My wife surprised me with a lunch to Belly of the Best for my Birthday, as she had known for quite some time that it was on my culinary bucket list in Cape Town. In summary, the service was exceptional and included some really attentive, observant and friendly staff and, for the most part, the food was good bar a few instances of lack of seasoning and that oomf factor.

The few few snack/starter dishes arrived but were served cold/room temperature which in my opinion would have been better served warm/fresh from being cooked. The dishes in question were the crumbed sweetbreads as well as their take on a "boerie" roll.

The fish dish was very flavorful, well balanced and cooked exceptionally well. It was Hake however and having been a Capetonian all my life it would have been nice to have had something a little less common. I I totally get it though, its was a local fish that they may have wanted to showcase in an elevated fashion and I can't fault them for that.

The main course unfortunately was the biggest disappointment of the tasting menu and consisted of venison steaks (Kudu) cooked Sous Vide. The dish lacked seasoning (salt) for me and for the most part was fairly one note, lacking that "flavor bomb" experience that you would expect from the crescendo of your dining experience. It just felt a bit safe and lacked a bit of creativity/innovation. The potatoe bake that came along with it had split underneath the cheesy surface, likely as a result of it having being baked at too high of a temperature, and resulted in more of a liquididy potatoe soup eating experience.

The dessert was labeled as a cheesecake, with their take on the nostalgic guavas and condensed milk. This was one in my top 3 dishes of the lunch experience. No surprise there given that I have a bit of a sweet tooth.

In summary, while I did overall have a good experience, I did leave having expected more. For a restaurant that had been awarded 2 stars from Eat Out's restaurant awards, I did feel like some of its counterpart restaurants, with that same accolade, impressed me more. The menu on the day felt a bit "safe" for R750 a head and potentially was catered more towards tourists (there were quite a few from what I could see) but it was a good experience nonetheless that I am happy I tried, but likely won't be running back to in the near future.