Steffanie’s Place — Restaurant in Somerset West

After a lovely afternoon with my Friend I felt like having a glass of wine at Steffanies, as I used to live 12 years in Aragon Way Nr. 4 and used to know the former owners, which were charming and had EXCELLENT MANNERS. After I went into this place (I was away for 20 years..wanted to remember these good times), I met a lovely young waitress and asked if I could have a glass of wine, no food, as I had this at my Friend's place. This young lady was so nice, she said that normally one is NOT ALLOWED to have only a glass of wine, one has to have a meal, but after my pleading she was so nice to show me a table on the Terrace and I had my glass of wine. Beautiful to see my old view again. After I was ready to leave, I went into the Reception Area, and asked the young lady for my bill. Before this nice waitress could reply, and to my total Horror, there was a very ...well, lets say a HUGE Man in black Jacket, who shouted at me - yes, he shouted at me : Its on the house...Whereas I replied: I would like to pay,...he shouted back: On the House....anyhow, I have NEVER IN ALL MY LIVE HAD SOMEBODY TREAT ME LIKE THIS, AND FOR NO REASON AT ALL..shocking, and This Male Person did not even look at me...he kept on looking into bills or whatever, his back turned to me the entire time. When I asked whether he is the owner he shouted: NO...I asked when I could book (I still tried to be friendly) he shouted back at me: ANYTIME...still with his back turned to me.; there were actually a few more rude comments from his side…. I would recommend the OWNER OF THIS PLACE TO GET A STAFF WHICH COMPLIES WITH THE GOOD NAME OF THIS ...

We came to this restaurant based upon the good reviews it has gotten. The restaurant is un a great location and has a good atmosphere. The service was average to below average. The food was ok but not exceptional. I would say that price quality is just average; it tends to be on the overpriced side. The reason I am taking the time to write this review is the following. Bread was brought to the table and we were hungry so we started eating it and was good. However, at one point I found a rather long white hair in the bread and realizing that this type of “accidents” do happen I just stop eating it. Up to this point we were enjoying the evening and restaurant. I decided to give one of our waiters a constructive comment about the bread. Before I went ahead with my comment I asked if the bread was made in the restaurant and was given an affirmative answer. So I decided to go ahead with my comment only with the objective for them to be more careful. My comment was gracefully taken and I was told that it would be passed along. I thought that was the end of it. Unfortunately that was not the case. The manager came to our table to let us know that no one in the kitchen had long white hair and that the hair must’ve come in the packaging of the bread. I believe this man did not realized that I had inquired if the bread was made on the premises and he had no problem on putting together an excuse based upon a lie. The hair incident isn’t significant, but the false excuse from the manager is as I was not making a formal complaint just giving some...

We have tried Steffanie's three times now. Every time we're met with a very stiff, almost exclusive, atmosphere. The staff do make you feel like you're at a fine dining establishment of sorts. The other diners also play the part as I always get the idea that we are in the best kept secret in the Helderberg area, only catering to the elite of Somerset West.

The starters never disappoint. The calamari is probably the best I've had in the Helderberg; I personally love the duck liver pâté. I've also tried the duck spring rolls and I loved it!

But then, the mains are where it all stops and turns into a mediocre dining experience, making me wish I rather stayed at home. First time I ordered a sirloin steak, rare, but it was a dry flavourless cut of meat. The second time I ordered pork belly, but was met with a lardy blob which consisted of no less than 80% fat; I couldn't finish half of it. Third time lucky, I thought – I ordered a Neapolitan pasta! So, in my limited experience of Italian cuisine, a Neapolitan sauce consists of tomatoes, basil and garlic. Minimalism is key in Italian cuisine. But Steffanie's Neapolitan had an overwhelming taste of cheap, prepackaged stock and cream added to the sauce.

I'm not really picky and I hardly have anything bad to say about local restaurants doing amazing things, but Steffanie's does not live up to the standard that they try to portray. And it's unreasonably expensive... Which is unfortunate, given the awesome view from the terrace and the seriousness of the staff at the...