You can have all the glam of a fashionable interior, with underlit tables glowing mysteriously, a blonde lounge, the allure of good-looking staff and a slightly distant manager – but a toilet without a hand towel/paper/blower? Call me picky, but I prefer not to dry my hands with loo paper, especially when lunch for two with a modest bottle of wine cost R500.
Perhaps it was just not my day, because the first two bottles of wine I ordered were unavailable. In fact, of the six or so chardonnays on the list, only one (an unwooded cheapie) was available… I have recently heard of a practise whereby restaurants claim wines to be “out of stock” from the supplier – while the reality is that the restaurant is not holding any stock, because if you are the wineries they do in fact have the wine. Could this be the case here, list padding, or is their re-ordering just up the pole?
It is a pretty space, and I was looking forward to my lunch here at this, its new address, complete with outside tables on astroturf. Then the wine situation put me off, and then I was informed there was no tuna, which is quite acceptable, although it negated a good chunk of the fusion, nouveau-Asian menu. And so, with an average wine in hand, to the sushi, which was fine; and on to dim sum (R60 portion), average; to a wok dish of baby kingklip which needed flavour and swam in a generic tasting sea of Asian vegetables (R100); to a noodle dish, spicy beef (R80) where the noodles were overcooked and the broth flavourless, again with generic veg.
Not dire, but certainly not enticing a return visit. Cape Royale Hotel, 47 Somerset Road, Green Point. 021 439 0533
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3 Comments
Not at all! I used to frequent the Geisha when it was in Mouille Point… and for me, the most disappointing was the small portions and tasteless food! And for those prices? What’s happened? New management? New chef? I won’t be returning.
Unfortunately this is a very accurate review, I have tried Geisha twice now and both times the food was extraordinarily bland and uninspiring, the service was shocking and the prices were outrageous for such dull food. Won’t be back for a third visit.
Had a quick bite at Geisha for the first time last night. Out of tuna, out of duck. So the menu was basically halved. Dim Sum was fine but to be honest I have had better at Tong Lok on Kloof. For mains had a tempura Calamari with rice noodles in a miso broth. This was decent. Left at about 9pm and we were one of three tables the entire time. The next one to bite the dust?