Cape Town Fish Market

i'd like to make everyone aware that this restaurant adds 20% VAT to the prices advertised on their menus - it's probably in the small print somewhere but it does leave a sour taste in the mouth when you get the bill.

The food is satisfactory but overvalued for the prices they charge - £18 for ribs (about 6 ribs - Tony Romas is much better value).

Location is great but food is way overpriced.
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4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Monday, April 16, 2012

a group of 17 of us attended a friends birthday on Saturday evening just gone (4th feb 2012) despite the food being very good (a few of us had eaten there before) we do have a couple of grumbles - a deposit had to be paid in advance which meant a journey into the west end as there was no option to pay a deposit by card it had to be presented in cash - we were told it was in case we cancelled !!! (hardly likely with 17 people to re-organise after settling on the venue) when we asked - whilst paying the deposit about childrens options, were told there was no child option and even though they would probably eat a few chips only that it would be the same price as an adult meal!

When it came to paying the bill we were shocked to see a service charge of over £60, we tried discussing this with the staff involved then asked for the Manager when it became apparent they did not have a clue what they were talking about. The manager was no better saying it was optional but......erm, but what? - he couldn't actually give us an answer as to why we had been charged this much, having paid a bill of over £500, we should have been given the choice. It left a sour taste in the mouth after what had been a pleasant evening.
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6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Monday, February 06, 2012

lol typical of the English to complain about everything. find faults with every single thing. i love cape town fish market . in South Africa and in London - even though i might not have the finances all the time but i do enjoy going there if i feel like spoiling myself.

if you want to eat in the West end then dont complain about the prices. it really is very embarrassing.
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9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, January 20, 2012

I am so shocked at the negative reviews here. I have been to Cape Town Fish market 3 times and have never had a bad experience. Mind you, I've never been in when the place has been heaving with people. It's always been fairly quiet.

I have found the food to be delicious, reasonably priced and the service is always so good that I never quibble about paying the service charge. We even had a trainee waiter the last time I went and he couldn't have been more attentive. The waiters seem really friendly and enjoyed showing us the tanked lobsters.

I would recommend eating the fish cakes as a starter and the baby squid as a main. The sauce is absolutely divine.

Would recommend picking up one of the flyers from the guys outside the door as there are some great offers to be had. I really wish there was a branch nearer to where I live as I'd definitely go more often that way.

Viva Cape Town!
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Maya
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, July 18, 2011

Having read some of the reviews online for this restaurant, I was not sure what to expect, especially as we know the ones in Cape Town very well indeed!

However, I want to say how much we all enjoyed our visit. The food was excellent, reasonably priced considering we were sitting in London's West End, the waiting staff were attentive and pleasant.

We had a great deal with a bottle of wine included, the Hake and Chips were the same as sitting down in Cape Town's Waterfront! We are also people that if things did not come up to scratch would say so. We are fussy about the quality of the food we eat, being extremely good cooks ourselves and not prone to eating out every five minutes because we are perfectly capable of cooking great food ourselves at home.

Please take many of the reviews below with a pinch of salt (haha) and decide for yourselves. We had a great night out and will be repeating the experience in the very near future.
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Boss Family
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, May 29, 2011

Despite the food being actually very good quality we experienced such poor customer service that I would never return. We tried to apply for the Accrue Card as there is an advertised "half price sushi on tuesdays" offer if you have a card. However despite the blurb stating "sign up today and enjoy the benefits immediately" we were told by management that actually we were not able to sign up on the day and receive benefits straight away. Direct reference was made to them not wanting people coming in off the street to use the discount. Not exactly in the spirit of a special deal!

We had to phone up South Africa to check the T&Cs of the deal to confirm we were entitled to it however the manager didn't believe us and we had to call them again while the manager was there to confirm it! Appalling customer services and just a bad attitude. The discretionary service charge wasn't even taken off the bill.

Despite it claiming it's vegetarian friendly the Miso Soup is in fact made with fish stock despite it being marked as veggie on the menu. I was appalled at this as I only double checked by chance.
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3 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, April 26, 2011

I actually decided to try this restaurant out two years ago and it was the worst experience of my life. The food was extremely mediocre, my friend actually went out to McDonalds to buy quarter pounder with cheese meal. The bill was unreasonable, I don't understand how half a seabass with a couple of potatoes (from a bag) can be justified to come to £26?!?! We refused to pay all the service charge as we were all students, as it was optional, not that we got our monies worth in service anyway! Anyway, the waitress took out bill and the manager came back and asked us if there was anything wrong with the service. We said there was nothing majorly wrong but we could not afford to pay so much (we left £8 for a £140 bill) of which he guilt tripped us saying that the tip pays for the waitress' wage?!?!?! Surely there was something illegal there?! My sister just took out her card to pay for the remainder of the tip (another £8) to avoid any more confrontation as the rest of us refused to bow down to his evil ways.

Overall, the food is overated (don't be fooled by the fish tank!), menu was disappointing and they need to hire another manager who pays their staff a fair wage!
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Nesskins - View all reviews by this user
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Thursday, March 10, 2011

I was looking forward to a tantalising food experience given the South African good reputation for food, but sadly, what we infact received was two plates of food that could only be deemed acceptable if they'd been purchased for £3.50 from the office canteen, not for an average of £20 each from a West End restaurant. The prawn curry was clearly made from a jar with barely a bit of onion added and the surf and turf consisted of a fatty steak and limp calamari accompanied by cold chips. It was a hugely disappointing experience and I feel duty bound to warn others in advance.

I did like the fish tank tho...
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1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Monday, February 28, 2011

went to cape town fish market last night and i must say i am never going back. whilst expecting the same grade A service and food quality as in Jo'burg the london restaurant is a disappointment. We waited for 15 minutes before someone came and gave us a menu or asked what we'd like to drink. after asking for an exchange for the starter as the mussels were not up to par the waitress spilt the mussel cream all over our table and clothes and found it very amusing.

the fish cakes are to die for but mussels are a disappointment. for mains we had grilled sea bass and surf and turf. the sea food was lovely but the steak lacked in taste.

when asked about the spillage the management said they could not do anything about it since it was a mistake and took off £13 off our £82 bill stating thats all they could do and if we had a problem with it we should write a letter as he could not spend the whole night talking to us because he had customers.

for a place with mediocre food the service made the experience very upsetting.

if you were to go there wish and hope for nothing to go wrong because if it does, the staff cannot do anything about it. they are more or less useless.
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tammy
5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Saturday, February 26, 2011

OM Goodness!! Service was shocking. We booked a table for 6 and seated downstairs - it smelled. They eventually moved us upstairs to a better table but then our waitress was hopeless. Food was expensive and badly presented. never go there, if invited as a guest - tell the host to change restaurants. very disgruntled diner .....
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1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Monday, January 17, 2011