• 2
• Very Disappointing

We were invited to The Great Eastern Food Bar for a friends birthday this past Friday (30/5/2014). Needless to say, we were looking forward to a good night out, with great friends and good food. Due to the fact that our friend booked a table of 20 people, the owner decided that it would be “easier” to limit us to a set menu (understandable because of the number of people) for R200 per person (which we thought to be a bit pricey, considering the menu, type of food and that this didn’t include wine or a drink of sorts). Non the less, we looked forward to some good food, and naturally, good service. To begin with, our waitress; which I think was named Carolina (we were not formally welcomed or introduced); was, to cut a long story short, rude, very unhelpful and in my opinion should not be in the service industry. In fact she acted as if she was doing us a favour. Secondly, knowing that we had booked a table for 20 people for a birthday party, we were told, quite rudely, to keep the noise levels down because other diners wanted a quiet dinner. We understood this and asked if they could close the sliding door to cut us off from the rest of the restaurant and to block out some of the noise, to which we were rudely told NO! Simply that – NO! Thirdly, although I have no complaints about the taste of the food (the meals were tasty and nicely done), we were not served enough for the amount of people there were – for example six of us received 5 dumplings???? And this wasn’t the only example. The food portions were far too small, and considering the price we payed we should have been more that filled up by the time we left. This was definitely not the case. Most of the dinner party commented that they were going to stop at Mac Donald’s or the like on the way home. Lastly, and most shockingly, each couple/bill was charged an extra 15% gratuity. Believe me, I am a firm believer in giving credit/gratuity where due. And I will often give a 20/30% tip. But considering the bad service we received, and the tiny portions of food we received, paying what we did for our night out was shocking. The Great Eastern Food Bar has left a very bad taste in my mouth and we will certainly never return! Sadly – because if done right, it could be a great place!