The Hussar Grill GrandWest — Attraction in Ruyterwacht

We came through for a birthday. We were excited about "The Hussar" as we bragged about it to our folks. However, the experience was not great. Not sure if it was an off night. But we felt disappointed.

We were met by a very friendly lady at the door, who was very polite and seated us. She informed us that a waiter would be with us shortly.

We waited 20+ and no waiter had even come to take our drinks order. So it was a little frustrating but I went to the lady in the front and she quickly helped and organized some olives and homemade chips. We waited about another 5 mins or so for a waiter to arrive, and handed us menus.

I asked if I could please order a Corono alcohol free, and the waiter said they didn't have, asked for Savanah Zero and they said they didn't have. Then ordered a Heineken zero only to only have the waiter bring me a Corono. Already poured with lemon. I didn't want the lemon but not to much of a biggy.

We then ordered. Food was quick to arrive. Just looked very bland for what we ordered. And I see all the good reviews but sadly ours was maybe just an off night or something. Steak was okay. But nothing to brag about. Our plates looked rather sad with a piece of steak and a small bowl of veg. Roasted veg was not the greatest at all. Cold and definitely warmed up.However, we made the best of it and decided to stay for dessert.

We ordered the creme brulee at over R70+ a pop. Only for our waiter to forget we ordered and bring us the bill instead about 10 minutes later. We were not done. But anyways. A little shocked, we said we have a birthday lady at the table at she would really like her dessert and so would we. We were told that they would have to ask the kitchen. 15+ minutes later the waiter brought only 1x creme brulee for the birthday lady. And then we had to ask for another one. 🤭 We kinda felt like we were not wanted and my father inlaw at this stage justwanted to pay and leave, so we could get dessert somewhere else. However, we convinced him to hold it out as the dessert would be worth it, we waited and waited, eventually we were served a type of creme brulee that was extremely hot on top and frozen in the middle. No jokes. So clearly these are kept in a freezer, and not fresh but non the less we made light of it to keep the vibe happy.

Overall, not the greatest dinning experience. For the amount of money spent which we didn't mind doing. We just felt a little done in.

To wrap up the night we were met by a rather cute little mouse running from table to table picking up scraps. But some did not find rhis entertaining and at this stage the folks got up and left. We stayed to finish our dessert as it was rather pricey for what we paid for. And had a laugh. As it was meant to be a fun evening. We made the best of it.

Pity. As regulars, I can't see us being excited to come back in a hurry. We always brag about your restaurant but will choose somewhere else to eat at from now on. Very sad.

What made it worse was that once we paid nobody came back to clean our table and we pretty much let ourselves out and...

……..Our visit to this restaurant was long overdue. When we made the reservation it was indeed good to notice that within an hour after the phone call they send you a sms confirming your booking and also on the day of your visit they again send you a sms as a reminder of your date with them, this is already a plus for this establishment. This restaurant is located in a prime spot in the “District” area in the Grand West Casino complex and their patio seating area is right next to the smoker’s casino entrance. The inside is very posh with its shiny rustic look of reddish brown face-brick walls, the furnishing is posh with its nice green-leather seating along the one side wall and the yellow lamp-shades makes the place kind of romantic. A nice bar counter greets you head-on as you walk in at the entrance. On the day of our visit we were seated on the patio although there is enough lighting around this area it still remains a bit dark as can be noticed when one is trying to get good food pictures and also make a video clipping. We were served by Amos who executed his duties very professional-lii. We also had the pleasure of meeting the day manageress “Martha” who came around just to make sure we were well taken care of and enjoying ourselves. Each table has a bowl of crisp-ii potato chips on it with black olives as nibbles instead of bread. Our order for main-meals were 1. Pork Belly smothered in tomato-sauce and served with cream spinach and a cinnamon infused butternut. 2. 200g Rump with hand-cut potato chips. 3. 300g Sirloin on the bone served with a cheddar-sauce, hand-cut potato-chips and onion-rings. Must say each dish was well presented and very taste-tii even the onion-rings were decent and nice and crisp-ii. We ordered a bottle of Beyer’s Kloof Pinotage which was way too expensive! If we knew we would have brought our own wine with us for we saw that the wine-price-list categorically state “Our guests are most welcome to bring their own wines. Rest assured there will be no corkage ever” Our dessert order was as follows; 1. Malva-pudding served with a dollop of custard and ice cream. 2. Baked Cheese-cake with fresh cream or ice cream. 3. Chocolate Fondant served with fresh cream or ice cream. Must say all the desserts were delicious and the malva-pudding was as it should be dry’ish and not sog-gii at all. We enjoyed it here and will probably return here to try some of their other meals on offer. They also have week-lii specials which they advertise on the big electronic colour display-board outside of the restaurant at the entrance and you can find some nice Wiki-Deals available from time to time. They have a multi-page menu book which has many offers and the prices...

We had a wonderful "Date Night", and are glad we booked in advance. We were greeted by name at the door by manager Jason, and taken to our cosy, comfortable booth in the tastefully decorated restaurant. Soft lighting, nice music played at a volume that still allowed for good conversation, and decor that was calming and initimate.

We were very relaxed when the food arrived, initially some garlic olives and thinly slices fried potato. This went well with the Hussars 50th anniversary bottle of red wine that was a part of the date night special menu.

Our waitresses were lovely and patient with us, offering a broad range of choices to accompany the three course meal. Attention to detail was perfect, working through a list of entree, main and dessert choices, then the side dish of preference, cut of steak and how we wanted it cooked.

Chicken livers in creamy peri peri sauce with crunchy croutons came first and the red wine continued to delight, cutting through the richness of the sauce.

The steak was simply presented on a warm plate, and beautifully cooked. We eat good red meat rare, and were very pleased when the steak came out properly cooked. Too many restaurants seem to over cook their steak when ordered rare, but not here at Hussars. And, this was our second visit, previously also having a perfectly cooked steak. The fat was nicely rendered, will grill flavours came through on the tender and tasty sirloin steak that we ordered.

Dessert finally followed, and somewhere in there we had an extra glass of wine, necessitated by the wonderful pace of the service. Slow enough that we could enjoy the ambience, sip our wine slowly and chat, but not so slow that we were looking around waiting for food to arrive.

I guess what helped the service speed was the attentiveness of our waiting team, occasionly being asked how everything was going, and whether or not we were ready for the next course.

Again, we were impressed by this desire to ensure our needs were met - neither rushed because the restaurant wanted to free up our seats for the next group, nor delayed due possibly to a busy or inefficient kitchen. Whatever the reasons, we were watchful and attentive to the processes of the restaurant ourselves, and everything seemed to be handled perfectly.

It was lovely to meet the manager Jason, and provide final thanks to him directly. My wife and I are only visiting Cape Town for a short while, and to have positive and memorable experiences such as we had at Hussars Grill GrandWest, is delightful.

Five stars...