Home Delivery Service

Wow! What a poor experience we had at this award winning restaurant and an even more disappointing response from owner Harald after a formal complaint! My wife and I visited Aubergine for our anniversary as it cam so highly recommended. Upon arrival we had a friendly greeting from staff, however everything changes when the food arrived. We each ordered a starter, both of which were entirely unsatisfying in terms of flavour. The calamari was nearly raw and tasted of nothing in particular. The crayfish soup which was supposed to be creamy was sadly an orange foam bath of water and broth. For mains we had the pork belly and the springbok medallions. The pork belly was 80% fat and to top it off, had a piece of half cooked liver on the plate (not expected or wanted). The sprinkbok was also tasteless. My wife being very shy in nature asked that we rather not confront anyone in the restaurant and rather leave the half eaten plates behind. That evening I wrote to the restaurant with a formal complaint of dissatisfaction only to receive a response from Harald that my complaint was not valid, the food is not supposed to be spiced and that I am happy to come back for a free snack. When requesting my money back for the meal, I have since been ignored. Hope no one else experiences this kind of treatment, and hope I get my money back as requested.

Aubergine ticks all the boxes in terms of food, wine and friendly service. Tucked away in a side street in Gardens, it can be a little tricky to find parking, but the friendly guard will point you in a good direction. We enjoyed a 3 course meal with wine pairing. The choices seem endless, we actually had quite a hard time choosing our options! The specials option seemed to drag on a little bit, to the point of forgetting the extensive list offered by our waiter in addition to the 'normal' menu. The sommelier was an absolute delight, pairing some conventional and unconventional options. He had me thoroughly enjoying a white wine, which I usually avoid like the plague. The Beef Consomme was perfectly balanced, with some juicy pockets of ravioli floating delightfully in the middle. The duck was the juiciest I've ever had, mouthwateringly delicious. The Surprise Du Chef was a very welcome surprise with a selection of desserts. Special mention for the rice pudding - something I've never liked before but it was so good, as well as the creme brulee which had a delightful crack revealing its creamy delight beneath. What a great evening.

This was perhaps the most diabolical experience of our lives! We were required to pay a deposit of R900 prior to confirmation of our meal, which was paid, yet only R750 was deducted from our bill that was well in excess of R3,000 for 5 people. When we queried this, the manager advised us that "those are the rules" as the restaurant needs to be "covered" since we had booked for 6 people but only 5 arrived. We pointed out that, notwithstanding the rules, one should waive the R150 in the circumstances, but said manager insisted, in all her legal wisdom, that we had signed a form and agreed to these terms. We did not expect this establishment's primary concern to be the enforcement of contracts instead of serving a good meal. We would have felt better if we were mugged by the chef on our exit. They should be ashamed and embarrassed. As for the food, it was average and over-prices; a real tourist trap.

We came here for lunch - 5 of us - last week. We had a great time. The wine list and sommelier were impressive and an added pleasure was to see great wines being decanted properly and the the bottles displayed with their corks, next to our table - something more restaurants should do. The menu, while not extensive, was perfectly constructed and had something for all of us, meat, fish, vegetarian. We managed between us to try all the starters 4/5 main courses and several of the puddings and no course let us down. Thank you Aubergine for a great experience.

A recent visit to 'Aubergine' 'often overlooked by Awards Panels' but thankfully with a loyal following of local residents and visitors to Cape Town, our lunch, yet again proved what a gem this venue is. Catherine has to be the finest Reservations Manager in the city, whilst Harald calmly supervises his kitchen producing a delicious a la carte lunch menu with more options in the evenings. The wine list is legendary, and our waiter Chris was superb. So central yet tucked away in a peaceful corner of the city, we look forward to returning.