Harbour House (Kalk Bay)

Monday, July 20th, 2015

Reviewed by michelle abrahamse

We booked at the Harbour House, Kalk Bay for our joint birthday. Our guests arrived at pretty much the same time, but we waited at least 15 minutes after we were all seated for the waiter to even acknowledge we were there. I would love to tell you what our waiters name was, but he never introduced himself to us. We then requested the Winter Special menu as we had seen it advertised on Eat Out's website. The waiter then came to take our starter orders, but had still not brought us the Winter Special menu. After asking 2-3 times, the hostess eventually brought us the menu and we were able to order. She basically threw a piece of paper at us that looked like it had just been printed. The food was delicious, I cannot fault them on that. After our meal we order coffees which were cold. As I said, the food was delicious, so we were happy to overlook everything up until this point. As we were leaving the manager approached our husbands and asked if we enjoyed our meal? They said that we had. He then asked if the service was okay? They said that the service was fine. He then asked them why if the food was good and the service was okay had we only tipped the waiter R5 (five rand). Our husbands were extremely embarrassed as this was done in the middle of the restaurant in front of our friends and other patrons. Our husbands explained that we had in fact tipped the waiter MORE than 10% (R315). The manger then went away while we all stood in the middle of the restaurant like cheap criminals. The manager eventually returned to say that they had made a mistake and the we should enjoy the rest of our evening. I have several issues with this incident: 1. The ONLY time when it is acceptable for a manager to question the amount paid on an account is if that bill is under paid. If the manger wanted to inquire about the level of service we had received he could have called one of us aside and asked; it was not necessary to do it in the middle of a busy restaurant. 2. There was NO service charge added to our account. This means that patrons are free to give whatever gratuity they feel suitable, WITHOUT being questioned by management. 3. During this interaction, our waiter was no where to be seen and when THEIR error was discovered he did not even have the decency to come out and apologize to us. I can honestly say that we drove home angry and disappointed after what should have been a night celebrating with friends. My husband and I have been to the Habour House in the Waterfront several times and have always enjoyed our experience there. I can honestly say that I will never return to a Harbour House Restaurant again.