Chefs Warehouse at Maison — Restaurant in Stellenbosch Local Municipality

We were a party of 6 and recently booked at Chefs Warehouse Franschhoek. Collectively we felt for a fine dining restaurant that the tables should have been laid with linen and the actual ambience inside the restaurant at night was a little lacking. There seemed to be some confusion at our table as to how the 'Sharing Tapas' was served, and although the waitron explained the menu twice to us, we all still had different levels of understanding until the food actually arrived- this was frustrating in particular to my husband, which he expressed to our server. Two of the party could not eat from the two menus on offer, due to allergies, so both chose two starters. I think it would have been nice to have been informed that both the starters were in fact cold starters.(not great for a cold Autumn night) One dish was what I would describe in layman's terms as a spring roll filled with noodles and a smatter of veg (ice cold) and the second was roast beef with a small bun- the bun was lovely and warm but the roast beef was ice cold. the other two 'couples' at our table shared a regular menu as one tapas (literally a mouth full of each item, taken from a shared plate) and the other couple shared a regular tapas and the pescatarian tapas but were lucky enough to receive a plate each with their portions. The sharing Tapas is R900 per person. The feedback on the food from our table- although the presentation was appealing, the flavours are so very intense that the taste becomes overwhelming. I can say we have ticked this box, We would not return to another Chefs warehouse. There are truly so many other choices in Franschhoek to have an 5...

Ugh. Hate writing negative review because I don't want to be 'that person' but this is my 5th time at Chefs Warehouse Maison and unfortunately I will never be back again or will be recommending them to anyone I know.

Food was extremely salt. First dish - too salty. Told the waitress, she then they redid the sauce - they added more cream/yoghurt & 'fixed' the saltiness. Then the 2nd dish, we got mussels, again, the broth that they pour onto the mussels was excessively salty again. Told the waitress, she said she will tell the chef and then she cleared my plate... Then we got our next dish, and my friends got fried poppodams - so oily!! Then I asked to speak to the chef. The Head Chef came to speak to us. I showed him the oily poppodam and he just apologized but honestly it was a defensive apology. Then the last dish came out and again, salty and I became nauseous. I didn't finish my last course as I was over it. Father day treat for my hubby was ruined thanks to a horrible dining experience.

As I'm writing this on my drive back to Cape Town, I was to let you know that my dining experience tonight was the worst once I've had in the almost 10 years I've been in Cape Town.

For a restaurant like chefs warehouse, I expect so much more. I MISSED the excellent quality, taste, flavours & culinary creativity that I ONCE got from Chef warehouse Maison (back in 2019).

Dear Chef warehouse Maison team, please do way better. I'm extremely disappointed by the lack of culinary flavours...

I have mixed feelings about this place. Yes the view is beautiful, so is the interior and the Service is friendly and welcoming. But I can experience this in a hundred other restaurants in the cape region. At the end of the day it is about the food. That’s what distinguishes a restaurant from all the other establishment.

I had the vegan menu. Price-value-food experience was not convincing to me. My partner got the regular meat/fish course which he was happy with. My vegan menu felt like the boring leftovers of his menu. To me that’s sending the wrong message regarding plant based meals. It says „you’ll get the regular course, but minus the fun stuff (which is the animal part) and lack of creativity - oh and you get less food, too and it‘s pricey“. Where my partner often times had 3 items in his course, I was left with one. He would for instance get a salad with some sort of meat/fish, accompanied by a nice dip and homemade bread. I would only get the salad, just without the animal product, which left me with the basic bare minimum.

If you specifically offer a plant based 4 course menu then I expect more from a chef’s warehouse restaurant - especially for the price.

In conclusion, you might enjoy Maison if you eat animal products. There are other restaurants in the area where you’ll find equally delicious food for a more fair price point. I cannot recommend it if you eat vegan.

I would come back here for just a snack and some wine. Like I said, the service was...