Willoughby & Co. — Restaurant in V&A Waterfront

I was subjected to egregious rudeness, verbal abuse, and unwarranted aggression by a waiter of Willoughbys , Klint Fennel. As a loyal patron of The Waterfront and a frequent visitor to that establishment, I am appalled by this breach of basic human decency and professional standards, particularly from an individual in the position of a waiter at one of Cape Town’s most esteemed restaurants. To provide context, I dined with my small dog, Tiger who is ill and requires constant accompaniment. For her comfort and mobility, we transport her in a compact pet buggy, which she rides in discreetly. This arrangement has allowed us to enjoy The Waterfront’s amenities on multiple occasions without incident, as I have witnessed animals in such carriers are routinely accommodated throughout the mall. Indeed, I have personally observed numerous patrons with similar setups —dogs in buggies or even on laps—dining at your restaurant without reproach.

Upon entering, one Klint Fennel immediately approached me in a belligerent manner, His tone was not merely discourteous but vicious , delivered in full view of other guests and staff. As a mere waiter , he holds a role that demands courtesy, poise, and hospitality—qualities he abjectly failed to uphold. Instead, he wielded his minor authority with audacious malice, summoning security personnel not once, but twice, to forcibly eject me ,shouting, “Take your dog and get out of The Waterfront!” The first security officer, to his credit, responded with empathy, advising me to relax before I departed to a nearby pet-friendly restaurant. Tragically, Klint Fennel overrode this compassionate intervention with further vicious instructions, compelling a second officer to intervene. Compounding this outrage, as I departed graciously, Mr. Fennel mockingly waved and blew a kiss in my direction before the entire restaurant —a pathetic display of petty triumphalism attempting to further humiliate me and undermined the dignity of the establishment. Some of the other staff confided that they were powerless against his “vicious instructions,” highlighting a toxic dynamic that prioritizes bullying over service. Fennels behavior was not only an affront to me but a profound embarrassment to the restaurant. His actions reveal a bitter, frustrated individual—evident in his affected appearance and demeanor—who abuses his limited remit (directing patrons to tables attempting overseeing staff) to masquerade as an enforcer of mall-wide policy, far beyond his authority. No waiter has the right or remit to expel patrons from The Waterfront; that is the domain of mall security who were kind abd compassionate ,not a restaurant employee. His conduct was mean-spirited, ugly in its cruelty, and wholly unbecoming of South Africa’s dining scene. I am certain the proprietor would be disgusted to learn of such representation.

I will pursue resolution through public review platforms, including a detailed account on social media and sites such as TripAdvisor.

My commitment to The Waterfront is unwavering, and I will return. He has proven himself to be a bully who uses his minor position to act out his frustrations on patrons on his imaginary stage. The professional theatrical platform was one he has previously perhaps failed on hopelessly It is painfully clear that this public performance of authority , in a restaurant ,masks a profoundly unhappy individual, but his personal failings are no excuse for subjecting customers to such...

My wife and I have been frequenting Willoughby's for many years soley for the sushi which is the best in town, no doubt about it. However, the service delivered by watrons ranges from acceptable to downright shocking. There seems to be an arrogance,a nonchalantness and aloofness that is incredibly very off-putting, so much so that we didn't want our waiter engaging with us today and wished he would go away. Why? The 'feeling' one gets is that you are a nuisance, and the are doing you a favour by eating there. This is experienced by the way you are spoken to, to the dropping of plates in front of you, the response by the waiter when ordering was "cool "! Really. My wife broke her chopsticks when seperating them our waiter leaned over to the couple next to us (at the counter) and simply took their chopsticks WITHOUT SAYING A WORD. My jaw dropped. We've never encountered such terrible service. There is no courtesy, zero attention to professionalism. I am generalizing but the issue seems to run deep, starting at the top with the manager who prances around like a lipizzan horse, not offering much courtesy. I get it, for many, waitering isn't a dream job. They would do well to send the waitrons to work at a finer establishment to learn what it means to SERVE customers with sincerity abd care.If it were not for the quality of the sushi we'd never eat there. I hope management hears these words as improving something as simple as the attention to detail by staff would greatly improve the experience of a customer. There is only one reason to visit Willoughby's and that's for the sushi. Zero experience outside of the food which is sad as the one thing they can control is their interaction with customers. The goal of the establishment is to torn tables as fast as possible. I read another reviewer mention they asked to have the waiter replaced, perhaps it was the same one we had today, a bald...

This is an edit of my previous review of Willoughbys last year where I wrote that they serve the BEST sushi and sashimi and scored them a 5. I have now changed it to a 1.

I have been eating there for 10 years and loved every meal. However,, it all changed yesterday when I went there for dinner as I had a poor experience with the food and an even worse experience with the manager Clint. He is the one that other customers have described as ‘the rude manager with grey hair and a bun’ in their reviews. So, my experience with him was not an anomaly. Rather it is the norm for any customer who dares to give feedback or has an issue. He is .rude, defensive and argumentative. This is most unusual in the hospitality industry. It begs the question why the owner Jens Tibshraeny has not called Clint to order. Clint prances around with a sense of impunity as if owns the restaurant.

I had no intention of changing my previous great review to a poor review. However, Clint refused to accept that something seemed amiss with what we ordered that evening compared to what we have been eating over a decade because we always order the same things. Sushi and tempura etc. We are all for change but when the sushi has too much rice and too little flavour we can pick it up. When the veg tempura is oily with thick, brittle batter we can pick it up because it doesnt taste good. These are small things that can be fixed. There is no need to be defensive, argumentative and rude. We were extremely polite and noticed that when we requested to speak to Clint he refused to come to our table. We then made a second request and he came over with a scowl like look that came across as ‘whats your problem?’ Well, we wont ever be back. Owners and Managers of restaurants who treat their customers with disrespect dont deserve...