Villa Bianca Mediterranean Cuisine & Sushi — Restaurant in Gauteng

Regret that my review will go against the grain of the bulk of reviews here. The one star is due to the fact that the food is very good, but the rest of the experience was the stuff of "Kitchen Nightmares". Taking a group of 20 people there would lead me to assume that you would get service levels at least on par with the rest of the restaurant. This was not our experience and I now question why I paid the R11k bill. The biggest order of the night was continually pushed back to accommodate the easier, smaller tables. Small groups who arrived close to an hour after our group, left before my group received their main course.

I requested the owner's contact details from two staff members, but was ignored. There were insufficient menu's to serve our table, so had to insist that what was available was circulated around the table so that orders could be placed. The availability of menus was used as an excuse for the terrible service, but we were given the same excuse when we were last there. The reality is that they are controlling the work flow into the kitchen. A few drinks were served in dirty, crusty glasses. There were insufficient condiments on the table .The waiters "recommendations" were a waste of time as by the time I insisted that the available menu's be circulated, close to an hour had passed. Most of my guests had forgotten what the specials where. Most of our group left the table before the main meal was served and sat outside of the function room chatting. Not a single person in our group was prepared to wait for a desert - they just wanted to leave. Two further events planned for Villa Bianca this week have been moved elsewhere and this restaurant will not be an option going forward. Completely disrespectful of the occasion, of which the person taking our booking was advised of. Some competition in the area will cause them some...

There is literally nothing wrong in this place. Firstly, let's start with the atmosphere. You have got options. On a hot summer day, you can sit outside with misters turning on every few minutes to keep you nice and cool. Inside, you have the option of sitting on small chairs, or if you were lucky with your reservation, you can get a large couch fit for 6 people. This, in my opinion, is the best place to sit, especially when you want to order their sushi special. Inside it is such a lekker atmosphere as the lights just give you a warm feeling the entire time. With the lights comes nice calming music. There is also a bar you can sit. Secondly the service. The service is unbeatable even on very busy times like Friday nights. Your waiter is nice enough to explain not only the specials and rules that come with these specials but also tell you about the amazing Heritage of this place. With this, there are managers in white shirts making sure you are ok at all times without being obnoxious in the number of times they visit your table. Lastly, the food. The food is just out of this world. Not only does the food taste great, but it also improves the atmosphere as well as shows you the quality of the service you receive. They have a large variety of food types, including pasta, pizza, steaks, lamb, and the reason people come there, sushi. Some dishes might look expensive, but they are 100% worth it. The sushi is very cheap at R250 per person to eat as much as you like, and you then start with 2 plates of sushi equating to more than R300s sushi. This is then followed by 1 plate at a time. This is how sneakily they get you. With sushi taking a while, you start to feel full by the time the second or third plate arrives. They also have great options for desert, making sure you dine like a king or queen when you sit...

We booked a table for 2 at 6pm on Friday. We arrived at 5:45 and we were asked to wait at the bar as they only open for service at 6. By 6:20, everyone who arrived before us and after us had been given a table. We were eventually seated by 6:25 perhaps later. We ordered the oysters as a starter and let our waiter know we we wanted to try the Sushi and Dimsum buffet special. He left without taking our sushi orders. On arriving with our oysters (which were really good) we then asked for the Hong Kong pairs and some Gao. He checked with the kitchen and there were none available at all. We then ordered the Seared Tuna and Salmon Roses. These arrived after a short wait and we placed our next order or Nacho Libre and Dragon vs Tiger as the "kitchen was getting very busy". These took a little longer to arrive (time was now 7:36)but were also excellenet. We placed the next order of Seared Salmon, Tuna Roses and a Long Island Ice Tea. This is when the wheels really fell off. The Long Island arrived 30min later, while the sushi arrived at 9:02 (I would not suggest the Seared Salmon). The wait between orders at that point was an hour and a half. It was also odd that everyone else seemed to have glass saucers for sauces while ours were all plastic take a way ones. The waiter (Brian) was very apologetic and asked us to place the next order as well so he could rush it. Our final order (as we didn't know when the kitchen closed and how long it would take) was the Signature Fire Sushi and Prawn Nigiri. These arrived in a timeous manner and was excellent, but with having to wait so long for food and drinks and it being after 9:30 we left. Honestly I would warn anyone against doing the Sushi and Dimsum buffet because even though the food was excellent the wait time was ridiculous and the lack of the Dimsum part was very...