Chokka Block Restaurant — Restaurant in Kouga Local Municipality

Where does one start when the restaurant owner / management are present but disappear if there is an issue ? I havn't been back to the Chokka Block for about 2 years and I can see that the standards have dropped. So lets get into the nitty gritty, the starters.... The Seafood Chowder was exceptional, its a brilliant dish, but the Korean chicken wings are a dismal failure.... no seasoning, dry and overcooked, certainly no Korean flavours, just bland fried wings! KFC's dunked wings have more flavour! The chicken wings were sent back but interestingly, there was no communication from management / owners, which is a little weird, but never mind, we moved onto mains. It looks like chicken is a problem at the Chokka Block, stay away from the Mozambique 1/2 chicken, on the menu it sounds great, on the plate its another story, overcooked and dry, with some sort of sauce that's meant to be Peri-Peri. The king prawns were fantastic, well cooked and tasty. The cob main dish, was good, not spectacular. Desserts were creme brulee, 12/10 for presentation, the sugar work and hardened caramelized top were superb, but the actual brulee custard wasn't great, tasteless and rubbery, not what you would expect from a creme brulee, especially for the price. If you cant deliver, then don't put it on the menu !!! Talking about price, the bill still had the starter on that was sent back, after I told the waitress we were not paying for it, so she went scurrying off to management to get the bill changed, we watched her talk to management and to my surprise, no one came to enquire as to what the issues were! Oh, I forgot, they were actually having a jol at their friends birthday table.....!!! I must mention that our waitress was very good and she was rewarded as such. I guess they just dont care, they are charging a premium for some average dishes, knowing that if you dont go back, its not the end of world, someone else will fill your place. Its a pity, as the setting is brilliant, atmosphere is good but the experience was spoilt by a lack of caring. A rudderless ship soon runs aground. That's OK though, there are other alternatives and I will NEVER RETURN....I go where I'm valued as a client, where my hard earned money is appreciated, not where I'm treated like Joe Bloggs at a...

Snagged THE LAST open table inside WITH A VIEW FROM THE WINDOW!!!! What luck! Since it’s a fish/seafood spot, I thought the Seafood chowder looked nice. At another table, the couple ordered 2 bowls of food – the waitress confirmed 1 was the seafood chowder. Hein walked up to the lady – said, sorry to interrupt your meal – but my wife was thinking of ordering the seafood chowder – would you recommend it? Absolutely she said! First Hein thought to order a beef burger – then said: it’s a fish place, maybe the Hake Burger … when he asked our waiter, well: he started to sell Hein the Calamari …. Like a salesman! He suggested Hein have the Calamari 3 ways – with baked potato … ‘butter or sour cream, sir?’, Hein asked: both please.

On the table is a wooden block – painted red on one side, green the other. Waiter explained if green is on top, all is well. If we needed anything, turn the block around and someone will help us. A plate with 2 extremely cute and small hot bread buns were placed on the table with tiny squares of (hard) butter. I haven’t eaten anything since last night, so I enjoyed both.

Quite a few small groups of people walked into the restaurant – we were just in time to snag this lovely table! And it was just after 12 … loadshedding was at 1pm. Hein enjoyed an ale and I sipped a cappuccino. The food arrived. Wow! Hein’s platter was filled with battered and deep-fried sliced calamari and calamari heads, thicker sliced battered and fried calamari rings and butter-fried calamari rings – a HUGE baked potato with butter, sour cream and tartare sauce on the side. My not-so-small-as-I-thought-it-would-be dish of Seafood Chowder was creamy, boozy and filled with calamari rings, shrimps, fish cubes, small bits of bacon …. Filling and so delicious! With another 2...

What a gem! Highly recommended! Best Calamari ever.

Overlooking the privately managed Port St Francis harbour, which is home to the local squid (chokka) fishing industry, is Clive and Sam’s cosy and engaging eatery that offers a varied menu of local and international seafood. Combination platters suitable for all palates, alternatives to seafood, and a kiddies selection are also available. Prices are average for a holiday town in season, but you do get excellent fare. Clive is a fund of knowledge on the local fishing industry, and we really appreciated his hands on attention and interesting backgrounds to what we were eating. According to Clive 98% of the local squid catch is exported to Europe, and his is one of the very few eateries to offer genuine local fresh calamari. And delicious it certainly was. The best we have tasted by far. He also recommended his Portuguese chicken, which was outstanding too. The wine list has an appropriate selection of quality local SA whites and reds, and we were most pleased to find a selection of our personal favourite, Springfield, on his list.

Altogether an amazing family dinner on New Years Day. Thank you to Clive for his...