Café del Sol Botanico

Went for a year end lunch. Felt as if the staff were struggling to cater for the event. We were about 100 people, and they really couldn't get the food out on time. The halloumi was delicious, the chicken a bit over cooked and the berry pavlova was delicious. Overall cute place but was a bit cramped. It was extremely hot in the venue and it seemed as if the aircons were not working.

UPDATE TO REVIEW: 23/09/2023
So, I was eventually called by, I believe, the manager of this branch (at 10h25 on Monday, 18 September - 2½ weeks after the offending event). I apologised for not being able to talk as I was in an online Teams meeting at the time, and was informed that I would be contacted again by latest Wednesday. Needless to say, I haven't been contacted again. I am not surprised. The less said, the better.

REVIEW: 01/09/2023
I have frequented the Classico branch for many years, so am able to make a major comparison, and not a good one at that. Botanico and Classico, from my experience, are like night and day. They have similar, almost identical menus, but the overall experience at Botanico was disappointing. See my recent review of Classico. We went twice since. The staff at Classico are incredibly friendly, and the overall experience is fantastic. Botanico leaves much to be desired.

I booked several weeks ago for my partner's birthday at Botanico. When we arrived, the introduction was hardly warm and welcoming, and we were shown to the terrace and a choice of two tables. Having booked several weeks ago, and prepared to spend a lot of money for a special birthday, I was horrified at the tables offered. Rickety, small and empty, while adjoining tables had the finest glassware, cutlery, etc. It felt like we were placed at a table for persons awaiting take-aways. After asking to be moved, we were given a bigger table, but the surly attitude and the first impressions of this branch almost made me pack up and leave in embarrassment.

To the drinks order. My partner's whiskey sour was three quarters ice and I am not exaggerating. I won't even comment further. He asked for another one afterwards with less ice and was more satisfied. It seriously felt like shrinkflation, and I loathe feeling ripped off. By this point, my blood was starting to boil. Thankfully the starters arrived and were pleasant. Although my partner did mention that there was so much sauce rather than chicken livers, and two tiny Crostinis to eat them with. My Gnocchi Gorgonzola was fairly impressive, but I found the sauce a little watered down compared to the thick, creamy consistency I am used to.

The service, in general, scores 1 star, but that of our waiter was generally good, hence the R200 tip we gave him at the end. The 1 star is for the overall service experience or lack thereof.

For mains, my partner chose the sea bass and I chose the pork belly, with triple-cooked fries for the table. My pork belly was enjoyable, but the crackling was almost inedible. It spoiled the entire dish. My partner found the sea bass bland and messy. It was hardly a beautifully plated dish, and had far too much mash. I found the pork belly portion was a little too small for the size of the mashed roasted onion and sweet potato that enrobed it. As for the chips at R85, one can be forgiven for expecting nothing less than perfection. I have made Heston Blumenthal triple-fried chips, and I have had them elsewhere, including at Classico, so I know exactly how they should taste, and these were embarrassing. We ate two chips each, which bordered on roadhouse slap chips, and I explained to the waitron that we were less than impressed AND that they were not triple-fried chips. Sadly, these were not removed from the Bill. Nobody apologise or asked our thoughts. I wasn't arguing further because, by that stage, I had had enough.

Dessert was average. A much smaller portion of pavlova than expected, and some of the fruits used were underripe and sour. The cappuccinos were at least good.

Total bill was R1,733 which included a R200 tip, and which I was probably too generous to give. On the whole, a disappointing birthday experience which left me apologizing profusely to my partner. I will not be back. Certainly not at this branch. I have booked another dining experience for my partner elsewhere, as a belated birthday dinner - after wiping all memory of this disastrous experience.

We booked and asked for a table on the veranda. Ended up with a child shouting at his dad. Moved inside to have more kids sitting at the window kicking it and parents and management did nothing to stop it. Then the table next to next to us joined a teleconference in speaker phone and management only stopped it after we complained. Then they added an extra 0 to our credit card payment so we had to sit around to resolve that. Our day was an absolute disaster. Probably wont go back.

We went there for some cake and coffee. The service wasn't great, some of the staff don't seem very well trained. We also couldn't have coffee because they ran out of water? The pavlova tasted like it was made with some kind of spray cream but the cheesecake wasn't bad. Overall quite overpriced for the standard of food and service. If you're paying 100+ for a dessert it should be higher quality.

Food prices on the upper range but not tasty - we had the pasta.
Service was satisfactory.
Not sure I'd return.

There's not much I can say about café Dr Sol except that it was absolutely exceptional on every level. The food, ambiance, attention to detail and care from our waiter was truly exceptional. A wonderful experience and well worth visiting! A special mention for the peanut butter cheese cake that was a work of art!

Very disappointed at the poor management skills @Gugu Mhlangu and her team you let the brand down

5 stars for everything Good Service wonder waiter, atmosphere, decor (spotlessly clean toilets very important) and every meal the best of the best

Very good food, nice portion sizes, food well plated. Service is also good hence it is such a popular restaurant where it is difficult to find a table even during the week

I experienced horrible customer service in 2 separate occasions. The second time was this past Friday (18 Nov 22) I ended up leaving because we waited 5+ minutes to be attended to. After being attended to we requested to move to a table outside, we were told the lady at the front manages table allocation. We waited for feedback from her for another 5 minutes or so till we decided to leave. Extremely disappointed

My partners lamb pasta had way too much salt. We told the waitress, but no response. So the food was returned, but she was not offered an alternative, even the chef did not come and see why the food was returned uneaten. I didn't tell the waitress to remove pasta off our bill as I was not in an arguing mood, hence I didn't ask to speak to the manager. However I won't be returning any time soon. You can't pay premium prices and the waitress does not know how to ensure the customer is happy, when the food is returned uneaten after being told it was too salty.

Waiter took our unfinished meals without asking if it's a doggie bag.
Disappointed in his lack of etiquette

New entry: we celebrated my parents birthday and anniversary in the private dining area today. What a pleasure! The food was delicious and the service was fantastic. Our waiters were professional and friendly. Gugu and her team did an amazing job today.
Thank you!

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We went here for a family member's 80th birthday. The food was amazing and the service was brilliant.

Took her here to ask her to be my girlfriend. Perfect date night spot, i love how easy their booking system is and they will go their way to meet your needs. Thank you to the amazing staff

Food was great only disappointment was our waiter taking our unfinished food away without checking with us if we wanna take it home. I nearly cried at home when I got there & realised my left over wasn't there

The service was excellent. So friendly and welcoming. My friend and I enjoyed our starters and main courses and agreed that we would definitely be back. The food was delicious.

The food was amazing!

I really enjoyed the seafood pasta and the Wellington steak was.

Definitely coming back for it.

Be careful for roadblocks at night as the police flag your car at shopping centre and pull you over 1km further down in a roadblock immediately testing for alcohol limits where many other cars are just past through.

Service with Bright was non existant. Food was way below Italian quality. Seafood pasta was so overcooked it was breaking with each twist of the fork, tasteless. Gnocchi was good but the sauce again tasteless. The managers dissapered " couldn't be found". No espresso because there was no water. Charged us for some food we had to return. Served an Affogato with no coffee. Overall a very bad experience. Abismal service. Very dissapointed!

Atmosphere is great, muted (in a good way), chill music, trendy slightly older crowd, upmarket design and good food (albeit extremely expensive - the 7 fries i bought cost a lot of money lol). The complimentary popcorn is surprisingly yummy.