TANG Asian Luxury Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Gauteng

After seeing many positive reviews online and on social media, I went in expecting good food and left before even ordering dessert, because I didn't want to risk having anymore bad dishes. The only saving grace was having pretty decent service.

Overall, it appears that the chefs and mixologists seem to over do it with the heavy or strong flavours.

Starters - There are two versions of oysters, which both tasted the same because of the amount vinegar on it. All other flavours were overwhelmed by the intense vinegar. This continued onto the Waygu tartare. With a meat as delicate as Waygu, why flood it with vinegar as well? The Short Rib was a bit dry/overcooked, but flavours were good. We didn't even have more than two bites of the soft shelled crab, it was extremely oily, soggy and once again, you couldn't even taste the crab through the oil and dough. We didn't say anything. but the waitress noticed that we barely touched it, asked us and we weren't going to lie. She then advised the manager, who removed it from the bill and came to apologise. Apart from the service, the only other thing that saved the starters was the Black Cod and Prawn Gyoza, which we were advised they may not have today.

Mains - They didn't have the Lobster Roll, large menus will have that issue. Especially on items which are expensive and need to be fresh. The Tiger and Dragon Rolls were both ok. Not knock your socks off, but just ok. What was exceptionally disappointing, was for the price of the sushi, you don't even get real wasabi. You get the same horseradish-mustard paste you'd get at your local take out. If Nobu can get real wasabi, so can Tang. And then came the Black Cod Miso. I had high expectations and was sorely disappointed. The dish almost killed me twice. First, the sauce that coated the cod and was in a separate bowl, tasted like it was 90% salt. I nearly OD'd on salt right there. However, I figured I could dampen the saltiness by eating it with the egg fried rice but with my second bite, my mouth was filled with several fish bones. It was at this point, we opted to skip dessert and go home.

Drinks:

We tried several cocktails that evening. The majority of the cocktails have lemon or lime in it. The Lychee Martini is supposed to be predominantly Lychee flavoured but tasted closer to an alcoholic lemonade. The choices of flavours were overly complex, but then something like the lemon, lime, or a grapefruit flavour completely overpowering everything else.

Service:

As mentioned, the service was good. They were relatively attentive but as one can imagine, the weekends get busy. So, they cannot be everywhere at once.

Ambience:

The music was a bit too loud which meant to talk to anyone, the people at your table or to the staff, you are constantly screaming. The choice of decor is extremely dark. It may appeal to some.

After this experience, I was advised that the food is better when the restaurant is quiet. This could be there's too little kitchen capacity, but I doubt that it being quieter will change how overpowering some flavours are in the recipes.

Tang, if you do actually read your reviews, your food and cocktails needs a revamp. If you're using quality ingredients, you shouldn't be using cheaper strong flavours such as vinegar, salt or lemon to kill any other flavours. Tone down the menu and actually stock everything you offer. Or the highly volatile options, keep on a separate daily changing menu. Once you find a healthy medium, make sure the chefs taste the food before sending it out, because if they honestly thought the sauce on the Black Cod was edible, then I have no hope for the future of the restaurant. Either reduce seating or increase kitchen capacity, having fluctuating food quality due to how busy it gets is just amateur. And finally, turn the music way lower. Let people connect over good food. The prices of the food are way too high to miss the mark so badly. Please rectify and hopefully one day, I can come check it out again for a much better...

Tang Restaurant – December 2, 2024

On Monday, December 2, 2024, three friends and I selected Tang as our restaurant of choice to celebrate a hard-earned achievement. The evening started with promise: while the service was unacceptably slow, the food quality and preparation were exceptional. For two of our group, this was their first visit to South Africa, and we were all enjoying what should have been a memorable reward dinner.

That is, until Michelle—the so-called manager of Tang—completely derailed the evening with her appalling behavior.

One of our guests, who has specific stomach sensitivities, used her own tea bag in the hot water provided by the restaurant. What followed can only be described as shocking and deeply offensive. Michelle approached our table and, instead of handling the matter with the professionalism one would expect from someone in her position, she berated our guest. Her words, dripping with condescension, included this gem: “When I come to your house, I don’t bring my own food.”

Let me make something clear: Michelle, with her unprofessional demeanor and rude, unhinged attitude, would never be invited into any of our homes. Her crude analogy and unwarranted aggression were as unwelcome as they were insulting.

There are countless ways Michelle could have addressed the matter—if, indeed, it even warranted addressing. Yet she chose to belittle and humiliate a guest in front of an entire table, all while displaying zero tact, zero class, and zero regard for basic decency. Michelle’s actions were not just inappropriate; they were unforgivable.

This incident completely shattered the anticipation, excitement, and luster of what was supposed to be a high-end dining experience. After ordering numerous appetizers, entrees, and cocktails—contributing significantly to your establishment’s revenue—we were left questioning how a supposed upscale restaurant could allow someone so grossly unfit for a leadership position to represent them.

Michelle’s behavior was not just a lapse in judgment. It reflects a systemic failure in training, standards, and management oversight at Tang. This individual has no business being in a role where customer interaction is required. Tang must address this issue immediately, whether through retraining, reassignment, or outright termination.

What could have been a glowing review of your exceptional cuisine has now become a scathing indictment of your management. Tang markets itself as a premier dining destination, but with employees like Michelle in charge, it’s clear that appearances are deceiving.

Until this issue is acknowledged and resolved, Tang will remain, for us, an unforgettable experience—but for all the wrong reasons.

Regrettably,

Fabian Blache III

UPDATE

Spoke face-to-face with the GM Jabu 12/4/24. He was disturbed by the review, our experience, and the behavior of this Michelle woman. Will update further when he gets back with us on steps taken.

UPDATE

Received a call from the GM. A Mr. Tristan. First, this shows how serious Tang takes its’ reputation, and That they do genuinely have a focus on hospitality and customer service. Tristan was Outright mortified by this review. And without delaying the point, he said, and did the things that one would expect from a restaurant of any caliber, especially this one.

His manager Jabu Clearly took the complaint seriously. Escalated it up the food chain, and did not white wash anything along the way, so nothing was lost in translation. We thank Jabu and Tristan for their professionalism. I am adjusting my ratings accordingly out of fairness to their efforts...

The brand waterfall effect by the entrance is stunning, nice for taking photos, after this point, the entire experience dwindled.

There is poor table placement. Though we had made a prior booking, almost a week in advance, we were placed on a pathway table and waiters kept bumping my chair specifically. The other issue was overcrowding, too many tables in a small space and people kept bumping onto each other.

The wagyu burger bun was dry and the fries were poorly done. The noodles stir fry was good though. The orange juice I ordered for my son was pathetic. A glass dropped onto the floor and broke. The waiter just left the incident without at least alerting clients around to keep caution. Someone eventually came to sweep the floor after a considerable amount of time, someone could have gotten injured. In fact during the period I was there, there were four broken glasses in different spots, this I have to assume is a result of too much traffic, thus overcrowding.

The sushi we ordered was meant to have that mist effect, we didn't get it. Got the mist thing with our desert but at this point, the excitement was gone. We asked for the bill but it came after three attempts. Our waiter was changed mid-way without reason.

The restaurant is more on the high-end of the spectrum and I expected it to be quite expensive, hence to have an average experience you need roughly R600 per head. Our final bill was over a thousand bucks and I honestly have to say, I was disappointed by the experience. When you spend that much, you expect to have an exceptional experience otherwise I could have just gone to a fast food joint and filled my tummy with fried chicken and chips.

Maybe the establishment used to be good but obviously standards have dropped and it now just feels over-hyped. A total quality of service revamp is needed urgently. I'll give...