Dutchies Restaurant — Restaurant in Overstrand Local Municipality

We had been to Dutchies numerous times every year since 2018, bringing along family and friends on many occasions. This December we also had several lunches here. Mostly it was fine: ordinary food for decent price, good location/view, relaxed atmosphere. Except for local Old Harbor beer on tap - this one is much better in other restaurants in Hermanus.

Unfortunately, we decided to have our last dinner in Hermanus in Dutchies. What a disappointment!

We both had severe running stomach issues after that dinner.

'Hake and calamari' plates looked as usual, but one hake was completely undercooked, with still raw layers. The replacement of that plate took so long, that we opted to take it home as a take away. The plate includes chips and salad, but the salad was never placed in the take away bag.

The bill was overstated. One wine was replaced for more expensive, price for another wine was higher than on menu. The bill must correspond to the menu, otherwise it looks like cheating.

Since 2018, we never saw any pets allowed anywhere inside the restaurant, for lunch or dinner. Their website also does not have any relevant information. We had a table in the lounge as usual, which is an enclosed area in the evenings. The next table brought in a smelly dog, which was around our table the whole time. If currently pets are allowed in certain areas, at least the website must communicate such information, as all respectable pet-friendly establishments do. So that everyone can decide beforehand, if they happy to have animals around during the meal. Some customers like eating from the same plate with their dogs and others prefer to keep dining and pets separately. All customers deserve equal respect and comfortable atmosphere. At least the management must supervise that pets do not pester other customers. Manager saw that dog at our table and did nothing but smirked.

While waiting for the bill to be fixed, I did communicate all these issues to the manager. Even not an apology was offered, not for raw food, not for incorrect bill. Instead he was trying to challenge my every statement, in arrogant and snotty way. I never came accross such an unprofessional and weird behaviour from management in Dutchies, which obviously has already changed the place for the worse. I would highly recommend the owners to replace the manager, who is more interested in 'where the customers from', then in sustainable food quality and service.

Regarding the REPLY FROM OWNER, I have to highlight the following: in my review above I have already provided extended details and stated clearly issues with food quality/kitchen, billing, absence of 'dogs allowed' information on website and management. It is sufficient to investigate and solve your issues. Exactly the same was communicated to manager and he knows, what table we were seating at. Booking was for 13 December, 19:00, 2 pax. The contact number was provided upon reservation. One of your staff was calling me that morning twice to confirm our reservation for the evening.

You may contact me on that number on your record, if your intention is to bring your late apologies for weird dinner and subsequent health issues.

Otherwise, the reply from the owner is seemingly a smoke screen to cover for significant faults...

Worst experience ever!! Hubby and I visited Hermanus for the first time this past weekend and after a good swim at Grotto Beach we decided to grab a bite at Dutchies, a decision I regret purely because the owner left a bitter taste in my mouth. His employees were friendly, the flies in the restaurant were unbearable. Great food, horrible experience. We were greeted by a friendly waitress and taken to our table and the owner or manager was sitting behind our table. The kids were kept busy by the coloring paper and crayons, we ordered drinks and everything was great ; however what disgusted me was what the owner or manager did! He literally got up from his chair and went straight to a table opposite ours and greeted a white couple and said are you guys OK?! He totally ignored us and acted as if we were invisible, at that point I felt like leaving but I couldn't because my kids were hungry. He was racist in my opinion.

He can learn a thing or two from the owner of Ficks pool, his restaurant was full on Sunday however the owner made it a point that he greeted every single customer in his establishment...

'would you like you fish grilled or fried?', I respond 'if I choose fried, is it battered', 'yes it is'. So... I went for the fried fish. It was breaded, not battered. This is not a problem really, but I sent it back and chose to just snack of my wife and kids plates as it would have been too long to wait for something else. But, the waitresses attitude! She clearly didn't know the difference between breaded and battered, which is clearly also not a train smash, but to be so snarly at a customer when they send something back that was not what they asked for, that was unacceptable. Everything fried is breaded, it seems. My wife's sushi, which Is have expected a tempura (or other battered) prawn on, also came with a breaded prawn. It really isn't the same, and it really isn't as good! If you can imagine a restaurant with mostly fried, breaded fish, then you can imagine the quality here. Nothing awful, but very ordinary. The location is, however,...