The Fat Mermaid — Restaurant in Gauteng

What an absolutely dismal experience. Firstly we paid venue hire and were told there would be a DJ at the venue. Days before our birthday I followed up ensuring everything was in order and was informed there would no longer be a DJ. The plan was to keep quiet and let us arrive on the day and just be left in the lurch. We then discussed a reduced venue hire fee and were told we could make our own playlist and play off a speaker. We went to the venue to test the speaker and agreed it would suffice as it was loud, we also agreed on pricing. On the day of our event we were told we could only use the speaker on half volume, we had the choice to have a silent party to hear the music or to talk to our guests and not be able to hear.

Days prior to the event we ordered our exact adult meals and would order for the kids on the night as kids are fussy. They did not have what the kids wanted amongst other things which I will elaborate on. Instead of asking for guidance the staff took it upon themselves to bring a double beef, bacon and cheese burger to the 4yo. It was so rich the kids cried and wouldn't eat their meals. We were charged R150.00 per burger for what we did not order. The adults all had yiros, we tried them before hand and they were served with a side. On the night they were not and when this was questioned the person in charge told us to be grateful as we were given a discount because of the Fat Mermaids unfulfilled promises and he still needs to make money. The venue was out of all basic food and drinks, water, coke, sprite and chips being the few that stood out as they are so simple and common.

It was agreed upon that we would arrive at 5:30pm to begin set up, on arrival the tables and floor when wet and dirty. We had to wait for the staff to begin cleaning for us to start set-up which was pre-arranged. Unfortunately our guests arrived while we were still setting up as we could not begin as agreed upon. The pool was also in the beginning stages of turning green and the toilet seats were destroyed and broken and one would risk getting a splinter by sitting on them.

The person in charge of the night decided to renegotiate the agreed upon price on the night in front of our guests causing an comfortable and embarrassing situation for everyone. I managed to ask him to move which he eventually did. However he got aggressive when being shown messages to which he agreed upon and when the mistakes that had made were pointed out. He approached me, had his fingers in my face and shouting saying we are cheating him out of money.

It was agreed as well that venue hire would include the venue until midnight. At 10pm we were told last round and to pay our bills that all included a service fee (for what?) on top of paying ridiculous prices for drinks. For the lucky few who got water it was R40 for a 500ml water which the branding wasn't even recognisable.

On top of everything we paid for a photographer, her hours were 8:30-10:30. The plan was to finish eating which was meant to happen at 7:45. Have speeches at 8:30 and then get a bit of the partying element. The food arrived with the photographer, we were then resolving the pricing problem and were told to leave early meaning we hardly got to utilise the photographer.

It was an outstandingly bad experience with everything that could go wrong going wrong which could have been easily avoidable.

The cherry on top is now very conveniently 'The Fat Mermaid' is not accountable and it is under new a company and all reviews were hidden on FB. I urged whoever is in actual control to take some accountability and not expect patrons who have been mistreated to further reach out to be further verbally and emotionally abused by your representative. I am heartsore and have a lot of good reasons to be sore - a lot of planning, money, emotional investment. If you want to make this right you can contact me.

Disgusting. I recommend the Fat Mermaid if you like getting let down at every turn and with things you didn't even know...

I had high hopes for celebrating my birthday at The Fat Mermaid and was excited to support a local business, but sadly, the lack of professionalism, respect, and overall attitude from Patrick the owner was incredibly disappointing. What should have been a memorable celebration turned into an anticlimax due to poor service and mismanagement.

Pricing Issues: We agreed on a price before the event, only for it to be changed on the night. Patrick, the owner, decided to argue about it in front of our guests, creating an embarrassing and uncomfortable situation. Shortened Venue Time: We were promised 5 hours but only got 3, with 40 minutes wasted on a heated debate over pricing. False Promises: We were promised a DJ, but two days before the event, we were told to organize our own music. Lack of Supplies and Quality: Water, Sprite, and Coke Zero ran out within the first hour. Food arrived 40 minutes late and was cold. Despite already paying in advance venue hire as well as half of the food costs, Patrick demanded we pay an additional service charge, accusing us of trying to "cheat" him. This was completely unprofessional Rudeness and Early Closure: Staff were rude, and Patrick rudely kicked us out at 10 PM, despite our agreement to stay until midnight. Terrible Facilities: The bathrooms were filthy, with broken toilet seats and wet floors. The pool was green and unusable, which was embarrassing for an event venue.

This was supposed to be a memorable birthday, but it was ruined by poor service, broken promises, and Patrick's disrespectful attitude.

The venue has potential, but unless Patrick and his team make significant changes and treat their customers with respect, I can't recommend The Fat Mermaid to anyone. They need to focus on providing a professional and pleasant experience, especially if they want to maintain relationships with locals of Bedfordview

While the venue itself has potential and could be a great local spot, I strongly urge Patrick and the team to focus on improving their service and building strong relationships with customers. Word of mouth can make or break a business, and sadly, I wouldn’t recommend The Fat Mermaid in its...

Visited The Fat Mermaid yesterday and were quite disappointed. Even though food was delicious, it's quite pricey for what you get. Service wasn't great, perhaps because of the power outage, but waiter also wasn't very attentive. Prices are exorbitant. R75 for a toasted Chicken Mayo!? No kiddies menu, so you have to order from the very expensive menu for kids, like R105 for chicken strips & chips. The portions aren't generous either. Ordered Halloumi and chips for the kiddo @R100. Waiter confirmed it's 4 fingers of halloumi but instead it was only 3. Don't go there if there's a power outage as they won't be able to serve half the items on their menu. Also, no hummus which is kinda unacceptable for a Greek restaurant. They brought a bowl of tzatziki with our Yiros and charged us extra for it, even though we did not order extra tzatziki, which brought the price of the yiro to R135. Manager was not wearing a mask while walking around and interacting with patrons. People were smoking everywhere, even next to the swimming pool where my little girls were sitting next to the pool and they were quite annoyed with all the smoke. Even while trying to enjoy our meal, we had to endure the smoke. On top of that, there's a charge per person who uses the swimming pool. Imagine if restaurants had to charge for kids to play in play areas. Swimming pool was quite dirty. Staff members were lazing around where they could have taken a pool net to at least sweep the bugs and leaves from the pool. We weren't too happy and will...