The Reviews

***** Chez Girard, 20 WEST, 20 West Road South, Morningside, 16 September 2011

A return to an old friend in a new venue proved to be an excellent choice for a cold night out!  Christian's warm welcome was accompanied by sherries on the house.  The restaurant's decor is understated and inviting.  The menu and wine list are of high quality.  I was spoilt with half a dozen oysters for starters, which were complemented by the Excelsior Sauvignon Blanc.  Rick chose his favourite roast duckling, which was perfectly served.  I chose the beef fillet with peppercorn sauce - gloriously rare.  The vegetables were cooked to crisp perfection as well.

Finally delicious coffee!  A very enjoyable evening in good company at one of our finest French restaurants left us relaxed and happy.

Contact Details for Chez Girard.

**** Steak Bar, inside Food Lovers' Market, Morningside Wedge, Rivonia Road, Morningside (9 July 2011)

A solo venture following a long meeting on a Saturday morning and the need to do the week's shopping!  We have been going to Food Lovers' Market since it opened in the Wedge as their prices are very good and there is great attention to good service.  The Steak Bar did not let me down, especially when I discovered that they do Schwarmas!  They also do rump steak with chips and salad; beer battered fish and chips.  However, deprived of Schwarma for many months, I ordered one.  Not only was it delicious and packed generously with salad, meat and tahina, I felt I could have shared it easily!  The service was very friendly and fast.

I was particularly taken with the attention to detail, including keeping the small space allotted to the bar pristine.  It's a good place to stop and take a break whilst shopping in a place that offers a wide range of fresh meat and fish; a copious choice of cheeses and also one of the best ranges of pates I know of in the area.

Contact Details for Food Lovers' Market.

**** Pomodoro, Morningside Shops, Rivonia Road Morningside

A return visit for the company Christmas lunch took us there on Christmas Eve.  We sat outside and were attended to promptly.  We then ordered drinks - Apple and Grapetisers plus a glass of Porcupine Ridge Chardonnay.  Starters  were Crostini with Mozzarella and Anchovy or Chicken Livers.  I shared my Mozzarella and Anchovy ones with Rick.  They were very tasty and came with olive oil and fresh basil.  Main courses were Saltimbocca Romana, Prawn Rissotto and Gnocchi Gorgonzola.  All beautifully presented and extremely good.  We finished up with coffees, being too replete for desserts!

Great and friendly service, unobtrusive attention to detail and our wellbeing were the main features of a truly pleasant lunch!.

Contact Details for Pomodoro Restaurant. Read previous Pomodoro Restaurant Review here

**** Sale e Pepe da Giovanni, Morning View Shops, South Road Morningside (reviewed by Shannon P)

I have not ordered food from this restaurant in years as I remember that it was not that great. But we happened to be in the area on Sunday (17 June 2010) and decided to go in for lunch. I ordered the Linguini Scampi which was outstanding. My husband ordered the seafood risotto which he also thought was fabulous (and he is Italian, so not so easy to please). All in all we were very impressed. And we were told that the original Giovanni chef is running the kitchen now (it certainly tasted like the original Giovanni food).

As for your review on Giovanni's at the Dunwoody Centre. I completely agree with you. We ate there not so long ago and we had the worst pizza I have ever had – the sauce they used was very sweet.

Contact Details for Sale e Pepe da Giovanni.

***Adega, Bryanston Shopping Centre, corner William Nicol and Ballyclare Drive, 9 October 2010

A very busy and successful restaurant that has moved into a franchise.  We arrived without booking on a whim and were seated within minutes.  However, we would advise you to book.  We looked at the menu and decided on three starters rather than main courses – calamari, black mushroom and chourico.  I ordered white wine –a very pleasant Sauvignon Blanc– and my companion ordered Appletiser.  The Black Mushroom was rather over cheesed with both Feta and Mozzarella, and the Chourico was rather strong on its own.  The calamari, served with spinach rather than rice, was excellent.  Service was somewhat confused so perhaps Fridays are not the best time to go.  A little noisy, however the ambience was good.

The restaurant is well attended, service is acceptable.  My feeling is that the franchise needs to look at how it is maintaining its standards.

Contact Details for Adega.

*****The Baron, Dunwoody Centre, Western Service Road Woodmead, 17 September 2010

After the unfortunate experience at Giovanni's, we felt that trying the Baron out might be a good idea!  So off we set on a much warmer night.  The Baron has a large non-smoking dining area, which they expanded some time ago, and we were offered a table towards the back.  A request to turn down the music was complied with, which meant that we could hear each other talk.

We ordered an Appletiser and a bottle of Chardonnay before perusing the menu.  (See I still feel mellow!)  Then we ordered just our usual one course.  Inevitably, I ordered calamari grilled with a lemon sauce, rice and a side order of spinach.  My companion ordered his favourite, liver and onions.

What really delights about the Baron is the crisp linen and heavy cutlery.  It feels like a special evening out, with flower arrangements around the room, mirrors and brass fittings.  Old fashioned brought up to date with good service and greater lightness of touch.

In good time, our food arrived.  It was well presented and the spinach was excellent.  So were the calamari and the liver and onions.  We dined in contentment, thoroughly enjoying the evening, the well-timed attention of our waiter and our surroundings.  We ended our stay with a cup of coffee, also good.

All in all a good place to go, they were busy and the waiters cope easily with the patrons.

Contact Details for The Baron.

*****Cucina Italiana, Elizabeth Ave, Benmore, 31 July 2010

This was a party of four, headed by Winston, and completed by Rick, Lynne and myself.  This is a boutique restaurant with an expansive host in Paulo, who breaks into song from time to time!  He imports very good Italian red wine and makes extremely good food.  Our choices were the liver and onions, Putannesca pasta, Prawn pasta and the AOP (Garlic, Oil and hot peppers) pasta.  It was a leisurely meal enjoyed in good company, which was enhanced by the excellent food and wine.  We finished off with coffee and felt content.  A good way to end the week, Cucina Italiana is to be recommended.

****Vasili's Morningside Wedge, 26 June 2010

The desire for clams having been stirred, I went here for a light lunch and was rewarded with their excellent clam starter.  This is done in a light tomato sauce (no sugar) with parsley, garlic and a touch of chilli (could have been more for me).  The clams were in shells and it is wonderful to really get into your food, picking up the shells and removing the contents!  A glass of Sauvignon Blanc and some sparkling water proved excellent accompaniments.  Thapelo was a friendly and attentive waiter.  All in all a great experience and the music is good as well!

Contact Details for Vasili's.

*Giovanni's at the Dunwoody Centre, Western Service Road, Woodmead, 25 June 2010

This restaurant has been there for some years and is no longer part of the franchise.  It is a warm and friendly restaurant on entering and the staff are attentive.  I was disappointed that the advertised clam pasta dish was not available.  In fact it is very seldom available, as the restauranteur will only use unshelled clams.  I then ordered the Linguine Squid Heads instead and my partner a Quattro Stagione pizza.  The Leopards Leap Sauvignon Blanc came promptly and was good.

The food arrived in due course with the linguine served is a large copper pan, looking very festive.  This reminded me that the Giovanni portion size is actually large enough for two people!  On tasting the tomato sauce, however, I was overwhelmed by how incredibly sweet it was.  I called our waiter and enquired if there was sugar in the sauce and discovered that there was.  The cloying taste stayed with me for the rest of the night even though I had only taken one mouthful!

Even eating a slice of the excellent Quattro Stagione with its olives did not remove it.  I do not appreciate being served a main course which tastes like half a bag of sugar has been dumped in it.  No mention is made on the menu that sugar is used in the tomato dishes, putting diabetics at risk.  I am at a loss as to why sugar is becoming a must-have in many main course dishes, as it is alien and also bad for people's health.  Like over salting dishes makes them unacceptable to people who actually like to taste their food, using sugar again destroys the balance of the other flavours completely.

The owner was thoroughly unsympathetic: The recipe calls for sugar, he's been putting it in for 20 years, he doesn't care if it is bad for his guests, no-one else complains (they might of course not come back).  Not recommended.

Contact Details for Giovanni's.

Tsunami Seafood Emporium in the Morningside Shopping Centre (8 June 2010) by Debbie Airey

Well well, after going onto various restaurant guides this morning it seems I am not alone in being utterly disgusted with the service and food at this restaurant. I do hope that someone is looking into it. This is the 3rd time that I have tried to give the place a chance. Never again. Food is overpriced, tasteless and the service is not even worth mentioning. The only reason we ended up there is the rest were fully booked, funny that. It was 8pm and the restaurant was not busy.. Judging by the patronage I guess something must be wrong. Good luck with that. We have been going to Rosebank for years. Just not the same.

To top it all, a client had sushi for dinner and then set his chopstix alight and burnt them in the candle holder stinking the the whole place out – there was just no one around to do anything about it!

I will never come back and you know the old adage of bad service. One person tells another, another tells 10 others. Its a fact. I just feel as South Africans we seldom complain about poor service and for that reason owners are not aware of what they are doing wrong. It is the restaurant that will suffer in the long run.

(Editor's Note: This was e-mailed to the restaurant on 9 June.  No comment was received by 27 June.  Earlier review here)

*** Green Peppercorn, in the Morningside Shopping Centre (22 May 2010)

This is an unusual restaurant as it has a loyalty programme and will give you one free breakfast a month if you join!  The night was cold and, after a long day of meetings, I was cold and tired!  Morningside Shops are not exactly organised for Winter and we were grateful for the gas heater at our table.  Even so, the wind blew cold around our feet.  However, the great attention from the waiters and the owner proved good draught excluders!

The menu here is very different – firstly it is presented as a newspaper and secondly the dishes are unusual.  I ordered the Tom Yum Chicken Stir Fry and my partner the Lamb Burger.  (We won't mention the chips).  The Lamb Burger arrived - a healthy, beautifully presented piece of lamb topped with a balsamic onion marmalade.  The chips went back for crisping.  The Tom Yum Chicken was unfortunately extremely salty from the soy sauce and was returned and replaced with the Porchini Risotto.  This dish was lacking in something and the wilted Rocket did nothing to uplift it nor did black pepper.  I would suggest nutmeg or cinnamon and basil to finish it.

The house wine from Franschoek was good and the coffee excellent.  Portions were such that afters were not required.  A special touch was the bread served with hummus!  Friendly service and a warm atmosphere did a lot to mitigate for the Porchini and Chicken dishes.

Another Opinion on Green Peppercorn (Sunday Night, 9 May 2010), by Sagi Bazar

Food was excellent. Of 4 mains and 2 desserts, no one could find fault with any item. The service was friendly, but it sometimes was difficult to get the waiter's attention. This was not to standard for an establishment of this calibre. (I am a man of few words)

Contact Details for Green Peppercorn.

**** Vasili's at Morningside, in the Morningside Wedge (7 May 2010)

This was a complete pleasure except for the perennial chip problem!  Friendly and attentive service, a wonderful ambience and great food (chips excepted).  My Prawn Pasta was everything I wanted - tasty with really plump prawns and a light creamy sauce.  My colleague's calamari looked and was pronounced to taste good.  A great bottle of wine (Graham Beck Waterside White) and excellent coffee.

Also very pleasant live music - a place to go to for great atmosphere and great food!

Contact Details for Vasili's.

***** Silver Pine Spur, Upper Level, Morning Glen Shops, Bowling Avenue off Kelvin Drive (5 March 2010)

Newly opened at the beginning of the month, this is a lively and spacious restaurant.  We were greeted at the door by the manager and his enthusiastic staff and shown to our table.  The layout of the tables is creative, with the central divider between two tables for four being removable to cater for a party of eight.

Our waiter was Samuel, who was attentive without being overbearing.  Drinks arrived within moments of being ordered.  The standard Spur menu offers a wide choice of dishes and we opted for a Spur burger with mushroom sauce and a half portion of fish and chips.   They both came with our preferred crispy chips!

I can recommend the house dry white wine.

Most interesting feature was seeing and hearing the manager debriefing his staff at the end of the evening.  We had arrived late and were the last table to leave.  The good atmosphere in the restaurant comes from this attention to the well-being of the staff.  It was a very enjoyable evening..

Contact Details for Silver Pine Spur.