Four of us dinner at the Brasserie on a busy Friday evening. The ambience is pleasant - somewhat rustic, with exposed brick, wooden floors, and the buzz of the designers. The table next to us was very loud, but overall noise levels were fine.
The menu is shortish, with pretty standard gastro-pub offerings (salad, steak, pasta, burgers and pizzas). Our starters included pizzete with blue cheese, pear and a balsamic reduction (not bad if you enjoy the sweet-salt combination), hake goujons (probably the best dish of the evening) and “spicy” chicken livers (not spicy, and strangely soft. What did they do to those livers?) when the starters arrived, the waitress apologised that the pizzete had been slightly burnt on one edge, and brought fresh ones shortly after.
The battered hake and chips seemed crispy and reasonably tasty. The burgers arrived in cold buns, which we took up with a passing waitress, as our waiter had disappeared. The manager appeared a few minutes later with a warm burger and crispier chips. Flavour was average. The spaghetti carbonara was disappointing, with a sauce that seemed more like a cream sauce with bits of bacon than a carbonara sauce.
With mains in the R120 - R220 range, we felt the quality of the meal did not quite justify the price. Nothing was bad, but nothing was really good either. Except the espresso to end the meal, which also came with a lovely little amaretto biscuit.
The pizzas look good - crispy thin bases and interesting-sounding toppings. Perhaps we shoukd have gone for those instead.