Ethos Restaurant — Restaurant in Gauteng

Ethos: A Mediterranean Misadventure Where Glamour Masks Chaos

To walk into Ethos is to be momentarily dazzled. Its dining room, adorned with a majestic olive tree and an open grill kitchen, conjures the sleek glamour of Milos in New York or London—a Mediterranean idyll rendered in polished stone and sunlit hues. It’s a beguiling first impression, but, dear reader, cling to it, for it is the zenith of the experience. Ethos, for all its aesthetic swagger, collapses under the weight of its own ambitions, deficient in every way when measured against the gold standard of its inspirations. The absence of white tablecloths, for one, is a scandalous omission in a restaurant with such lofty prices. It’s as if Ethos has turned up to a black-tie gala in flip-flops - chic, perhaps, but woefully underdressed.

The waiting staff, while not entirely incompetent, are plagued by a maddening lack of attention to detail. The nadir came in a moment so farcical it could have been scripted by Feydeau: as our order was still being scribbled down, two errant plates of food materialised at our table, intended for some other luckless souls. The waiter, pen in hand, gazed upon this culinary non-sequitur with the serene detachment of a Zen monk. It was less service, more surrealist performance art.

The kitchen, meanwhile, was a shambles, buckling under the strain of what we later deduced was a large event clashing with a fully booked lunch service. Our first course took a glacial 90 minutes to arrive - 50 minutes after the order was taken, by which point we’d polished off a bottle and a half of wine and were eyeing the table legs for sustenance. In hindsight, we should have seized those misdelivered plates like shipwrecked sailors grasping at driftwood. When the food finally appeared, it was a study in mediocrity. Three dips - hummus, htipiti, aubergine - were so under-seasoned they might as well have been wallpaper paste. The stuffed calamari, promised as a triumph of feta and herbs, arrived bereft of oregano, mint, or any whisper of flavour a half-decent home cook could muster. The halloumi, a last-minute substitute for an inexplicably absent cheese saganaki (news delivered half an hour after ordering), was nothing more than a few fried slices plonked on a plate with a weary lemon wedge. It was the culinary equivalent of a shrug.

There were glimmers of potential. The local seabass, sourced from the west coast, boasted a lovely natural flavour—until the kitchen overcooked it to a dry, flaky demise. The presentation, devoid of the promised mushroom and truffle accompaniment, was as uninspired as a motorway service station sandwich. A sirloin, ordered rare, was a saga unto itself. Sent back twice for being overcooked, it returned on its third attempt acceptably pink, only for the accompanying peppercorn sauce - delivered with an apologetic flourish by the manager - to arrive stone-cold. Another delay ensued while a hot sauce was cobbled together. By this point, our table resembled a battlefield, strewn with the wreckage of dashed hopes and empty wine glasses.

Ethos is a cautionary tale of style over substance, a restaurant that promises Mediterranean opulence but delivers chaos and mediocrity at a price that stings like a slap. The management, conspicuously absent in the face of this calamitous lunch, seems ill-equipped to steer the ship. Ethos, a name that promises the very spirit and character of a culture, fails spectacularly to live up to its own lofty moniker.

Save your money and your sanity - there are better Mediterranean tables to be...

Service is great, but the food is VERY disappointing, décor is great, beautiful stylish restaurant - clearly a place to be seen and take selfies, but if you hoped for food that will wow your taste buds - skip Ethos restaurant unfortunately...

Now looking back at all the reviews, I notice that many relate to how beautiful, hip, "place to be" Ethos is... This seems to be a trend lately - people go because of a the vibe, the crowd, or how impressive their social media photos will look.

For me, the top reason I visit a restaurant is to firstly enjoy good food! All the rest is a bonus - I'm often happy with a hole in the wall restaurant where its all about the food, (think how the French eat - tiny restaurant, not much to see, service often poor, but MAN is the food incredible, even if you go for the Plat du jour... )

With that in mind, lets consider Ethos' in terms of their food offering. We (me and my wife) started with the "Foie gras, duck legs and figs" - as a great chef once said to me - you need to be a real clown to stuff up duck - in Ethos' case they did - duck is actually so simple to prepare full of mind blowing taste, yet the duck leg(s) tasted like cheap chicken, and the foie gras was grainy and slightly rancid (I would not even consider this to be a good duck-liver pate...). The figs were supposed to be smoked using "pine needles", unfortunately the figs were normal fig jam figs (ot tried as I may, cold not taste any smoky nuances in the figs... )

For mains I went for their Ethos kleftiko - which also had very little flavor (not what one would expect if a decent jus were developed over time to build layers of flavor), the dish was paired with tasteless basic vegetables - The "rosemary roast potatoes" needed a good helping of salt just to remove the bland taste (In my mind its an insult to a chef if a diner must add any condiments to their food - but hey desperate times...). My wife decided on two starters as a main, initially she requested the oysters, which was out off stock, so then went only for the Lamb Kofte - need I say this - also flavorless. Without much effort I make better lamb meatballs at home.

To end the disappointing meal, we thought lets see if their deserts are something commendable - Eish - Taking a few crumpled up phyllo sheets and drizzling them with overly sweet one dimensional syrup and a few pieces of chopped nuts - does not mean you can call the dessert "baklava"... My wife had the "Coconut Revani" which is basically a large meringue covered with raw cacao powder... If you decide to go for the Coconut Revani, hold your breath when bringing the powdery cacao coated meringue close to your mouth, if you inhale at that moment, expect to have the fine cacao result in a few coughs ...

I understood (hopefully and possibly wrongfully so) that Luke Dale Roberts had a hand in the creation of the menu? Probably he is not keeping an eye at Ethos anymore (if he was indeed involved?), because this is definitely not what one would expect from a restaurant under his watchful eye (I have been to all his establishments over the years).

To be VERY honest - I really hoped that Ethos would be a new restaurant that we can often visit if we feel like great food, but for now, we will have to be happy with Saint, Signature and Short market Club. With DW13-11 gone (to Jordan Winery near Stellenbosch), our options are clearly limited...

Bad experience at Ethos in Rosebank, JHB

I recently visited Ethos in Rosebank after seeing it flood my Instagram feed with glowing reviews and stunning visuals. With all the hype around its cocktails, food, and ambiance, I was genuinely excited to experience it for myself. Unfortunately, my visit left me disappointed on several fronts, and I feel compelled to share an honest and constructive review.

Ambience & Design Let’s start with the positives. The architecture and interior design of Ethos are undoubtedly beautiful. The space is stylish, well thought-out, and visually impressive — a clear attempt at delivering a high-end Mediterranean aesthetic. It’s the kind of place that looks great in photos, which perhaps explains its social media popularity. However, beyond the surface, the experience fails to live up to expectations.

Cocktails & Drinks This was the first major letdown. I ordered four different cocktails during my visit, hoping to be wowed by creativity, flavor, or at the very least, balance. Unfortunately, every cocktail tasted basic, unimaginative, and lacked the finesse expected from a restaurant that promotes itself as premium. There was no standout flavor, no presentation that impressed, and certainly no justification for the price tags. For a restaurant placing itself in a competitive dining scene, this was a real miss.

Food Experience The food was equally underwhelming. We ordered a selection of dishes, and while presentation was passable, the taste simply wasn’t there. The mains barely reached a 5/10 — bland seasoning, unremarkable textures, and an overall lack of culinary innovation. It felt more like a meal put together to look good on a plate rather than to satisfy a palate.

Dessert Dessert was, unfortunately, the low point of the evening — a 1/10. It tasted rushed, overly sweet in parts and flavorless in others, with zero complexity or enjoyment. It was clear that dessert was an afterthought, which is disappointing considering it’s often the final impression a diner leaves with.

Overall Impression To be frank, the most enjoyable part of the evening was the bottle we brought — which, ironically, had nothing to do with the restaurant. Ethos seems to rely heavily on its aesthetics and curated social media presence, but once you get past the glossy exterior, the core offering — the food and drink — simply doesn’t deliver.

Final Thoughts I hope this review is received in the constructive spirit it’s meant. Johannesburg’s dining scene is evolving, and diners are increasingly looking for more than just Instagram-worthy locations. Ethos has the bones of a great establishment — fantastic design and a strong location — but the kitchen and bar urgently need attention. I truly hope the management takes this feedback seriously, as there is real potential here that’s being wasted...