Stelle Restaurant — Restaurant in Gauteng

Celebrated a special occasion (Birthday) so we chose Stelle restaurant. Wish we had not! Positives - great outdoor setting and wonderful musician entertaining us during lunch. Arrived at 13h30 - took a good 15 min for a waiter to ask us what we would like to drink. Eventually we ordered and it came quite fast. Once again we waited so long to order starters and mains. The restaurant wasn't full (maybe 40 people) it took about 35 min for 4 starters to arrive at our table. Starters were average. Not bad but also not good. It was after 15h00 before we finally received our main course which came staggered (also the plates from the starters hadn't even been removed). Half of the guests had to start eating otherwise the food would have gotten cold! We asked for salt and pepper 3 times and eventually we received it half way through. 3 of us ordered fillets. What a joke! It was more like a minute steak and every Fillet was over cooked. Mine was so bad that I couldn't even eat it. It was grey and completely dried out! Another guest had the seafood pasta - which came highly recommended - the pasta were so badly overcooked and the entire pasta had an unpleasant fishy taste (we love seafood pasta but this tasted like sea water). We asked for the manager to come x3 times over 10 min but she showed no interest. Eventually we got up with the plate and walked inside to her. She obviously didn't expect this and tried to explain that this pasta was fresh and that's why it was so soft - absolute rubbish - in any case she apologized and said she would make us new dishes as she wouldn't accept the fillet either but unfortunately after receiving such shocking service and having it spoil the day we said thank you but No. After once again looking for a waiter for quite some time we asked for the bill and of course we were charged for the spoilt meals which she even admitted to that she herself would be unhappy if received. They did take the pasta off the bill. We are not here to get free food but if you disappoint and your chef can not even cook basics, rectify it! The manager was then seen at a table, conviently located further down enjoying her wine instead of taking care of customers or thanking them and saying good bye. Clearly doesn't care! Stelle restaurant - not...

I made a booking 2 weeks out and 2 days before on a Thursday, I was sent the following message by the restaurant:

Goodday just wanted to let you know that the function for Saturday night just confirmed we are advised not to take any other bookings because they want the whole restaurant

Note no apology nor an offer to accommodate us on another day. So I asked when they did have availability and told that evening or Friday. So I booked for Friday 19:30 and upon arrival the 2 gentleman gave us an odd stare and asked if we were part of a group and we said no. We had a confirmed reservation for that evening. It was abundantly clear they had forgotten. As they scrambled, they tried to put us in a room which had 1 large table and naturally that table objected. They had no alternatives. Spoke to the Manager who again did not apologize for the restaurants mistake. She just asked that I send a screenshot of the WhatsApp messages I had exchanged with the restaurant. At that point we did not feel valued and told the restaurant we leaving and went to another Italian restaurant.

Based on how poorly the restaurant handled this situation, firstly from cancelling our original reservation 2 days out and not offering any alternative, I had to ask and then arriving at the revised scheduled reservation and then just scratching their heads with again no apology! We will not try this restaurant again as they messed up...

This place has a lot going for it, but it misses the mark on a full five stars. Tucked away at the back of a building, it offers a peaceful and unique atmosphere. Plus, they've really put effort into their decor and cutlery - definitely high-end.

The service was spot-on, friendly and attentive, but it wasn't exactly busy. I ordered a caprese salad with quality mozzarella, so points for that. However, the overall taste of the carbonara and other pastas was just good, not great. It's like they've got all the right pieces, but they just haven't quite figured out how to put them together.

And here's the kicker - not all their pasta is fresh. Let's be real, who wants to shell out 200 Rand for boxed pasta? It's these finer details that keep them from reaching that perfect score. But, if you don't mind the pasta issue and you're after a tranquil spot with decent food, it's...