Beluga review

I’ve previously posted about the great specials Beluga has been running. I’ve eaten there a couple of times in the last few months and we didn’t only have the specials, so I thought I better review it.

First the dinner. We had the Blue Plate Sushi Special (R99 for 26 assorted pieces) as a starter. It’s good value for money, but you get what you pay for because the sushi is not amazing (compared to somewhere like Wakame). For mains we tried the Lamb Shank on Wasabi mash (R95) and it was good, although bad lamb shank is not common.  We also ordered the teriyaki glazed Norwegian Salmon (R109). The person who ordered it really enjoyed it but I find Norwegian Salmon to rich for me. The rest of us had the Prawn special (R99 for 1kg), not bad but again, you get what you pay for. I would say the food is good, on previous occasions I have had tuna, ostrich and chicken and have never been memorably disappointed or had occasion to complain. The selection is very broad and the prices reasonable. I can’t imagine someone not being able to find something appealing on the menu.

I didn’t pay close attention to the wine list but I do remember that every time I have been, I managed to find decent wines at reasonable prices. They also have the Wine Attic upstairs where they have a very large selection of wine from which you can go and choose.

I also had lunch at Beluga a short while ago. I had some sushi (half price before 7pm) and the others had the burgers (R49 if I remember correctly) which are only available until 7pm as well. The burgers were good quality with a nice thick patty. I was a bit confused how one could be rare and the other medium when they ordered the same thing at the same time. We have had some miserable weather for a few months now, but the day we were at Beluga was an oasis of blue sky and warm sunshine, so we enjoyed dining al fresco.

The service is usually pretty good. I have a bad habit of arriving without having booked and the hostess has always made a plan to seat me (no she doesn’t know who I am). Beluga if full a lot of the time so I wouls suggest you book. The waiters are attentive and prompt, I’ve never had a problem with the service (except they are a bit eager with the topping up of glasses, if the level of a glass hasn’t moved since the last visit, there’s no need to top it up). Even when our waitress was fired halfway through our lunch, the manager took over and there were no hiccups (we didn’t even know there was a problem until we were told).

I’ve been recommending Beluga to a lot of people lately and haven’t had many comebacks, except for one about the cutlery and crockery being dirty but that might have been a once off thing. So I recommend it to you too.

Beluga – The Foundry, Prestwich St, Greenpoint.
http://www.beluga.co.za/
021 418 2948


Comments

11 responses to “Beluga review”

  1. I had dinner at Beluga the other night and didn’t have sushi so thought I would update this review.

    Actually, I did have salmon roses (R43) as a starter and they were good. For main I had the asian-styled duck breast (R100) which was nice but not amazing. The person opposite me had the crazy duck (R110) which lacked flavour and duck. The duck is apparently shredded, I don’t know if that is restaurant speak for non-existent, but it seemed that way.

    I tried the sesame encrusted tuna steak (R100)to my right and that was very nice. The tuna was fresh and cooked to specification.

    I still have a problem with their policy on topping up glasses. No matter how fast I drank, I couldn’t get my glass to drop past half full. This is quite annoying when you are trying to finish your glass of wine so you can go home.

  2. Candice

    wow, so surprised you have no complaints about the service… i have eaten at Beluga about 10 – 15 times over the last two years and only had decent service twice!!! That’s not a very good success rate. on three occassions we have had to call the manager over and complain (and we don’t like to do that, but sometimes 7pm is approaching and you need to get your order in). one at least four occassions we have had smokers at the table, waiters never notice that you don’t have an ashtray. i have now resorted to just ashing on the floor and leaving my stompies on the floor too… waiters just don’t notice a thing.

    if their sushi were not half price, i wouldn’t go back there. not worth the waiting around, or having your drink brought after your meal!
    (maybe they do know who you are Dax 😉 )

  3. Maybe they know who you are, Candice 😉

    I’m surprised that you have had so many bad experiences. For a while I heard some reports of bad service, but that was some time ago and I’ve not had many negative reports since then.

    I personally haven’t had issues with the service, and no, they don’t know me.

    I used to say I only went there for the half price sushi, but now I quite like the fact that it’s always full so there is a nice buzz. Also, their food is not bad if you know what to order.

    Thanks for your feedback, I hope your experience improves. If it doesn’t, well you still score at R21 for an order of salmon roses 😉

  4. Hi Dax and Candice
    Thanks for all the comments regarding the sushi, food and service. We really do strive for perfection at Beluga, and we have just started redoubling our efforts, again, and the food and service at Beluga will be amazing again. Sevruga took some of my focus away for a while but we are back on track. Both Craig and I really believe in service and food, and our Beluga core value is putting the guest first. We really appreciate all feedback and can be contacted at oscar@beluga.co.za and craig@beluga.co.za.
    Dax, you have picked up correctly that the sushi special is just one aspect of Beluga, and a funny one at that. In October 2006 it is something I started because we Beluga had no day time parking (as well as day time guests) and it has evolved into something which we struggle to control today. Candice, we have hundreds of people rushing just before seven to get the last orders of half price sushi and cocktails in, and this puts extreme pressure on our business. I am not using it as an excuse, and we will try and get this better, but please try and see this in. At this point we can’t fit in any more bar or sushi staff and we do try and accommodate everyone. We never want to stop the special, and at the same time we want to serve the best quality sushi and food (regardless of half price or not).
    Dax, really enjoyed the comments, please keep them coming. Thanks Oscar

  5. I ate at Beluga on Monday night again. It’s a good option for a Monday as most places are either closed or quiet while Beluga offers a busy vibe. In fact we had to wait half an hour for a table.

    The place has had a little revamp, although apart from the new pictures on the walls, the menu seems to be the only other change.

    The new menu looks a lot like Sevruga’s menu but I’m not sure if they are exactly the same or they have just included some of Sevruga’s menu options.

    I had the Ostrich which was good and the sesame encrusted tuna steak was good again but the calamari, linefish and sirloin steak all got an average rating.

    Service was fine, but that might be partly my doing as I took control and ordered everything. I’m getting good at that.

  6. Lauren C

    Surprised you have not mentioned the price increase – friends told me that the sushi has doubled in price!?

  7. I must admit I didn’t notice a substantial increase, I’ve quickly gone to the website and called up the menu. Impressive, the new menu is already up… so let’s see.

    Salmon roses are R49, used to be about R43 I think so that’s about a 10% increase. Prawn tempura rolls are R69, they used to be about R64, that’s less than 10% up.

    So, it looks like the new menu includes new prices but the increases don’t seem excessive.

  8. Thanks Dax – we did try to keep the price increase as low as possible – the salmon prices are going crazy as well as the prices of all the imported sushi produce –

    Good news is that with Alan, our new sushi partner, the quality of the sushi has greatly improved – Alan is running both our sushi bars and is doing an amazing job.

    The menus are different – although certain items like the rock salt fillet and sirloin steak will be the same (we try and keep those simple and to the point).

    Anyway – thanks for the support –

  9. The Beluga/Sevruga deli is open in the Waterfront (next to Vida). All your favourite things including sushi available to take home at reasonable prices.

  10. I luuurve Beluga and Sevruga. I go there often and always recieve top quality food, and top quality service. Definately the best restaurants I have ever been too.

  11. Myself and family are hooked to Beluga. The service is top notch, so is the suschi, prawns, steaks, etc. The desserts are extra yum. I am very impressed with their specials as its been running for a long time. When we have birthdays, or any functions, Beluga is the first place we opt for. Thanx Beluga staff for keeping up the standards.