The House of Machines — Restaurant in City Centre

The vibey atmosphere can easily be noticed from the street outside where live music often resonates between the conversations of interesting people.

Tuesdays, due to open mic night, are opportunisticly established to take advantage of the dead town and provide a space of live entertainment for those who are free. A must see as both up coming and established talent perform for the attentive crowd who are asked to respectively watch the varied performances. The weekend is always buzzing.

Sometimes incredible but always fun the drinks lubricate the enjoyment created with a masterful touch. Rudi, the bar tender, fits the classy biker bar type scene with sleeve tattoos, a welcoming, friendly smile, expert banter and quality bar tending skills. Recently returning from an international competition in Cuba, he's recognized globally. You can't go wrong with a good old fashion... Be patient if it's pumping.

The apparel and clothing offered can be seen in the back left of the building and the quality and class reflects why so many people want to be seen as a part of this franchise once they visit and nominate it as their new watering hole.

"Don't be a dick" is a slogan plastered on the front window so if you are one, don't bother coming, otherwise if you're lekker and keen for live music, quality conversation and delicious drinks I'll probably...

Apparently rated as one of the world's top 100 bars, The House of Machines did not disappoint! The barman was vocally excited by my ordering an Old Fashioned (a personal favourite of mine, and seemingly a specialty of theirs). Something about a random barman's approval of one's order puts one in a great mood for the remainder of the evening. I also sampled the Negroni and the Espresso Martini. Both were good, but the Old Fashioned remains my go-to, although if one intends to party into the late/early hours, then the added caffeine would make the Espresso Martini the better order.

There's an authenticity about this particular establishment that's rarely captured by other places. However, the location and limited size of said establishment, which no doubt contribute to the aforementioned authenticity, result in this place becoming insanely packed to the point of being impossible to navigate when "Town" is busy (avoid on First Thursdays at all costs!). I've discovered The House of Machines is best enjoyed on an arbitrary mid-week night, when you can approach the bar directly and order your drinks immediately. There are also almost always live music performances, even on arbitrary mid-week evenings.

One should also note, you will not be saving money at this...

Place is good for chills and cocktails are good but was very ticked off at the service I received. I went out with my friends. Started off really good. The only cocktail I enjoy is a margarita and this place does not do a salted rim but I had asked for it during my first three cocktails and the lovely bartenders who served me, did it for me. Until I had ordered my fourth margarita and the one bartender had refused to do it. I was quite confused because all the previous bartenders had did it for me but this guy had refused which was quite a dick head move, especially after I had already paid and tipped him. It’s not that inconvenient to salt a rim of a glass and if a customer asks you for it then it’s quite a small act to contribute towards customer service. I then tried to order another with the other bartenders who previously did it for me in the night but then they had suddenly also refused which just showed me that the other guy who refused to do it for me, told them not to do it anymore. Which is going very much out of your way to “prove a point” to a customer ? Just weird. They literally have the sentence “don’t be a dick” plastered huge on their front window. But that was very much a dick move....