Tortuga Loca — Restaurant in Western Cape

My family absolutely LOVE Mexican cuisine, but we have struggled to find a combination of consistency and affordability in any of the places we have tried recently. My husbands colleague then recommended we try a place out in Muizenberg, much to my reluctance, as I didn't want to waste a "long" drive if we'd just end up disappointed. But BOY was I wrong. We took some time out with the kids last night, and visited Tortuga Loca at 141 Main Road, Muizenberg. I was immediately struck by it's charm and "festive" atmosphere, along with the warm welcome we received from the waiting staff. Brandon, our waiter for the evening, was AMAZING and gave us TOP CLASS service. The menu was simplistic enough to not have choice overload, but I seriously wanted to try EVERYTHING!!! We decided to share starters between the four of us, opting for their rather generous portion of corn fritters, spicy chicken wings, and chilli poppers. We were not disappointed at all. The corn fritters were my absolute favourite, and even my daughter (who is usually opposed to anything corn) absolutely LOVED it. For mains, I had their Drunken Prawns - 6 queen prawns flambéed with tequila, lime and chili with a hint of coriander served with a Smoky habanero marinated mango and toasted pumpkin seed green salad and spicy rice. It was outrageously tasty and a rather generous portion! My husband and daughter absolutely enjoyed their chicken Enchiladas - which was so saucy, tasty and rather generous while my son could not get enough of his beef burrito. I have also never had a better Margherita in my life! Their cocktails are definitely something they have perfected and an absolute pleasure to enjoy! Above all, their menu items are really affordable and considering their generous portions, well worth the LONG drive! I will, without a doubt, recommend Tortuga Loca for a good, wholesome, truly remarkable mexican night out, and will most certainly be...

Made a booking on Friday, 22nd for Friday, 29th for a birthday dinner. Requested the room which had pink lights and was told they don't have a room with pink lights (which is entirely wrong) but proceeded to book. When arriving, we were placed in a private room which felt like a conference room. We stated that we did ask for the other room (which DID have pink lights) and asked to be moved as the atmosphere for a birthday in a private room was not great at all. They stated that they were fully booked but would let us know if a table opens up. The hostess or manager, a female, had an attitude from the get-go and preceded to say "well the problem is that there are 7 of you". Yet we had booked for 7 people and NOT in a private room and in a room that they stated does not exist.

After about an hour and 15 minutes, we were told that a table had opened up. By that time we had already just placed our food order so we said thank you but we will just stay where we were as it was a mission to now move everyone and their drinks, etc.

When saying this, everyone saw the look on the hostess' face and she rolled her eyes. Perhaps if the bookings were not incorrectly made in the first place we would not have had this issue but a course in customer service, if not just common courtesy, is needed for this particular person who has turned our entire party of Tortuga Loca.

This is not the first time we have had an issue with the bookings. When opening, we called to book a table and was told that they were not taking bookings but when we arrived, were told that they were fully booked.

Our waiter was fantastic and very accommodating - nothing to flaw with his service. Food was delicious - especially the nachos which were nice and cheesy ! Margarita's were good but pretty sweet and overpriced for...

Came for dinner here for the first time after reading great reviews. The ambiance didn’t disappoint. Makazi’s service was top and management were swift to react when I had the slightest critique about a dish we ordered that I didn’t really like.

We ordered Tapas, family style. If you want to try a little of everything before you commit, order the platter. You can choose from a selection of dishes. The fried hake was memorable and clearly fresh.

Coming from North America I’ve eaten a lot of authentic Mexican food. I won’t say that this is authentic, or even close really, but it’s good food that’s been adapted to local palets. You could call it Mexican inspired?Missed the cilantro, cumin, spice and typical smoked salsas’ that are usually present in Mexican food.

There’s peculiarly no beef on the menu? The wine selection left us wanting, but we should probably have ordered Margarita’s given where we were, so I put that on me.

The soft shell taco’s are nice and thin (feels like they are made in house), and a nice change from typical thick store bought. The salsa could be a lot more interesting and much hotter. I think that’s actually what was really missing. A really nice full bodied hot spicy salsa that made you cry for mama.

We finished dinner with churro waffles…. Waffles cut into fingers and seasoned with Cinammon and Sugar. A novel approach to traditional churro’s, and a hit with the kids, if not what we were actually expecting.

We will be back for the great ambiance and service, but will be sure to bring my own...