0 of 4
Saigon Suzy *
144 Jan Smuts Avenue Parkwood, Johannesburg Tel: (011) 327-6596
Thuli Madonsela *****
Excellent ****
Good ***
Poor **
Jacob Zuma *
— FOOD FOR THOUGHT
It’s a great time to be alive in SA. SA Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane, who allegedly allowed Jacob Zuma and the Guptas to dodge taxes and jump the Vat repayments queue, has been suspended. Thank you, Cyril Ramaphosa.
In three months Ramaphosa has done more than Zuma did in nine years in power. What Zuma broke, he is fixing. Eskom: being fixed. Business confidence: check. Ratings agencies: tackled. Sars: in motion. I am waiting patiently for Zuma’s National Prosecuting Authority lapdog, Shaun Abrahams, to wave goodbye. It will happen. Happy days.
It’s totally different from a year ago, at the height of the Zuma madness. This time last year Pravin Gordhan was fired from cabinet. Now he is back and Moody’s has given us the thumbs up.
So, I wondered, did the depressing national mood have an effect on my palate? Did I give some restaurants bad reviews because Zuma was making me depressed? Did I give some restaurants great reviews this year simply because I was on such a high about Ramaphosa?
So I went back to some places, just to see that I hadn’t been skewed in my assessments. I call it the Zuma effect: thinking everything is bad because Zuma himself was so shocking.
I started at Che Argentine Grill in Joburg’s Maboneng district. Things are looking up at the steak joint. Its service is way better and it is finally getting clientele in the daytime. This strip of Maboneng has always done fairly well in the evenings but at lunchtimes the place looked like a ghost town. This time there were five tables in the large restaurant, and clients walked in and out while we were there.
Saigon Suzy happily took our reservation and money for the karaoke booths upstairs, but wouldn’t reserve a table for us
— Justice Malala
The tapas dishes were very good, but the fillet was chewy. The quality of the chorizo has also deteriorated. It lacked that special flavour. All round it’s still good — definitely improving on service and vibe — but it can do better with those steaks.
It’s been only six weeks since I went to Saigon Suzy, but I have to withdraw my rave review. I first went to lunch and it was great, despite the many negative reviews it had received online. We enjoyed it so much my daughter decided to have her birthday party there: karaoke upstairs and food downstairs afterwards.
It was beyond ridiculous. They happily took our reservation and money for the karaoke booths upstairs, but wouldn’t reserve a table for us. This after they promised a table was "yours to have". So when you’re done with karaoke, you don’t have a table — and they look at you as though you’re crazy when you ask why they can’t co-ordinate the two.
The "general manager" said he’d "call around" and find us another restaurant nearby. Fail, said my daughter, miffed.
This is one place I will avoid like the plague and Zuma all rolled into one. I understand why people were so horrible about it on the Internet. It’s a pity, really. It’s not such a bad place — it just doesn’t give a toss about the customer.
I finished my re-reviews at Jamie’s Italian in Melrose Arch. This place was very trendy and you couldn’t get a seat for weeks when it first opened. Now you can call any time.
We went for Sunday lunch and the place was about 65% full. I like Jamie Oliver’s Italian-inspired food, and it’s still pretty good here. Staff was a bit slow and seemed tired, but were not bad when they engaged. It was still lovely.
Verdict? Steer clear of Saigon Suzy; do re-visit Che and Jamie’s Italian.
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