Voorstrandt Restaurant — Restaurant in Saldanha Bay Local Municipality

Very sad day at Voorstrandt Restaurant, Paternoster

We loved Voorstrandt Restaurant in the beautiful Paternoster, when coming to the west coast who is so renowned for their hospitality, we make sure to make a reservation at Voorstrandt Restaurant. Until today 22 March 2015. We went for dinner the previous night, had delicious mains and the waiter suggested we have the sticky toffee pudding for dessert but rather decided to come back for it the next day. So we went there over lunch, the following day and as we placed our order with the waitress, the owner Adriaan comes to just make sure if we wanted dessert and drinks, first we thought he was just checking the order that was placed, but that was not the case. He told us that it is lunch time and that there are people waiting to be served and that it is no problem for him if we come for dessert after lunch time but NOT NOW, and asked us to get up and leave - My jaw dropped on the floor. We have never been so humiliated and embarrassed in our lives!!!!!!! How can this be??? How can a restaurant owner decide for you what you would like to have for lunch and what not, who does he think he is. Adriaan the owner of Voorstrandt Restaurant does not fit in with the West Coast Hospitality. For us that comes from the bustling Gauteng province we're use to rude and inconsiderate restaurant service but have never imagined we would experience that here. Needless to say as much as we loved the restaurant, we will never ever ever go back there. This was ultimately the worst dining experience...

Food is incredibly sub standard given the reviews here. I often wonder why people would rate the food when things are so awful.

We had the mussel starter. Given the proximity to super fresh mussels, these were anything but! The sauce was essentially Denny mushroom soup from a can with a whole lot of pre-crushed garlic added. It was so gelatinous that it resembled something I don't want to mention here.

The smoked snoek samosas also left nothing to be desired. Served along with the dhanya sauce you get on Spar shelves, not one person in our 3 pax party wanted more than a bite.

For mains we had the seafood curry, mussel soup and hake with salad.

Let's just say the curry was essentially curry in name only. I've never had so much clove in one dish. I was embarrassed that this came out of a kitchen in my province.

The mussel soup was self inflected. Not sure why we were expecting a different result here. It was worse than the mussel starter.

Finally, the only saving grace was the hake. It was beautifully cooked, fresh and tasty.

I really wish this place wasn't this bad. The location is spectacular and it could be so so much more.

On the plus side, the service was outstanding and we never had to wait for anything. Sadly I can't remember our lovely waitress's name.

If you do visit, order the fish and chips, enjoy he brilliant service and the spectacular view. Do not expect anything more if you venture off the well trodden "deep fried" path.

If you own this venue, hire a good...

The Voorstrandt Restaurant is situated right on the white sandy beach of beautiful Paternoster bay with stunning panoramic views of the beach, sea and sky.

The Voorstrandt Restaurant specializes in seafood dishes, but never forgetting about meat lovers and Vegetarians. Local West Coast wines, beers and more are available. Bookings are very essential. The restaurant can become very busy, especially during peak seasons and weekends and therefore it is advised to make reservations early, even for lunch especially if you would like a table out on the veranda which is pleasant during the summer months, but not so pleasant in the winter months, especially when it is cold and wet, as it can be at that time of the year (i.e. May to September). From what I have heard it is not advisable to book for lunch and then turn up and order drinks only. This could be frowned upon.

Our party ordered 4 different starters and main meals off the menu and all agree that these were delicious and very tasty. Even for the fussy eater, there is more than enough to choose from on the menu, to satisfy them. Ask me, I know.

Although there have been some reviews to the contrary, our experience in regard to the management and staff at this restaurant was cordial and everyone was pleasant and friendly. My personal opinion is, that as the saying goes “You can please some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all...