The Boathouse Restaurant and Pub @ Gansbaai Harbour — Restaurant in Overstrand Local Municipality

I have to agree with some of the past reviews when I say that I have not been disappointed like this in a very long time.

We had the privilege of having my father in law with us on father's Day for the first time in 8 years as they have been staying overseas.

We booked at Boathouse week and a half in advance for Father's day, on the phone I was told the restaurant is already filling up fast.

My father in law has seen the glittering reviews on the Facebook group " Wie maak Vir Gansbaai lekker" and he has been looking forward to this lunch for ages.. ( it now seems as if that the glittering reviews on the Facebook group are posted friends of the owner or the owners themselves on fake Facebook profiles )

We arrived promptly at 12:00. We entered and we were told to go upstairs as our table was ready .

No one escorted us. We sat down and at first glance the wine glasses on the table were extremely dirty .

We waited 20 mins before anyone offered us a menu ! When the server finally arrived she asked what we want to drink ( a bit difficult if you don't even have a clue what they have to offer) but we placed our order we again asked for a menu another 15 mins passed we finally got our drinks and a menu .

The server proceeded to tell us that certain items were not available.

We understood and placed a starter order anyway and an hour later we got our starters honestly the crumbed mushrooms were good but the snails were not very good and the sauce was grainy.

We ordered mains hoping for the best ...hoping to eat the delicious food the Facebook reviewers had the opportunity to taste...about 45 mins after placing our order the server came to ask who ordered the 8 wings and chips, it was me... She then proceeded to tell me that they only have 4 wings left... my heart sank ... I just looked at her and said okay I will take it, we ordered another drink ...but another hour passed no food, some people around us who came and ordered after us got their food... We still had not gotten our main meals or the last drink order yet... Our server finally returned with the drinks.

2 and a half hours later and no mains . We got up and asked for the bill the server then told us that they are dishing up our food as they speak...

We were severely hungry by that time and the people sitting behind us told us that their food tasted as if it had been prepared the night before and microwaved today before serving. (Sies)

What a disappointment , honestly I get the concept that not all restaurants are fast food restaurants and some times you have to wait a few extra minutes for a meal.

My husband and I are self proclaimed "foodies" and we have eaten at an array of restaurants locally and internationally and never experienced anything like this ever!

When we paid our bill the server/ owner was so unbothered by the fact that we wanted to leave and just said it's fine she will remove the main meals from the bill and that's that not a care in the world.

To my understanding this restaurant/ bar has been open for some time ... I honestly don't know how ... Maybe the bar is keeping the restaurant afloat ?

If you as the owner knew a week and a half ago that the restaurant will be so full, why not hire a few extra hands for the day ? We have such a high unemployment rate in our country , honestly?

Such a sad experience for a beautiful coastal town.

Do not waste your time or money.

I will never visit this establishment if we can even call it that again .

Best would be to lock the doors and throw...

Arrived in Gansbaii 03/12/17 on holiday and decided to eat hear as my accommodation was only going to be ready at 2pm. We sat on the deck and my partner decided to order a burger and I order hake. After we finished ordering one of the patrons said to me, I quote " we survived, hope you do too" and I thought maybe it was a joke which I didn't understand. After our food arrived we started eating and the food had no taste for me, I tried to add all the sauce available but still it tasted blant and not fresh. After travelling since the 26/11/17 this was the worst food I had ever tasted. I worked all over Cape Town in different types of restaurants for 7years and to be honest this is the worst I have ever seen, to make matters worse I started feeling sick and had to throw up. I found my partner paying the bill and I told her not to pay for the fish but the waiter told me that's not going to happen and we could complain where ever we want as long as we paid the bill. I'm launching a case against this resturant because that is totally unacceptable. To me the worst thing was the waiter challenging me and telling me in my face that I would pay for it no matter what. I will spend every cent I have to put across this message, a customer must always be treated well and be served fresh food not things which are off. Will be sending my medical bill...

The Boathouse is not a place for tourists. I think a lot of the reviews are written by locals and not by outsiders. We had a very unpleasant experience with extremely drunk locals and a very rude elderly waitress. They allowed already intoxicated men into the restaurant and seated them near us on the deck. The men were unsteady on their feet and one could easily see that they were very drunk. They were fondling the waitress, who did not seem to care, and used Afrikaans profanities at the top of their voices, especially the p word. We moved from the deck to the inside of the restaurant when we feared they might become aggressive. Inside we were "reprimanded" by the elderly waitress for moving and complaining about the inebriated men on the deck. It is logical that a fight would've ensued if we complained where the men could hear us. When we left the establishment the men were shouting profanities from the deck, especially "you ma se p" which seemed to be their favourite saying. I would like to warn tourists to be careful of this establishment and not take...