La Vie has always disappointed me. The food has been average, the service below average and the place just seemed a bit dingy. So when a friend asked me to meet her there prior to Green Drinks, my first response was to try and get her to meet me somewhere else (like La Boheme). Anyway, due to time constraints, I agreed to meet her there. My consolation would be that I get to write a review about it and warn everyone else about the place.
Unfortunately my consolation was taken away from me. The place has been revamped and is actually looking quite nice. Inside, they have a lounge to the one side and the outside seems to be mostly built in now. It makes it a lot cosier (in winter, not sure what it will be like in summer). They also have another lounge/chill section to the one side of the outside section.
I couldn’t complain about the service, although it wasn’t very busy so that could change under stress. We both ordered pizzas. I went for the bacon, avo and feta (R56) so I could compare it to the Morituri which is my favourite at Colcacchios. I’d still prefer a Morituri but this wasn’t too bad and is R20 cheaper. My friend had a vegetarian pizza (R42) with peppadews and some other vegetarian stuff which I can’t recall, she was quite happy with it.
There are quite a few options on the menu, I checked out the burgers but had recently had a burger at Hudson’s so wasn’t ready for another one just yet. The pasta’s also seemed quite appealing. I didn’t look at the wine list as we just had a bottle of sparkling water.
The other thing I noted is that they have Lonesome Dave Ferguson playing there on Sundays, which is pretty cool. They’ve definitely upped their game.
Wait, I’m not finished. There is one thing I can complain about. My menu was so old, tattered and dirty it nearly killed my appetite. The other menu was quite clean and new, so I don’t know why they don’t just toss the old ones instead of grossing people out like that.
La Vie
205 Beach Road, Seapoint
021 439 2061
Comments
5 responses to “La Vie review”
Good to know; it’s a situated conveniently for those of us living in Sea Point, but has never been appealing because of service, and being a big dinghy. I’ll be sure to give it another try.
Think Lonesome Dave will definitely bring in a following…It has such a great position it is a pity not to make the most of it with better decor and service.
I shall go check out the revamp!
I popped in here with a group of friends to listen to Lonesome Dave and our experience was pretty good again. The service was attentive and the pizzas pretty good, but I wasn’t blown away by the La Vie snack platter.
The tatty menu problem seems to be solved as well. There doesn’t seem to be any reason for me not to recommend it as a casual dining option.
Did you get offered tap water?
I didn’t know service could be this bad. It has given me a new appreciation on HOW bad one can be treated by people in what is supposed to be a service industry. Not only was our waiter avoiding us, mumbling that he would check on the food or be right back with every pass he couldn’t avoid, the other 2 had no intention of helping out unless they were physically stopped by someone. While waiting for our breakfast, we saw 3 tables walk out without even getting menu’s. When the table next to us sent their fritata back and didn’t replace it, we should have started to worry. When another table fetched their own drinks from the bar and served themselves, we should have panicked. But even though the warning bells were clanging in our ears, we really should have tried to save ourslves when the table behind us went to the kitchen and placed their order directly with the kitchen staff. When our food did arrive, the mushroom stack was ok after I added some seasoning and discarded mt stale bread accompliament. My partner however could not fix what they served him. His R62 fritata was nothing like what the menu lead us to believe. Not skillet fried but oven baked with half a small potato and 4 pieces of chorizo, served with stale french loaf instead of fresh foccocia.We tried to reconstitue the stale french loaf with some butter which we had to pour over as it was liquid in the dish. The others had the fry up but there’s not much that can go wrong with eggs and bacon. If there had been anyone around to hear us, we would have refused to pay but there was a noticable lack of staff and definately no one in control of this circus charge. To say never, ever again would only be the tip of the iceberg- I cannot imagine how anyone who was there today would ever put themselves through that again.