Braai Shack Restaurant — Restaurant in Milton Keynes

I will pre-empt what may come across as a negative review by saying that I will return with the rest of my family so I am offering what I hope will be taken as constructive.

Check-in process was very efficient and Covid-conscious. We scanned the QR and were led to our table which had glass screens between us and the next. Staff were masked up and were very friendly and helpful. Only let down a little at the end as we waited an age for our dishes to be cleared and to be able to pay (had to call them over).

We waited quite a while for our main course but I was not really that concerned as I had allowed for enough time. I understand that with only recently coming out of lockdown and a shortage of staff etc etc, things do take longer so overall I was not that fussed and this will hopefully get better as things return to normal.

However, to reiterate, staff were very friendly, generally quite efficient and very helpful so well done.

A suggestion is that upon arrival, our table was already set. I would probably leave until after guests arrived as customers walking past may contaminate...remember, we are living in a new world so something to consider.

Our drinks order was taken quickly and delivered quickly too. My son is a coeliac and we let them know and they confirmed what he could eat after checking to top marks there.

He ordered the Bobotie and I ordered the ostrich burger so that he could taste ostrich. In the photo, the burger is disassembled because I requested it that way.

Whilst waiting for the meal (which probably took 30 minutes - not complaining pointing out as I had allowed for the time, we were offered some homemade tacos (not GF) and sauce. This was a nice touch and a good plan as customers wait for the main course. There were quite good so well done.

The bobotie was excellent. Really tasty and well cooked. The disassembled burger was very well presented too and cooked exceptionally. My (hopefully) constructive criticism starts here. The burger comes with cheese which was not mentioned on the menu. The waitress did however mention it when we were ordering (well done) so I was able to leave it off but it should be clearly disclosed. I was not given a choice in sauce. Both meals only came with the "secret" sauce which to my taste was a thinner version of Mrs. Balls Peach Chutney. Now, I would have preferred a Monkey Gland sauce which I highly recommend BS offers as that is truly South African. The other issue I had was that the burger was so perfectly done but was smothered in the sauce. Your chef is very talented and I wanted to be able to taste the mastery he had presented. Perhaps consider bringing the sauce separately in a little jug. On that note, I asked if they had a sauce with a bit of chilli. What they brought was perfection. I am not a fan of tabasco as it is a little tame but what I got was sublime. Just the right amount of heat that you know it is chilli without being full on Carolina Reaper material. Kudos.

I think the prices are reasonable however, the sides probably need to be a little larger...well, certainly on the burger front. I would think a few more chips and onion rings would not go amiss. Lastly, on the chips front, I could have done with them being crisp or certainly showing some colour...personal preference so you may disagree.

On this occasion, we ran out of time for dessert but looking forward to trying that.

Lastly, despite thinking that the food was very good and the decor had an African theme, something was not gelling for me as I want to really love Braai Shack. There's a lot of African stuff but the place felt devoid of atmosphere. Just no vibe. One of you need to go front of house to chat and show your face. And put on an African themed soundtrack...Hugh Masikela, Miriam Makeba, Just Ginger, Ladysmith Black Mambaso, Youssou N'Dour, Bisso Na Bisso, Angélique Kidjo, Kampi Moto etc. Hell, I would be prepared to lend you my Moyo CD.

I know this is long but it was done in earnest to help you up your game from something good to...

Here's my very in-depth review of this restaurant and why I'm so shocked to see it has such high reviews. We had a party of 12 and we pre-ordered our food the day before so baffled to why this was such a mess.

1. Our server didn't crack a smile the entire time we were there, she clearly wasn't happy to be in work and it showed.
2. The wait times between our courses was ridiculous. We arrived on time, the waiter came by quickly to confirm pre orders, a few side orders were added to the mains, aside from that nothing changed. We waited another 15 minutes for our drinks to arrive and then another 20 minutes for our starters to come. We thought all was going well but then an entire hour rolled by with no sign of our mains, I asked our waiter how long the food was going to be, she disappeared and we didn't see her again for a while. I then had to get up, to go ask another waiter to find our waiter and see how long the food was going to be.
3. When the food arrived, two of the people ordered the chicken curry, one curry was swimming in oil, the other not. We asked the person who brought the food out if it was meant to be like that, he said yes, we then asked the waiter who said no and it got sent back.
4. Our Mac and cheese was swimming in oil. I know cheese is meant to have oil in it but it was to the point you poured the dish and the oil dripped out. It was also flavourless and penne pasta and not Mac..
5. My venison was lovely. I ordered it medium rare and was happy until I got about half way through and it started to get bluer and by the end of it, the poor thing was practically kicking again.
6. Two people's hanging kebabs, one was edible, one was so tough that she was literally chewing it for over 5 minutes to try eat it and ended up spitting it out. She left all of it and when collecting food did the waiter ask why an entire meal was left? Nope :)
7. Not sure if it's this type of food but most of the food was very overly salty.
8. My husband had a platter, the majority of his food was very dry (Clearly sat under a heat lamp) he asked me to try some of his food and I was like oh this is lovely pork and then found out that was meant to be the brisket..

The majority of us today aren't feeling well and I just think at an average of £35 a main course, £45+ each for the entire meal, and such a high rating, you expect so much more out of food and service but it was so so so disappointing.

On a positive note, a waiter that wasn't our waiter did continuously ask throughout our 1 hour wait if we wanted more drinks and apparently out of the 12 guests at the table, the one person who had the oxtail curry said his curry was nice but it was more tail than ox. So a 1/12...

The mixed (zulu) grill here was prepared to quite a poor standard of cooking, which is a shame as i quite enjoy braai restaurants typically, where South Africans have a culture of perfectly cooked meats accompanied with homemade sauces.

Firstly, i ordered the steak 'rare' and it was returned raw, which was easily done given how thick and irregularly shaped it was. I asked politely for it to be cooked a little longer 'to medium', and it was returned raw again. For a nicely matured cut of beef this wouldnt be such an issue as you could still chew that raw, but it was a tough cut and reminded me of a cheap supermarket cut, barely hung. As a large an unabatedly carnivorous man, Id sooner have had a steak half the size but of reasonable quality.

Then, the lamb chops prioritised size over outcome, and the outcome was again that barely any of it was edible.

The cooking hadnt rendered the fat in the slightest, so as im not a fan of chewing a lot of gristle that basically left a small, dry piece of meat on each one that was actually edible.

A chef cooking these week in week out should buy far thinner chops, and cooked them at a higher temperature to cook the fat. (I dont think these were grilled over coals, probably just a hot plate). So my conclusion is that the management of this restaurant aren't paying much care to quality, as just eyeballing what I was served would have been enough for a motivated proprietor to think whether this plate of food justified a £30 price tag.

The boerwer sausage and the sauces were good, the ribs were average, but not what i expected from a £30 mixed grill. You can get a totally different league of grilled meat feast from Persian Grill in Bletchley. My wife ordered just a normal sirloin steak, and that was poorly chosen bit of supermarket beef badly cooked. Ive never seen a steak as unappetising as that. It had the look of a grey, boiled piece of beef.

The table opposite ordered some hanging kebab skewers, which looked better, maybe that's the point of this restaurant?

Finally, the decor is nice, so +1 star, but the floor, tables, chairs, place mats were all sticky to touch /walk on. Im not a prude, but Id like not to get sticky hands every time i touch my chair or the table. And walking around was like walking around a Walkabout pub after New Years Eve, you have to be careful you dont...