PABLO Sandton Restaurant — Restaurant in Gauteng

We have had Pablo's Egg Go Bar on our to eat list for quite sometime. During the lockdown we were quite sad to hear of their closing, cos we kept wanting to take the trip to Mellville for a sunday breakfast.

Luckily we heard they re-opened in the newly launched Mint Hotel 84 on Katherine St so we could finally get our share of Pablo Sandton 🎉🎉

I called in the week to make a booking as I know many people were happy to hear they were back in business and now much closer too, so figured rather be safe than sorry. I was told that they don't take bookings over weekends, as we wanted to come around 9am for 3 people and were told that we should be able to get a table as it gets alot busier after 11am. Clearly that statement doesn't apply to everyone, as when we arrived there were some "reserved" tables of which I knew the one occupant. So that just annoyed me slightly.

Luckily our waiter Wesley was on the ball. We ordered our drinks. Turmeric Lemonade and 2 x Cardamon Coffee. As a person who loves trying new varieties, this Lemonade is pretty darn good, can't say the reaction for the Cardamon coffee was good they said it tasted weak and lacked flavour.

As for our food, we took the Red Shakshuka (I mean how can you not order it - 3 eggs poached in a middle eastern style tomato sauce with Hummus, Green salsa and Yemeni flat bread😋), the Breakfast bun (Steak & Bacon Cheddar balls with smoked back Bacon, crispy fried Egg, Pablo's mayo on an English muffin with Triple cooked chips), Salmon Scramble (eggs scrambled in butter with smoked salmon, black sesame and coriander) and the Granola Yoghurt fruit bowl (Homemade Granola with fruit, real Greek yogurt, honey and toasted cashew and coconut)

When the food arrived, everything looked amazing, and so did the taste. Our Shakshuka was just perfect and the eggs poached right. The yemeni flat bread with the hummus was also tummy..The Breakfast bun was good but the meatballs slightly dry, so needed some more pablo Mayo or something but otherwise tasty, and the chips - delicious. The scramble and the granola also tasted really fresh and lovely. Granola was particularly unique with its flavour profile and crunch. 👍🏻

Great morning having a catchup, finished off with a Cappuccino with cream and a Dirty Espresso.

Another compliment I must give is the clean and neat toilets, not often do you find establishments with such decent facilities. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Before leaving we took a quick walk by the outside tables by the pool. Not sure whose brave enough to swin there 🤔

And my only other gripe is the parking area and signage. Someone didn't plan for all the big cars who dont know how to park in small places between lines and just finding this spot in general. I mean its literally where I work and I would have missed it...

After reading a reviews and seeing the pictures on Instagram I added Pablo (inside Mint Hotel on Katherine Street) onto my list for #ShaziReviews to explore.

My friend and I hadn't seen each other in a while and since Saturday 07 November was a sunny day I thought "Great day to try out Pablo and eat by the pool deck! 😁" for #ShaziReviews I was going to make a reservation but on the reviews they said they don't take reservations on weekends, not sure why.

Saturday at lunchtime with the sun out in all its glory I arrive at the Mint hotel and the entry into the parking is 1 entry gate managed by 1 security guard scanning each car coming in so there was a 8 minute hold up 😑

Once parked I enter the restaurant and it is PACKED 😭 and smaller than I expected it to be. COVID regulations are in place and the place is BUZZING but surprisingly not loud although it is full. The decor is minimal and warm, gives it a great look. Crowd is young and lively. I am seated by the lovely hostess at the pizza oven area to wait for a table.

15 minutes later we are seated and waiting for a waiter, this takes a while. Eventually we get a waiter and order our drinks and food at the same time. Approximately 30 minutes later 1 of 2 items I ordered come out (kitchen issues 😑) and no drinks still 🤷🏾‍♀️ about 10 minutes later our cocktails arrive and 10 minutes later my second item comes out.

Food was lovely, the flavors worked well together and so fresh 😍 I had the prawn & chorizo skewer and turmeric chicken thighs (both dishes are tapas and not main meals so don't expect large portions). I suggest you have the PALOMA cocktail when you go, it is DELICIOUS 😋 and not crazy sweet.

At 3 a DJ came on the decks by the pool and played relaxed tunes and the crowd got MUCH younger 🤣😂 that was when we left. I will go back at 3 pm next time I'm in a party mood.

Service 1,5/5 Look and feel 4/5 Food...

It’s very clear that Pablo is under new ownership/management because the Pablo it is today is a shell of the Pablo it used to be. The new staff is so rude and disgusting, all of them (even the hotel worker who came to our table to take our menus that we needed away from us for himself?). Specifically our server Mathews Rasiluma who had the nerve to roll his eyes and tell my friends to calm down when they pointed out that he intentionally put two more expensive wines on the receipt than what was ordered on the menu. The quality of the food has gone terrible and it first started when you made Pablo 24hours, no one needs Pablo for 24hours. Offer that to your hotel guests. You cannot even poach eggs properly anymore because you just use a machine now. No more DJs on the weekend and no more all day brunch. The place was rightfully empty and still it took forever to get drinks, to get food, my friend asked for chilli for her pasta and by the time Mathews arrived with it the food was cold and finished. I’ve tried giving this place so many last chances because I used to love what it was and would always chalk it up to a bad day, and each time I try coming back you guys never have ANY seafood, just take it all off the menu. And to hide your bottomless sushi special at the back of the DRINKS menu is so weird like just remove it if you’re so afraid people will order it? Corners were very obviously cut here and it’s so sad to see. Whoever is in charge now should be very ashamed of themselves and should be aware that all these decisions made to get to this point came from someone who was clearly not a...