The Bull Run — Restaurant in Gauteng

I love steak. I always have. So whenever I visit a new city, I like to try out a few steakhouses. In my travels, I've seldom been more disappointed with a restaurant.

First, the good.

The restaurant is stunning with great atmosphere. Sitting inside the restaurant was a relaxing experience until the food came.

I ordered the rump steak, and it's the toughest rump I've ever had in my life. I upsets me when I can get better quality meat from the supermarket up the road. But if the meat was tough, I could perhaps overlook that.

The meat was terribly under seasoned. For the premium price I paid for the cut, I would've expected some salt at least.

When asked how the steak was, I replied honestly. The chap who I spoke with asked if I ordered the steak plain. When I told him that I did indeed order it plain, he told me that that was the issue. I was told that I should've ordered a sauce.

If the steak is such poor quality that it needs a sauce, why am I paying a premium for it. And why is the meat only seasoned if you order a sauce?

The chap came back and told me there was nothing that could be done about the steak, but offered me a free beer to compensate. I agreed to the beer, but after a few sips, I left. I was rather angry at the poor quality of the food that I just wanted to leave. I left without tipping since a) the food was bad and b) the service was slow. I do however feel uneasy about not tipping. This is out of character for me, and not something I would usually do. But I just wanted to get out - what's that say about the experience? That I would leave most of a beer and go somewhere else?

The restaurant is empty, but the service is stupidly slow. And to need a toothpick after spending R150 on steak is disgusting.

Avoid this restaurant, and rather go to the myriad of better restaurants in the area. The street food vendor up the road sells steak rolls for R40 which are tender AND...

Wow this place has changed since I was here a few years ago. Shocked by the decline in service.

Our whole supper experience was a huge disappointment… we waited for about ten minutes by the entrance with no one coming to seat us. Eventually we just started walking to our table where a waiter spotted while carrying trays of food and started shouting for another waiter to help us over the poor people’s plates.

We ordered the burger special which clearly states topped with cheese and served with a lager, neither of which arrived when our burger arrived. We told a waiter, who then ran off and just never came back after that. We finished our cheeseless, beerless burger. The patty was not one you’d expect from a steakhouse. :( Dry and tasteless. No one asked if we wanted it cooked medium rare, medium or well… it came well done which was a bit of a let down.

The manager came to check on us right at the end, and we told him about everything. All he did was insist there was no cheese on the special even after we showed him the image and the description (see photo). He said it’s a mistake. No apology. He brought our beers as we were leaving.

We left so disappointed by the service, food and whole experience. I used to LOVE the Bull Run but couldn’t believe how bad it’s become the since a few years ago when I was last there. HUGE DECLINE. Not even close to being...

Nice dinner and always was a good restaurant to eat in but slightly disappointed due to things that I noted:

If you don't reserve a table, you cannot sit in the nicer portion of the restaurant. The nicer portion of the restaurant gets more of a VIP service and gets served quicker - when I waited in the older victorian looking section of the restaurant, I waited 20 minutes for a drink. The veg curry was a bit bland, abit too spicy and contained alooot of butternut as opposed to an assortment of veg. The beef trio was ultra delicious but I think each portion should be slightly larger and come with 2 sides and not one considering the price. I couldn't order the special for the day because they stopped that menu for that day and only a new menu would be prepared the following day. Was quite disappointed.

Im giving the service a 3 star due to the above however, the waiter was very nice so thank you to Nhlanhla for your 5 star service. Overall, I've eaten at the Bull Run before which was sublime and this time, the price I paid was not worth the experience and considering I brought someone who never ate there before, I was slightly embarrassed as I gave the bull run a raving recommendation before we arrived. So I doubt I will go again or recommend it again unless I actually stayed in the hotel. But most likely...