Seemann's Deli Randburg — Restaurant in Gauteng

Good afternoon, I have been a client of Seemans Strijdompark since the shop opened many years ago and have seen it through a few owners and many managers. I always buy most of my family fresh meat there as well as meats and cheeses from the deli and Rye bread from the bakery section and some times from the hot counter in the shop. I never have had any reason to complain, however, the deck outside is something else. Even since it has been remodelled and rebuilt it is dreadfully organized and always in disarray. It is a lot cleaner than it used to be, however, I often want to return to order a lunch meal there but do not because of the shambles it is always is. Having had a business in Strijdompark myself for many years and obviously have come into contact with many other business owners in the area, most people have the same opinion about the deck and the way it is missmanaged. Your turnover could increase by tenfold on the deck if you had a decent kitchen/floor/cashier/manager running it. For example, I was at the butchery today and decided to give the deck a chance once again and guess what, I stand in a que of two people for about 5 to 7 minutes whilst the cashier is getting change, talking to who knows who all the time, the person in front of me complained and is eventually served, he pays and goes to sit down, I am ignored for at least another 3 to 4 minutes, when I am served I ask the cashier how long it will be fore my Bockwurst and Brotchen to be made up as a take out. 10 minutes she says. I go to the butchery and return after about 15 minutes. I ask where my food is, to be told oops, sorry, sorry, they had not even started cooking my bockwurst yet. This was at aroun 15:10 this afternoon and there was hardly anyone on the deck at the time. Not as if they were overworked, but just useless. I would highly recommend that you as management do something about this. It is very offputting and...

Dissatisfied and disappointed... I purchased a large Gammon in mid December, froze it as I arrived home. I took it out of the freezer on the afternoon of the 23rd to defrost in the fridge as I do every year. I boiled it on the 24th, cooled and put back into the fridge for grilling on the morning of the 25th. I scored the fat, garnished and grilled it for 15mins.

My husband carved half the Gammon. When I entered the kitchen I got a wiff of sourness, I didn't take too much note because the lamb had been cooked in red wine. We served, my first piece was fine, however my second tasted off. At this point I told everyone to stop eating the Gammon.

Needless to say everyone who ate the Gammon had food poisoning, 6 of us suffered with severe cramps and diarrhea. I was in bed for 3 days. I called Seeman's on the 27th to see if they would address the issue. I was attended to by Sonet who handled the situation professionally. She advised me that when Popy returned to work on the 6th she would be in touch. Sonet reiterated that they take this type of thing very seriously and they would like to offer me a gift voucher as a sign of goodwill...

Monday the 6th came and went with no contact, it wasn't until the 9th when I sent a mail did I receive this message from Popy, it took 4 days for her to attend to me. She was back in office on Monday...

"Good morning Tanya

I am now back in the office – please let me know when you can come through and collect your voucher – I have it ready for you."

I asked my husband to collect the voucher for me as he was in Randburg today. Please bear in mind the Gammon cost over R400.00. I have just opened the envelope to find a voucher for R500.00. That extra R100.00, didn't even cover the cost of my medication.

Seriously indeed Seeman's, fine showing...

My grandfather, who came from Germany, used to travel long distances to support the once-famous Seemans Butcher. For the past 15 years, my father and I have proudly continued that tradition, visiting Seemans at least twice a year to buy in bulk for the family and keep our German heritage alive.

It’s truly disheartening to see how such a fine establishment has declined so drastically — it now feels like just another ordinary butcher down the road. Every Christmas, we’ve always bought the famous Lebkuchen (German love chocolates) as gifts for our family and friends, but this year they were nowhere to be found. The German rye bread we purchased was of lower quality than what we can now find in local supermarkets, which was very disappointing.

The saddest part of all was the lack of authentic German cold meats — a staple in our traditional cold meat salads. The only ones available were Bierchinken and the imported German black pepper salami (still excellent, though its price has doubled since last year). To our surprise, many of the sausages were outsourced from another butcher, and even the cashier seemed uninterested in assisting us with our bulk purchase, leaving us with a sour impression.

It honestly feels as though new management or ownership may be more focused on profit than on preserving the authentic quality and heritage that once made Seemans so special. Even the German salami sticks now taste more like chorizo. Sadly, it may be time for us to find another authentic German butcher to support — a place that still values tradition and the true...