Executive Chef at Maze, Phil Carmichael.
Walking into Maze I ask for a table. No problem. The place is practically empty. I sit down. The staff are very friendly and very efficient.
We order. Delicious bread and olives arrive at the table. I love this touch. I can’t think of any other restaurant that does this, and the Western Cape is an olive growing region!
Ordering off the set lunch menu, a starter of white bean cappuccino with roasted morel mushrooms arrives. It’s in a little black cast iron pot.
It tastes a bit thin, but there is far worse to come. There are a few whole white beans bobbing about, presumably to remind the eater of the origin of the dish, but some of the beans are undercooked, and some are not. Quite an achievement.
But the real nail in the coffin lies in the bottom of the pot. The morels are roasted to the point where they are dried out completely, tough little mouse droppings with a burnt, bitter aftertaste, and a tough chewy consistency. I fish them out, and assemble the droppings on my sideplate.
I simply can’t believe it.
I sip a Fleur du Cap Chardonnay 2008, it’s delicious.
Tuesday lunchtime and there are ten diners in a vast room that can seat 170 people. It has an airport lounge feel to it. All that’s missing is the tannoy announcement,”Could all remaining passengers for the two o’clock flight to London please assemble in the lobby!”.
White bean cappuccino, roasted morel mushrooms.
But no such announcement comes. What does though, is my main course, a leek and blue cheese tartlet.
It’s served on a dark slate slab. The presentation is wonderful. It tastes rich and buttery, and the leeks are there, but I cannot detect the blue cheese at all. And this tartlet was crying out for blue cheese.
The salad and pears, which were served on the side were delicious. But I leave most of the tart.
What happens next distinguishes classy service from the all too common “I couldn’t care less” attitude so prevalent in Cape Town. Sile and Luke are the frontline people and they are very, very good. They both realise I have a problem with both dishes. I am told I don’t have to pay for anything. I feel bad. I explain I am doing a review. They tell me that I had a problem with the meal, and therefore I don’t have to pay.
Gordon arrived today in Cape Town.
He is at the Good Food and Wine Show tomorrow morning, and then he is having a meeting at the One and Only with Executive Chef, Phil Carmichael.
Phil, I treble dare you to serve that soup to Gordon, with the roasted morels, and then watch him explode.
Leek tart, but where was the blue cheese?
So here’s what I think. It is theoretically possible that the two dishes I had are the weakest on the menu. There were two women at a table nearby. I ask them if they had enjoyed their meal. They say they have and comment on the wonderful service.
But they hadn’t eaten off the set menu.
You can’t afford to have a weak dish on your menu, as that becomes your weakest link. Everyone knows that you are only as strong as your weakest link.
If I had paid my two courses would have cost me 200 Rand. But even in this context Maze are being left far behind. Jardine are doing a special of three courses for R150, and The Cape Colony at the Mount Nelson are doing a five course winter special for R200.
It’s time for Maze to get real or fold up their tent and go home.
Gordon Ramsay’s Maze, at the One and Only.
Dock Road, Cape Town.
021 431 5222.
Posted in 
Oh my….I would be horrified if my establishment got a review like this. I hope GR gets to see it!!
Come on Clare – you get served good bread and delicious olives at La Colombe even before you get to choose from the 3 course winter special lunch at just R240 and what is particularly remarkable (apart from the quality of the food) is that many of the items are the same as on the full price a la carte menu.
You got a free meal by telling them you’re doing a review for a personal blog? Interesting tactic. I should try it sometime.
Spot on Michael. You are right about La Colombe serving olives, but I can’t think of any other restaurants that do it. More establishments should bring olives to the table automatically. On my last visit to La Colombe I tasted some fab food and I think their special that’s on now is great value, you are right. However, the service I experienced when I was last there was amateurish beyond belief.
Dr.R. I don’t think you read the review properly. I did not say to them I was doing a review for my blog looking for a free meal. First of all, I pay for every single meal in every restaurant I review. I am completely independent, and that’s the way it has to be. Secondly, I never tell any restaurant that I am blogging a review. So let me repeat for you, again, the sequence of events. The mushrooms in the soup were dreadful. I fished them out and put them on my sideplate. It was obvious to the staff that there was something wrong. The tartlet on my main course was not good. I took two bites and left it behind. The staff realised that there was a problem with the tartlet too. At this stage I was approached by Luke, one of the frontline staff, who asked why my food was unfinished. I explained, and he was extremely understanding and sympathetic and wanted to know if there was anything else he could bring for me to eat. I said I didn’t have the time, and asked for the bill. I was told that because it was obvious that there were issues with my food that I wouldn’t have to pay. At this stage I felt awkward and only then felt obliged to explain that I was doing a review. I never mentioned where, or what blog. The staff were most apologetic and understanding of the fact that I would have to go ahead and review based on my experience at that lunchtime. I would never accept a free meal, and then go ahead and do a review on it. In this case the staff at Maze were spot on. To charge anybody for the food I had there the other day would be completely unacceptable, whether you were doing a review or not. I hope this clarifies the events for you, and I sincerely hope you go back and read the review properly.
Chenin (Cape Quarter) serves olives (very tasty ones!). I got to guzzle them down on Wed (was sitting with non-olive lovers) when we tried their Winter Special. R60 for a main and glass of wine! Service was great, and the steak magical
To clarify my last question: I began this exchange with an admittedly sarcastic and uncalled for comment, and I apologise for that. It’s just that I find this a fascinating example of the “democracy” of new media, where anyone can suddenly be an expert. I’m not saying you’re not – as far as I can tell you know your food well, you take it seriously, and your blog is generally a good read.
But in terms of the exchange with the restaurant (and money questions aside here), presenting yourself as a reviewer could easily suggest to them that you are writing for a magazine, on some kind of commission, or whatever. So to frame the question a little differently: do you think it’s accurate (and fair) to present yourself as a reviewer, even when it’s just for a personal blog (which I understand to be more of a hobby than a profession)? Further, couldn’t that have unwelcome implications next time you go to maze, in that they may recognise you as such, and maybe give you special treatment?
Dear Dr.R. I never mentioned the word review until the staff said that “there would be no charge” for the meal. When I did mention it I felt morally obliged to do so because the fact that there was no charge was an acceptance that there was a problem, and I wanted to indicate to them that I was going to write it up, in either case, as a review. They accepted this, and the “no charge” was to stay in place, review or no review. I admire that about the Maze front of house team.
I also mentioned it as my policy is to pay for all meals before doing reviews. I do not accept freebies to do reviews. I hope, once again, that this has clarified the situation for you.
Now, on to blogs and blogging. You may view them as hobbies, but Spill.co.za is my full time occupation. If you talk to people in the food industry (manufacturers, marketing communications personnel, restaurateurs, wine producers, supermarket people) they are the ones that are taking the internet blogging and social media very seriously. My background is in food journalism, and instead of staying with magazines and newspapers I have decided that blogging on the internet is where it’s at.
If you’d like to find out more about the whole area why don’t you come along to the first ever Food and Wine Bloggers get together next Wednesday May 19th at The Chefs Warehouse in Cape Town.
The first speakers are Michael Olivier, and Spit or Swallow. To make a booking call o21 876 3929. Come along, you might even have a laugh.
Brilliant read Clare, keep up the amazing reveiews, I love them !
[...] http://www.spill.co.za/south-african-restaurant-reviews/gordon-ramsays-maze-at-the-one-and-only/1509… [...]