Kaung S.
Yelp
I had high hopes for this place. It's close to my brother's place, parking isn't hard to find, and the website was pretty swank looking.
So let's start with the positives. The interior is sleek and inviting. The main bar area is quite impressive looking. There were several pool tables towards the end of the restaurant. And there was even a high tech jukebox/photo booth. So perhaps as JUST a bar, this place would be fine. However, I went there for the pub food, and was very disappointed with my experience.
Their website claims, "your favorite American pub style foods with a South African Twist." So I look through the menu and see something that I'd like to try: The Family Recipe Chicken Curry. It is described as a "South African red curry and vegetables over Jasmine Rice. Topped with Fried Plantains." I passed up burgers and wings and my go-top bar entree (fish and chips) in hopes of experiencing something new. What I got was something underwhelming. It had a hearty feel to it, but so does canned soup, and that's more or less what it reminded me of in terms of quality. I will say that the chicken was tender, but that's about the only positive. What was the point of having a little ball of rice surrounded by the curry? It's already starting to get soggy from soaking up the juices. The spice blend of the curry seemed uninspired. However, the biggest blunder on the plate was the lack of plantains. Look at my picture, and tell me if you see the plantains that appear on their website. So really at this point, what you have is a mediocre dish that I could whip up myself with some canned goods (and I am a terrible cook)-- not a unique international dish that I was hoping for. And for the price of $15? Come on, man. Side note on my girlfriend's dish; she got lamb chops with sweet potato mash and wild rice. She said the best thing on the plate was the rice, and it was average. I tasted the sweet potato and it had too much brown sugar on top. The lamb was also too salty. So 0 for 2 on the entrees.
Bad food alone isn't usually enough for me to totally write a place off, but the service was quite lacking as well. It started with something minor-- my girlfriend asking for a slice of orange to go with her Blue Moon draft. We get our drinks, no orange but our server realizes it and says she'll be right back. She comes back later to take my brother's drink order (he came late), but no orange slices. We later get our food... no orange slices until I politely requested it. Not sure if it was intentional, but I felt like I got a glare from her. Speaking of food delivery, it took a little too long to get it (maybe 20 minutes), and the restaurant wasn't even half full that night. Through the course of the meal, my Diet Coke was never refilled, nor was my girlfriend asked for another beer. At the end, after a discussion with my brother who also ordered the same curry dish, we asked about the lack of plantains. The server said she'd check and get back to us. 10 minutes later nothing. I originally wanted dessert, but was irritated at this point and just asked for the check.
I hope that my experience is not the norm for others who go there, but I will never go back to this place.