Kleinsky's Delicatessen — Restaurant in Sea Point

I first visited this restaurant about two years ago and had a delicious salmon bagel at that time. Since I like bagels, I decided to have one again after a long time and visited this place. Although I was looking forward to it after the renovation, I left feeling quite disappointed. The restaurant was still busy, just like before, and we were seated after waiting only 5 minutes. However, the tables were too close together, making it difficult to avoid overhearing conversations from the next table, and I felt rushed by the staff asking if we were ready to order within a second of being seated.

The policy of allowing pets inside is lovely and positive, but the restaurant also needs to consider guests who do not have pets. Later, guests arrived with a large dog that barked from the start and touched my husband's leg somehow, startling him. The woman with the dog did not apologize at all (wow), though her husband eventually did, which was really appreciated.

After finishing our meal, we tried to have a bit of conversation, but a man who seemed to be the manager pointed at our table and pressured the staff to clear our dishes quickly. When the staff didn’t do it, he came over himself immediately and cleared the table with an impatient attitude (there were no waiting customers in the restaurant at that time). We went to the restaurant to enjoy a relaxed Sunday brunch, but the chaotic atmosphere and the staff's attitude were very inappropriate. Additionally, when we tried to get up from our seats, the woman with the large dog did not even attempt to make the dog stand up. As a result, I had to awkwardly climb over the sofa and move outside the table to avoid the dog (the couple showed no consideration for my need to move, how amazing uneducated people they are).

I am supportive of allowing pets in restaurants very much and i love dog, but establishments should create policies to better accommodate non-pet-owning guests. For example, staff should check tables where large dogs are present to ensure a comfortable environment for everyone (this was something I observed in pet-friendly restaurants in other advanced countries). If there are customers with large dogs, it might be helpful to move them to a more spacious table. Due to the lack of consideration from the pet owner, my dining experience was further marred. It was truly an amazing Sunday morning. I sincerely hope the restaurant pays more...

The woman working at front was very rude, lots of sighing and rolling of eyes- quite a mood ruiner ! Very disappointing experience. We waited in line for maybe 30 minutes after we placed our names. Maybe around 4 different groups placed their names after us and got seated right away. We went inside to wait and were told to queue outside while again, the 4 groups who came after us were not bothered about waiting indoors like us. At one point, the woman even closed the door straight in our face while we were saying “excuse me”, it might have been unintentional but we even signalled with a wave that we wanted to speak with her about the wait time.

The menus were aggressively handed out the menus once we sat, tossed one, maybe unintentional, but it did hit an arm.

It was Sunday and everything was sold out ! We were told it was because of the ‘weekend rush’, but why even open if you cannot cater to enough people? Should have told us at the door before we waited so long that basically nothing was in stock. The drink I wanted wasn’t available, the bread I wanted wasn’t available and an entire dish was not available.

Very disappointing, I was looking forward to...

Went to Kleinsky's today with two friends from Johannesburg. They felt like having bagels (the huge bagel decor adorning the entrance did its job well) and while I did warn to them the bagels are a bit underwhelming from previous dining experience, I do think the plated breakfasts and coffee are decent. The premonition was pretty spot-on in the end -- the Latke Benedict (with salmon) was delicious, the deep-fried potatoes terraformed into a beautiful little flat earth housing a bulbous poached egg and tenderly folded salmon that burst and spread all over my plate in a sticky pool of happiness. The Pastrami bagel, on the other hand, was tough and not pieced together well, a sad little bread circle.

There was a lot of waitering staff, yet new customers got skipped over during the course of breakfast, including us. Once we were locked in to the system though, things progressed a bit faster. Overall not a bad experience, a good spot for a meetup with friends... Just a little bit overhyped is all. Coffee is decent too, and having a generator to stave off loadshedding is a huge plus. Plenty menu options luckily if what we had doesn't tickle your...