De Kloof Restaurant

Just dont waste your time attending the oyster festival unless it's for breakfast. Sold out by midday with the rugby still to follow at 3.

Absolute Kak. And the owner is a double douche bag.
Will not recommend this place dry and flaccid. Biltong has more flavor.

Horrible experience. Will not recommend this restaurant to anyone, the website and social media pages are utterly misleading. Stay away!

Burgers were cold, buns were straight from the fridge. I have been here few times and there is no consistency.

What a disappointment! Chose this place as part of restaurant week. From the first drink to the bill, service was shockingly slow. Cocktails on menu, not available. Only 1 can of indian tonic left when we ordered gin. Most garnishes for the gin was unavailable. Soup was cold. Meat not cooked as ordered. The pineapple on the dessert still had a piece of skin on it. Manager very unhelpful and the portions very small. The lunch took 3 hours and the food was poor value for money. Maybe this was a nice place back in the day, but today it was awful!

We booked for the Valentine's dinner and were left feeling extremely disappointed afterwards. The menu and other reviews had me feeling very excited for our "gourmet" and "fine dining" dinner but what we experienced was rather boring and very uninspired.

On arrival we were given a lovely glass of bubbly. The ladies were meant to receive a rose but I did not. We were seated and shortly thereafter presented with our first course which was meant to be served with bubbly but this actually was the bubbly served on arrival, so if you drank it before your starter arrived, you had no pairing, which was not mentioned when the bubbly was served. The starter was not enjoyable at all. I think they included the Turkish delight pannacotta to add a pink element for Valentine's Day but this did not go with the course and would have been much better suited to a dessert. The salmon was also not good quality but rather the cheap offcuts you buy with the brown discolored pieces. We hoped it would just be this course that was underwhelming but sadly this was the common factor across the entire dinner.

Our second course was a gruyere and cauliflower fondant, which on it's own was not too bad but it was served with a watery maraschino cherry sorbet, which did not compliment the meal but again was added to add a pink element to the dish. The nuts were supposed to have been roasted with paprika but we could not taste or see any evidence of this. Our pairing for this meal was meant to be a lemongrass and ginger g&t but instead we received a cucumber one.

We were then served what was meant to be a lemon verbena and passion fruit palate cleanser but this just tasted like passion fruit. This was served with a plastic spoon. Not fine dining at all.

Up until this point, we were feeling very underwhelmed but had high hopes for the main. We were just served our steak without requesting how we would like it done. My boyfriend received a smaller piece than I did, so we swapped as the portions up until this point had all been very small and these were not too substantial either. His was cooked medium. Mine was very well done. I do not enjoy my steak well done, so this was not to my taste. The jus was meant to be an oxtail and shiitake jus, this however tasted like a packet gravy. The small pie however was very tasty and was the one thing I actually really enjoyed on my plate. Our wine was served out of a bottle where the wine label had been removed, leading us to question what wine we were actually served.

After our mains were cleared, our palate cleansers glasses and spoons had still not been cleared.

I had been looking forward to dessert since waking up this morning (cheesecake would be my ideal last meal) but this just added to the disappointment of the evening. The coffee flavour was so overpowering that you could not taste the chocolate or the cheese. It was also so gelatinous that it had the texture of set jelly. The dulche de leche ice cream it was served with did taste nice and was much better than the cheesecake.

The service was also not good. Our waiter at no point offered us water or anything else to drink. When I mentioned I did not enjoy my steak and that it was very overdone, no comment was made, not even that it would be mentioned to the chef. No one checked on us to see if we were enjoying our meals until they came to clear the plates. We also had a broken table light on our table. When this was mentioned to the waiter, it was just removed. Only upon asking if we would still be getting another one, was it arranged.

The views were really pretty and on a clear day, I imagine the sunset would be lovely. We visited on a cloudy day and it was still pretty.

Overall we left feeling disappointed and quite cheated after paying R1,700 for a dinner that was very sub-par. The portions were very small but had the food actually tasted nice, this wouldn't have been an issue.

Went for the Valentines Dinner on the 13th. Was very disappointing on what we expected from reading the menu online.

Service was not up to standard. We sat down and was only served 15min after we had to go and call a waiter. Waiter didn't introduce himself, got the Gin order wrong. I ordered Gin with Lamb and Watts Tonic, grapefruit and Lemon as garnish. Got Gin with cucumber, cinnamon, apple and lemon. No tonic. Had to remind the waiter for the tonic. He brought me Fitch and Leeds Tonic. After I told him its the wrong tonic he said the Lamb and Watts is out of stock. A friend at the table ordered white wine and it took 30min to get the wine after we had to remind the waiter again. No coffee service was offered.

Food on the set menu was not at all as described. The first course was lovers bread however not to our taste. The bread was more like a taco that was dressed with other items.

Second course was Gruyere and Cauliflower. This was tasty however would have liked to tasted this Swiss Hard Cheese. Cauliflower was dominating the plate and taste.

The sorbet was Lemon Verbena. We received Granadilla Sorbet. After enquiring with the waiter he took the wrong sorbet brought us the right one stating that the kitchen didn't think it was innovative enough hence why they didn't serve it. Why have it one the menu to start with.

Forth course was Lamb. From the four plates not one lamb was cooked the same temperature or presented the same way. The Edame Beans was not peeled which left them tough to eat and we ended up peeling it ourselves. The Lamb and Raisin Tart was tasty however it was drenched in the Rosemary creme which was more of a sauce and made the pastry soggy and unedible.

Dessert was a Chocolate and Espresso Cheescake which looked and tasted more like a mousse. The Dulce De Leche ice cream was most probably the high light of the night. The brandy snap of the four plates only one was done great and the rest was soggy.

At the end of the night we just got up to leave and pay the bill which they added a R287 service fee on a party of four. This was added without our consent.

For a fine dining restaurant the decor was dusty, not all light bulbs are working, windows are dirty, carpet has not been vacuumed and in the gentleman's bathroom there is a lot of water damage on the ceiling and you can hear the water dripping.

It breaks my heart writing a review like this as we were really looking forward to spending a night at a well-known restaurant and hope this will be taken as good critic, to up the standards and improve. One should be able to see the chefs passion on each plate which tonight was lacking. In a time during this Pandemic it is important to take the little guests that you can host and make them remember it.

I am very confused. We arrived for lunch today being a Wednesday at De Kloof and were directed to the burger bar which is not what we wanted. The lady at the front disappeared so we couldn't ask anybody want was going on so we left.

The night started with friendly smiles from the staff. We were seated on the patio where we could enjoy the sunset over the city. After sunset our waiter graciously suggested that we move inside since it became quite chilly outside, which we did.

We were treated to some bread while we decided on our starters. Things started going South when one of the items on the menu was unavailable because the restaurant was out of prawns. Really? No prawns?

The starters were small but tasty. We enjoyed the quiet ambiance while contemplating our main course. We did not opt for pairing each meal with a specific beverage. I still had to drive home and wanted to do so with a clean conscience.

Our main course was again small but tasty. My pork belly was cooked perfectly and the accompanying pear flavors complemented it very well.

After the main course things started to fall apart. Our waiter collected our plates and then seemingly forgot that we existed. Maybe the table outside with the sexy lady garnered all his attention. After 45 minutes I had to do something. I interrupted one of his many dashes to the patio with a snap of my fingers. 15 Minutes later our desserts were served. Mine was steaming hot and dry as if it was left in the microwave too long. My wife's dessert was cold on the inside as if it wasn't in the microwave long enough.

We arrived just after six and it was now after nine. We were tired and wanted to go home, not expecting a three course meal to take this long. In all I felt disappointed with the whole experience. If you want a fine dining experience rather go to the Black Bamboo.

We made a reservation for a special birthday. When wanting to order fillet, it was not delivered that day! After ordering our food, we waited for an hour, no apologies. It was a cold night and the "windows" were opened on request of other guests sitting in their winter jackets. Our opinion was not asked. Portions very small. No recognition (desert or some gesture) for the birtday man. A very disappointing evening.

The food is is classified as fine dining without a doubt it is fine dining, but really not wow most of the stuff on the plate is not eatable and the portions are extremely small. The desserts were also so disappointing never lived up to the elaborate description. The decor and ambience also need updating.

Nice view and pleasant setting in a golf estate. Expansive wine selection. Food took a looonnnngggg time and we were only a party of five.

Stunning food. Really weird service. Loved the cheesecake! A must try for culinary fanatics.

Lovely venue, beautiful views, nice Manager, friendly staff, 5 star menu and beautifully presented too, But very expensive drinks so the bill can go up quite quickly. You have to check what you order in terms of drinks vs what’s charged as well…. It’s either the waiters charge extra or there was a price change which was not updated on the menu.

De Kloof has a lot going for it. It has a beautiful view, friendly staff and most of the food was really top notch. The six course set menu is worth the effort, if only to enjoy the delicious mushroom soup. From a food perspective there were a couple of niggles. Our ravioli was a bit uncooked, the ostrich tasted exactly like liver, and white chocolate desert was way too sweet. (Admittedly, I don't like white chocolate at all, and believe it shouldn't be allowed to be called chocolate if it does not contain cacao.)

For a restaurant of its caliber and price range it was also somewhat disappointing that the tablecloths were stained and frayed, many of the plates were chipped, and the sound system or powersupply of the device it was plugged into continuously connected and disconnected, weaving the system tones into the music, which was incredibly annoying.

Service was very slow today although the restaurant not that busy, had to wait 2 hours between starters and mains. Floors dirty, cutlery not clean, we had to ask to get some replaced. The manager was made aware. Place over rated.

Husband and I first went there 4 years ago and is definitely one of our favourites. I always have the 5 course tasting menu with wine pairing. Can never go wrong. Impress a loved one or client with fine dining.

Disclaimer: the above was from 2017, for an update please read David Mcconell's review. I completely align myself with every statement of his review.

Having been here a few times before, I was looking forward to experiencing Restaurant Week here. I was terribly disappointed. The food was up to scratch, but service was terrible. I definitely expect more from a fine dining restaurant. There were 3 waiters covering 12 occupied tables. Service was disjointed, and I had to ask another waiter for something several times, as the first one had forgotten. I ordered a gin and tonic with cucumber, grapefruit and lemon, the cucumber specifically being recommended by the waiter. My drink had only a slice of lemon in it, and when I enquired, I was told, not by the waiter who had brought me my drink, but by the waitress, that the restaurant was out of grapefruit and cucumber. I find this unacceptable, as the restaurant appeared completely unprepared for Restaurant Week. We were a group of 3, all having ordered meat, but we were not provided with steak knives and had to ask for them. They were then taken to the wrong table, and we had to call the waitress over when we saw her wandering around with three steak knives on a tray, while our food went cold. Portions are small, but we were satisfied after our 3 course meal. However, anything less than 3 courses, would not be sufficient, in my opinion. To end off, the bill folder was filthy and sticky.

Setting beautiful but food was below average. Steak was not medium rare and it was very very dry. Would not recommend it.

To clarify rating, if this was an average restaurant it would be 5*. Beautiful location and view, friendly service, tasty food. However, De Kloof bills itself as fine dining, and it's what is missing in terms of this, like any awards since 2013/14.that makes the difference between a 5* fine dining restaurant and the De Kloof of 2019. Probably in summary attention to detail lacking, starting with a Restaurant Week menu in Autumn of 2019 that reads Summer 2018. Service is friendly but lacking in the nuanced etiquette required of a fine dining establishment. With regards to the dishes, as I said all were tasty, but lacked the variety of tastes, textures, colours and interesting presentation of De Kloof circa 2013. Worse, it lacked a number of the elements actually described on the menu across all courses. By way of example, dessert on the menu, "chocolate and lime soufflé, nartjie sorbet, miso yaki tuile, citrus sherbet“ actual dessert on table: chocolate soufflé (that stuck to sides of expresso cup.not a ramikin dish) tuile, and vanilla ice cream scoop presented in a branded expresso cup saucer. To end the evening and leave a literal bitter taste, was the cappuccino, not the chocolate that in the past accompanied the bill, which was part and parcel of De Kloof of old. Pity.