We were near the V & A waterfront at lunchtime and decided to go and find something to eat. I suggested steak and off we went to Balthazar. A quick look at the menu confirmed what we wanted, rump and we duly ordered. On leaving the waitress asked if we wanted the 350g steak to which both of us answered yes. I thought the question was odd at the time as I do not and neither does my business colleague look like people that eat 150g steaks.
This was my first visit to Balthazar and I was looking forward to seeing what they produced. The steaks arrived and were tasty and properly prepared as requested. My view however and as I have previously experienced at other restaurants renowned for their meat is that they are certainly overpriced and over hyped. This was borne out even more when the bill arrived and where we assumed that we were paying R138 for a piece of rump, we were in fact charged R184 for the 350g option. I also find this odd as this tends to seem to be a businessman's venue and there was only one lady accompanied by loads of men at the tables around us. One would think that this being the case, like other restaurants, the 350g option is displayed and the ladies steak is an option or maybe I was just there on the wrong day and their clientele are primarily ladies who eat 150g steaks.
Now I will admit that we did not read the fine print (and you shouldn't have to) as you would assume at that sort of pricing that you would get 350g. At that price it should have been fillet, grass fed and dry aged. For my money I would rather have driven to French Connection in Franschhoek had two fillet's of the same quality with a better sauce and chips for the price we paid for one. You only catch me once, I certainly won't be a patron of your establishment again.
We stayed at The Royal Hotel which is one of the oldest hotels in the Western Cape and has the longest stoep south of the Limpopo River. It is oh so very colonial! The hotel is said to be in the top 50 most fabulous places to stay in South Africa, but in my opinion it lacks that something wow - this is true for its rooms, which are comfortable, but not luxurious, its menu which sounds appealing but fails to deliver and its wine list which is limited. However, the staff are friendly and efficient and for whom nothing, even eradicating shongololo's from our room, is too much effort! 
The town has a few nice shops to browse through and we particularly enjoyed Crisp, where unusual imported produce is stocked for the town's rather high foreign contingent. On this note - we visited a few estate agents out of pure curiosity and were shocked by the audacious property prices!
When heading home on the Monday we stopped by the legendary Kloovenburg Wine and Olive estate, which was closed for lunch! By now such things should not have surprised us - but it did! Especially as the Kloovenburg website says that they are open on public holidays (and this was not a Christian holiday) and on Mondays from 9:00 to 16:30.
