the GM... Great follow up feed back and customer service....
Sincerely, The lazy Chef
