Le Chêne - Franschhoek

I wanted to bet 4 in advance, but decided that 3 without advance was better. First they brought the main course (we are talking about lunch), then they took away all the appliances, then, after a while and after a reminder, they brought an appetizer. Thank you for admitting you were wrong. Even in cafes, they ask much simpler what to serve first and what after. This is just an apology. The sommelier is very courteous, promised to show the wine cellar, but closer to 16.00 he simply disappeared. Why then promise and generally focus attention? In short, more work needs to be done with the staff. Here's to work-work

We came to this lovely place by coincidence. The location is absolutely stunning! Come here to enjoy the view, the gardens, the food and wine! The food is very delicious and the wine list is amazing! Besides great recent vintages of local wines, they have vintages going back to the 60‘s!!

Incredible setting, fabulous food and a winelist to have you frothing at the mouth. Darren Badenhorst is a master of flavour! Service: Dine in Meal type: Lunch

Outstanding private hotel restaurant open to residents of Leeu Estates. They have the most wonderful breakfast with both buffet and hot entree options. Dinner and lunch do not disappoint with views of the estate and absolutely immaculate service. Don’t miss the crispy chicken wrap.

Our dishes looked exquisite; the presentation was immaculate; the service was friendly and knowledgeable. But the food was surprisingly poor. My husband 's duck, the speciality of the house, was stringy in texture rather than tender, and it was unexceptional in flavor,. My vegetarian mushroom platter was killed very early by too much salt or soy sauce on either the rather rubbery glazed oyster mushroom or the miso eggplant. At first, I had enjoyed a finely crisp onion on top of the beautiful platter, but after my palate was ruined by the salt, very little else could be savored. Disappointed, we turned to the dessert course. I chose the spiced apple mousse, thyme caramel, ginger shortbread crumble and was puzzled when a look-alike Granny Smith apple arrived in the middle of a large plate, with a miniscule skirt of crumble.The apple turned out to be a painstaking creation of fluffy pudding moulded into an apple shape and held tight by an exterior ... something. Both interior and exterior tasted rather vaguely of apple; they were equally unappealing in texture. The crumble was excellent and I hungrily chased every morsel of it around the plate. My husband 's pavlova had striking cliffs of meringue disconnected from the central rose infused rhubarb compote. The compote actually had the same fluffy-pudding, 1950s texture of my apple. It contained unconvincing streaks of rhubarb that lacked the signature deep, rich, sour flavor. The final disappointment was printed on the bill. Not only was it the most expensive meal we had eaten, including an extraordinary formal dinner at Lanzerac, but printed at the bottom was a discretionary service charge, already added to the bill, of 12.5%. That was a first in our experience over three weeks in this country. In principle, I could support the concept of a universal service charge at all restaurants. But what really rankled was the false and insincere use of the word discretionary in that context.. Were we really free to argue and remove it, without embarrassment and discomfort? Actually, we are accustomed to tipping 20% in the U.S. and we decided at the beginning of our trip to continue that practice here. It was simple to add 7.5% but it didn 't give the usual pleasure. The two stars we 've awarded are a compliment to the chefs ' aesthetic, but we were there to eat, not to look, and we drove away feeling let down.