Ocean Basket Hermanus — Restaurant in Overstrand Local Municipality

We visited the store on 04/04/21 and were met at the door by a friendly manager who did the necessary COVID protocols and we were immediately seated. The store wasn’t busy so we had a choice of where we’d like to be seated, however, we were only offered single “4” seater tables. (Being a family of four, it is rather uncomfortable as I personally feel that these are two seater tables with four chairs and I’ll elaborate further down how unpleasant this is)

The waiter was fairly pleasant, however, he lacked the proper training which is the difference between a good dining experience and an awful encounter.

Firstly, we were not offered anything to drink after being seated and were given the menu’s. I’m not sure how much of COVID protocol is followed with the menus as the menus were oily from handling (probably by the previous patrons or the waiters themselves when handling and serving meals).

We placed our order and the usual bread rolls didn’t arrive until we asked for the much anticipated bread rolls we have become so accustomed to from Ocean Basket.

After receiving the rolls, shortly followed by our “full deck platter”, our dirty plates and cutlery from the bread rolls were taken away (obviously to be replaced by clean cutlery) which took forever while our meal was getting cold. (Clean cutlery should’ve been brought prior to the platter arriving).

To elaborate on the how uncomfortable the small table was, the Full Deck Platter took up the entire width of the table, the cutlery tumbler (which was now empty and still on the table) was on one corner, the little blue plastic basket which the bread rolls came in which is obviously used for the prawn shells on second corner, the chilli, garlic and tartar on the third corner and the wooden “table number” block on the fourth corner of the table. In hindsight, thankfully our drinks order was not taken as we would’ve probably ended up holding our drinks in our hands. At this point, quite annoyed, the store was even quieter than when we arrived so moving to a bigger table wouldn’t have been a problem, but no offer was made and being as annoyed as I was, I decided to keep quiet and get this over and done with.

Our order specifically stated, everything on the platter should be Cajun except for the calamari rings and strips. This was obviously not communicated to or the kitchen had made a mistake, but what appears to have happened is that the prawns were made in lemon butter (lemon butter sauce was all over the platter and on the prawns) and the waiter probably realized this prior to bringing the food to our table and informed the kitchen who appear to have put the prawns and the fish back into the griller after sprinkling some Cajun spice.

The batter on the calamari tubes and strips were dislodged from the fish and the “mini” hake was completely dried out (again probably due to the wait in the warmer while the prawns were being re-grilled). The chips were the thin frozen McCain packet chips which was awful. The chips were by no stretch of the imagination the usual OB chips were so regularly enjoy.

The prawns were completely burnt (brown and bitter due to it being burnt-re grilling) so overall, a horrible combination of awful food with an unpleasant dining experience. Our salad had only arrived halfway through our meal, all the while no offer on something to drink.

Eventually got done, asked for glasses of water to wash down the burnt, bitter taste of the prawns, paid and left.

Being regular V & A Waterfront and Canal Walk Ocean Basket patrons, this has to be by far the worst food and service by any Ocean Basket is my years of visiting the brand.

Would I be returning to Ocean Basket Hermanus, ever...

I have eaten at many Ocean Basket’s before and I can honestly say that this experience was the best.

Firstly the view is amazing but that was not the deciding factor. When we arrived we chose to sit outside as the weather was just perfect.

We ordered our food and in LESS than 10 minutes our meals arrived. Definitely the fastest at any restaurant that we have frequented for sure.

I ordered Bite of the ocean and my husband ordered baby hake with chips and prawns in garlic sauce.

As soon as I saw my spicy rice I could tell that it was going to be delicious. At other branches it is obvious that brown rice is used as it is a thicker, bigger grain but this rice was soft and fluffy which means that they either used white fragrant rice or basmati rice.

And it was the best spice rice by far. My prawns were delicious as well, soft and succulent on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside. The prawns and hake were perfect.

I enjoyed eating at all the other Ocean Basket’s but this one clearly is a notch above the rest and that is saying a lot! As the other branches are very good.

It’s the attention to detail that I’m talking about. For instance, this branch has aprons hanging on the wall for children😳. I have never seen this anywhere else before.

Another thing that I thought was very smart and thoughtful, is their toilets. It’s a small, basic and clean toilet but it’s the signage on the doors that I’m talking about.

It is made clear from the signage that men and women uses the same toilets, so a woman would not be shocked to see a man coming out of the toilet and vice versa. If you don’t like it then you don’t need to use the toilets but no surprises here. I like the transparency 👏

The restaurant itself is immaculate, very spacious and bright with seating on a veranda and some seating outside on the side of the restaurant. Our waiter was attentive without being too intrusive. Perfect 👌

I do at times find waiters are a bit of a nuisance if they disturb you every five minutes to enquire if everything is okay.

As we left the restaurant, the floor manager politely enquired whether everything was to our taste. What a lovely experience...

What a disappointment. We we on the way back from Gansbaai and decided to stop for a byte. First - no service outside - waited and waited. Eventually somebody arrives. First sign - no bear on tap. Should have just walked around to the water front area. So we ordered food when the drinks arrived. I finished my bear and my wife finished her Appletizer. And the wait continued. Eventually we decided to just cancel and go somewhere else - no service or response what-so-ever. I waited at the till to cancel - the waitress came walking with one of our plates. (Sushi and fish+calamari - nothing fancy). Decided to stay and eat. No salt on the table. Small things that would normally not have raised an eyebrow started becoming annoyances. My fish and calamari was definitely under cooked. Still watery (or else it was frozen when placed on the grill). The poor tjippies were so dry, salt would not have sticked to it. What a super disappointment. You guys are not super busy, so one would expect you to go the extra mile to keep customers.

Oh - almost forgot. The wooden tables outside were just varnished, so our clothes are full of oil stains. Only realized that when we got up to leave.

Tks - but no thanks. You have lost a customer for good. Just way too many better options available in Hermanus to survive with this kind of...