Le Pommier Wine Estate — Hotel in Stellenbosch Local Municipality

What started out as a great late morning birthday brunch for me with great service from Clarissa and delicious food from the restaurant, ended up being ruined by atrocious service from the wine tasting team - actually just the one person, Mark. In fact, I wouldn't be suprised if Mark is solely responsible for the 4-star rating of this place and why it was so quiet.

After brunch, my wife and I made our way to the Wine Tasting reception area which was empty of staff. There was a group of guests being attended to by one staff member outside the reception and so we just thought to hang around in the reception until a staff member arrived. Mind you, my wife did make a booking. When the staff member attending to the group of Europeans came inside, he looked at me, made no attempt to greet me and carried about his way. I greeted him which prompted him to greet back. But that was it. No "how can I help?" or "I will be with you now". So again I initiated dialogue enquiring about a wine tasting. He quickly responded in a dismissive tone "I am just busy with a tasting outside and I'm only on the second wine" and then rushed back outside. My wife, annoyed, suggested we leave. I opted to stay - let's give the man some time to come back to us.

While we waited, another couple - also internationals - entered the reception and browsed the items on sale. When this staff member entered the reception area again he immediately attended to the other couple. It seemed they were paying their bill or something but they were definitely there after us. During this time, zero acknowledgement from him again. At this point I began filling out one of the "How did we do" service surveys detailing this exact experience. While filling it out, the staff member asks if we want to do a tasting and we said "No thank you, we are leaving". He simply said ok and carried on. Before he left to attend to the Europeans outside, my wife asked his name - Mark.

Mark made no attempt to entice us to stay or enquire about why we were leaving or anything - just carried on about himself.

So we left and my wife was fuming and wanted to speak to a manager. I just wanted to hand the survey in to someone that was not Mark and would pass it on to the powers that be.

Anyway, long story short - the Floor Manager, Octacia (forgive my spelling) was kind and listened and agreed with us. She appreciated the feedback and offered us a free bottle of wine. A kind gesture.

Mark needs to go and experience what service is at Lanzerac just down the road. Do better.

(side note: I mention Europeans as it is seemingly more common in Cape Town that Europeans/internationals get more attention and better service than non-whites/locals - at least in my 4 years living...

A Mixed Experience at Le Pommier Wine Estate's Restaurant

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)

I recently visited Le Pommier Wine Estate's Restaurant for breakfast and wanted to share my honest and respectful review of the experience.

Service (3/5): The staff at Le Pommier Wine Estate's Restaurant were undeniably friendly, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. However, the effectiveness of the service left much to be desired. Unfortunately, our breakfast was served in two parts, with a noticeable delay between the servings. We waited for what felt like an extended three minutes for the remaining items, which somewhat affected our overall dining experience.

Value Proposition (2/5): Regrettably, I must express my disappointment in terms of the value for money at Le Pommier. While the ambiance and location are relatively charming, the overall experience did not justify the price. I found the cost to be on the higher side considering the shortcomings in service and other aspects of the dining experience.

Food Presentation (2/5): One aspect that stood out negatively was the lack of effort in food presentation. The attached photos illustrate the dishes, and it's clear that there is room for improvement. Presentation can significantly enhance the overall dining experience, and I believe this is an area where Le Pommier could focus more attention to elevate the customer experience.

Quality of Food (3/5): The quality of the food at Le Pommier was decent, with flavors that were generally satisfying (my Eggs Benedict was tasteful and seemed to be freshly made). However, there was a noticeable hiccup with our scrambled eggs, which turned out to be dry (like it has been standing for too long). Given the reputation of the establishment, I expected a more consistent level of quality across all menu items.

In conclusion, while Le Pommier Wine Estate's Restaurant offers a pleasant atmosphere and friendly service, there are areas that need improvement, such as food presentation, and consistency in food quality. I hope this feedback is taken constructively, as I believe addressing these aspects would greatly enhance the overall dining experience for patrons.

Date Visited: 28 Dec. 2023 (between...

I never received such bad service experience ever in this industry. My cousin host a babyshower event for us yesterday which I was very excited and glad it’s been hosted there as Le pommier is one our favourite go to places, 4days before the event they let my cousin know they give us the wrong price for the food, bear in mind our invitation are out and how much each have to pay for the food, we had to get back to our guest and let them know they have to pay more money for the food cost which did not sit well with me, remember we all budget on the price they gave us first, upon arrival we as the babyshower couple were little late and our guest waited for us and keeping them busy at the bar. We arrived my cousin who booked everything explained everything to how the winter special menu works, we waited more then an hour for a waiter to take the food order more then one person go and call someone to assist us by taking our food order, they were being told they are sort of staff and we were late so we have to wait until they are available for us, this people are clearly in the wrong industry because our can you ever say that to guest seriously. We try our best to keep our guest entertained with few inside games until guest complained they really hungry, oh eventually 2 waitress arrived and take our order waited long for food aswell but which we understand as we are a big group, food arrived only one waitress to clean the tables, desert is being served which which was a messy as some never got their desert. Okay bill time: to see the bill R700 and something was outstanding which is for tip oh I was so shocked how can this people ask tip for us which they don’t deserve, oh wow it was really shocking as I also in this industry, so end up giving tip but definitely not the amount they expected. Everyone attend the babyshower had something bad to say...