Vela Contemporary Portuguese — Restaurant in Madibeng Local Municipality

I made a booking 1 month in advance and got confirmation of my booking and reminders of my booking on the day via sms and email. We arrived at Vela and the hostess informed us that she could not find our booking. They were completely full so they offered us a table in a dark alley, lit only by 1 candle, completely out of the restaurant and away from the live entertainment. Another couple who didn't have a booking walked in with us and they were given a perfect table in front of the live entertainment outdoors. We refused to take that awful table and we were ignored for 30 mins and then shunted to a table outside the restrooms! Very noisy and hot as the kitchen was right there. We said we will wait for a table outside and every waiter ignored us for the entire evening and I had to flag down random waiters to take our drinks order (40 min waiting time) and then food (45 min waiting time). Someone was supposed to set up our table in a romantic setting and they haphazardly threw all the decor on the table and the waiter later mistakenly pulled the decor off onto the floor and didn't even notice! It was a total disaster! The food was terrible. The baby chicken ordered was burnt and we gave it away to the guard. They said they will give us complimentary drinks and then when the bill came, we were charged for drinks. This was supposed to be a romantic evening but it was completely ruined. I felt like they were punishing us for a mistake they made! I would never recommend this place to anyone as the booking was messed up and the service and food...

We arrived just before 19h00 on the 29th of Dec 2021, placed our order and had to wait for more than an hour for our food to be served. The waitress came to our table at 19h50 while we were still waiting for our main meal saying the kitchen will be closing at 20h00. We could not order desert because we were still waiting for our main meal to be served and no time left to place any other orders. We were really disappointed in the fish presentation with only 3 types of fish to order and when we received our fish it was over cooked so after paying R350 per dish, we went home hunger, very disappointed and furious because of the unacceptable service that we received. The waitress did not even bother to wipe our tables clean with a wet cloth which were stickey and full of candle wax. It was my birthday and I can only say one of my biggest disappointments ever. We are in the Travel and Tourism industry and can assure you that we will never ever recommend any of our clients to...

The experience was amazing. Our waiter was knowledgeable, friendly and gave us exemplary service. We had the springbok carpaccio and grilled calamari, it was divine 👌🏼 The paella was just ok, it had lots of seafood but the it lacked flavour. My son enjoyed the steak, chips were oily but veg was crisp and delicious. The stuffed calamari was quite bland, didn't taste the chorizo or prawn. The rice was ok, it need a kick of flavour. We also had the salad with chicken, livers and chorizo. The livers were the best, fried until crisp and it was delicious. The salad was drenched in a mustard dressing, it wasn't pleasant all. The brownie cake was rich but delicious. Although the food was either a hit or miss, I would definitely go back to try other options. The ambience there is beautiful and the waiters were attentive therefore the 4 stars. I'm hoping to give 5 stars for the...