Bootlegger Musgrave Centre Halaal — Restaurant in Musgrave

Hi.

I recently visited the Bootlegger Resturant at Musgrave Center. Things to note from a customers point of view.

The resturant is a Halaal based resturant so that is important to bear in mind and be considerate of that.

First of all, the resturant setting is quite beautiful. It boasts a dark-themed aesthetic with beautiful touches of bright light. I am not to sure about the furniture selection at some spots as it does not complement the theme but thats neither here nor there.

The welcoming staff is very professional with a touch of personality however more welcoming staff is required. The same staff had to run back and forth to accommodate all guests which reduces time to actually engage with the customer.

The menu is a plain white paper with text. Few issues with that. Paper tears and ages over time. Customers are hygiene-concious as well. Perhaps try laminating the menus as they will last longer and can be cleaned.

The food items on the menu itself are quite cliche. Try being creative with the naming, try adding pictures as people first endulge with their eyes before the actual meal. Again, my reasoning comes from the aesthetic. That type of menu vs the aesthetic do not do well together. Who is your target audience? Family? Kids? Youth?

The actual food itself is disappointing. I had the banana loaf slices, beef burger and my partner had the steak. The burger was quite decent however it was overly priced for the quantity and quality recieved. This is the norm for most of the resturants food items as I looked around. My partner requested medium-rare and recieved a thin well cooked steak that was not seasoned. I couldve cooked that steak way better myself. Even I know the difference between well done and medium rare! You guys then bombard the food with sloppy fries that fail to overcompensate for the bland taste of the food. The food is quite disappointing and thats the most important part! The waiting time has got to be the worst. Adding to that is the lack of reasoning as to why. You just have to wait until your order comes. Over 30 minutes is ridiculous for terrible food that costs an arm and a leg.

Another aspect is the immense overcrowding of disorganized waitors/waitresses. My order was taken by one waitor, brought by another then another kept checking up on us. Consistency is key, we need to know whos tending to us at all times for we are unsure as to whom should we request the bill from.

The overall experience was terrible and thats coming from an individual who doesnt fuss much about such things. The resturant lacks the basics, which is service and taking care of people regardless of the food aspect.

I must however commend one waitor, an indian fella whos name I did not get. His ability to check up on his assigned customers and clean up after they have left, was admirable. You can tell he actually appreciates his job. He was not assigned to my table but you could tell from the tables he served that he was a well seasoned waitor with a gentlemans touch.

Anyways, I hope the establishment addresses the issues mentioned and not just as a means to get it done for the sake of, but to actually go the extra mile in ensuring that customers are taken care...

Bootlegger is a great space for catching up, good ambience and overall great aesthetic. Service from all the stuff is excellent, warm and friendly smiles and interactions so I really appreciated that! We were told in advance that our food would take some time. Thankfully a good catch up session allowed for us to pass time by but we were there for breakfast and quite hungry already. When the food arrived, (avo and hummus on toast with poached eggs) I was honestly underwhelmed. Presentation is really lacking and to be frank, it didn’t look appetizing at all. It took around 40-45 minutes just to receive 2 plates of the same meal which honestly felt ridiculous for poached eggs on toast. I get and understand teething problems so waiting was not the issue. However, waiting so long only to receive food that was unappealing, cold, and bread that was too hard to even cut through, was just disappointing and they could really work on their seasoning cause the food itself has so much potential. Bootlegger has so much potential so I really hope that with time they will...

After visiting Bootlegger's in Cape Town I was pleased to see a branch had opened in the Musgrave Centre in Durban. However, What a disappointment! Firstly the pot of tea my friend ordered came with the smallest jug of milk, the kind that one finds in little girl's toy crockery sets, half filled, the rest foam and not even enough for one cup. Hello! one orders a 'pot of tea' so that one can enjoy two cups. Then I ordered a medium sized cup of americano coffee. When it arrived the cup was a dinky-sized espresso cup and it was frightfully bitter. One can only speculate what a small cup is then. Then I discovered that the branch was hallaal and I could not order the food I enjoy. Why open an hallaal branch in a centre where the patrons are largely not Muslim? Furthermore - we wanted lunch and were told we could only order from the breakfast menu even though the morning was almost spent. Do you want to lose money? We left after paying a blistering R134. Extortion! Tata! You won't see me again and I will make a point of telling all my friends and family...