The Hussar Grill Steenberg — Local services in Tokai

This is a follow up review to the first review I posted (which is below), I wanted to make it a new review but Google only offered me the opportunity to edit my previous review. Anyway, after our first visit to the Hussar I wrote a not so complimentary review of the food we had there - the service and the atmosphere couldn't be faulted, but the food was ordinary, something we could do at home, maybe even better. The response from the Hussar and the Hussars customer service was immediate. I received an email from the owner which essentially said 'you were entitled to have high expectations, come back for a complimentary meal and we will meet them'. We thought about whether we wanted to go back - what happens if it was no better, what do you say then, what happens if the waitrons over compensate and it is an awkward visit. And what about those awful urban legends of what happens behind the scenes to the food of those who complain. None of those were appealing options. But what actually happened on our return visit is worth noting. Apart from a slight acknowledgement as we gave our name as we entered we received exactly the same attention as any of the other patrons, which is exactly what we wanted. No-one wants continual visits and over compensation from the waitron or manager. It was a completely seamless experience, the bill was taken care of quietly, no fuss. We left, highly impressed. And then the food. I ordered exactly what I ordered the first time, my wife ordered a fillet. They were stunning! The rump was out of this world, I didn't need a steak knife, in fact a blunt butter knife would have done just fine, it was that tender. So, I am changing my original rating on the food from a 1 to a 5, everyone, every restaurant can have an average/bad day but its how they recover from it that counts. Would I recommend the Hussar to friends? - most definitely. And would we go back? Hell yes.

Review from our previous visit We don’t go out for supper very often but it was my birthday and we thought a steak done by experts sounded like a good idea. I should just say that I learn what I can from cooking channels and YouTube so I can cook a pretty good steak on a Weber but I don’t know much about dry aging and other cooking techniques So my expectations were high. I ordered a 300 g rump with roast veg and chips, my wife ordered a sirloin, two cuts that give a steakhouse the chance to shine. But shine they didn’t, the steak was tough, the roast veg were steamed or boiled and the chips were quite ordinary. The atmosphere was great, the service was attentive, but the food, which is why we were there, was ordinary. We would have done better to buy steak from Pick n Pay, boil some veg and do some frozen chips in the air fryer. And the bill, which included a bottle of wine was R800 and something. So, was I impressed by their knowledge of managing and cooking a steak? Not a chance. Would we go back?...

As it was our 3 year anniversary and it was a Tuesday, I suggested to hubby that we try Steenberg as our experiences at the other branches has been lovely on date night. He called to make a reservation for 8pm last night and upon arrival, the restaurant was full, and his name was not on the list. Fortunately, there was a table for two available to accommodate us.

Our experience of date night has been complimentary olives and crisps on the table but this was not forthcoming. As the restaurant was busy and our booking was 8pm, we brushed it off under the assumption that they could have ran out or maybe this branch doesn't include these arrival treats . Our waitress, while seemingly unfazed by the bustling atmosphere, was a bit heavy-handed in her approach, hastily placing menus on the table, leaning the wine bottle against the glasses, and accidentally spilling a few drops on the white tablecloth.

For our starters, I ordered tomato soup, which unfortunately wasn't fully heated, and my husband opted for snails. Both dishes were served with only two small pieces of garlic bread. My steak, ordered medium to well, arrived medium rare. Rather than disrupt our anniversary celebration by complaining, I made do with the better-cooked edges and waited for the waitress who acknowledged that it was rare with no apology. I then handed it to my husband to eat instead of returning it. He enjoyed it as medium rare is his preference. We decided to stick to the two course and to order the cheesecake to share to end the evening off. Although delicious, the top of the cheesecake was burnt.

We arrived at 8pm and left at about 9h45 pm which could have sooner but we found ourselves needing to flag down our waitress to order dessert and to ask for the bill, as she was preoccupied cleaning glasses and then assisting other staff in cleaning and preparing tables for the next day.

Our experience fell short of our expectations based on visits to other branches. Maybe we will try another visit in the future to see if we will...

Very bad and poorly managed experience yesterday evening. I made a booking days before for 20h00 (4 pax) and even followed up on the day to confirm. However, when we arrived at 19h45 we were asked to sit at the bar until a table had opened up - this we didn't mind as we were slightly early. At about 20h15 we were offered to sit at the table right by the entrance (waiting area), which I politely declined as we had made a booking well in advance and expected to be seated in the main dining area. We were then told that they would make a plan.

20h45 and we were still not attended to, although during our waiting time - new diners were entering the restaurant (no bookings) were being seated. I then requested to speak with the manager, Kevin, who listened to my story and responded that all he can do is apologise and understands our frustration but he will sort us out. He did take off the 2 draft beers we had while sitting at the bar, which was appreciated.

21h00 when we were taken to be seated in the main dining room, we noticed that there were a few 4 seater tables available. By 21h20 we still had not been asked to take our food orders - we were now beyond hungry and very irritated. We expected the manager, who apparently understood our frustrations to have ensured that we were sorted but this was definitely not the case - not once did the manager come to our table to see if we were alright, in fact I had to call the manager again because we had still not been asked to take our food order. This was not the waiter's fault, who was actually great! The manager did not have any urgency around the matter and it felt like I was being a nuisance to him.

The food was okay but definitely below Hussar Grill's standards - I have personally been to the Century City and Grand West establishments and these two are miles a part from Steenberg!

We were celebrating our partners (who are educators) end of their year but we left very disappointed and will not be returning to the...