Ile Maurice - Durban

This much vaunted Durban restaurant was a disappointment to say the least! We managed to get a table for two about an hour before opening, never a good sign really, although when chatting later to one of their managers he stated that they had turned people away because they were fully booked. Stretching the truth a bit or were we just incredibly lucky?

Upon arrival we were shown to our table and found that we were sitting next to the distinct smell of fresh paint - obviously dolling up the place before the season starts! The waiter eventually arrived and we managed to order a bottle of water, although this took some time to arrive and was kindly placed on the table so that we could pour the water ourselves. Unfortunately this was a portent of things to come. It was not that the waiters were not trying, it is just that they were clueless about their role! They simply had no idea about the menu and what was on it. We enquired three times as to what was on their Madame Mauvis platter and eventually got a garbled reply which still did not define exactly what was on the platter.

We were informed that they had the best langoustines ever and this was the house special, at R375 for 4 very large ones. We mulled over the menu and eventually decided that we would have a three course meal with starters, the langoustine dish to share and a main course. The wine menu has a large variety to choose from with some very good wines available, some of them a bit more expensive than at other restaurants though.

We decided as it was raining and cold that we would have the De Toren Z, a wine well known to us and much enjoyed. When the wine arrived and we tasted it though, something was not right. We called the manager, Francois, over and he proceeded to tell us that the wine was fine and that he knows De Toren well and went through its virtues, pity he was talking about the Fusion wines and not the Z. He however stated that if we were not happy with the wine he would replace it with something else. I take my hat off to him as many restaurants would not offer you this option. He did however admit later that the wine was indeed not quite right. We then drank the very pleasant Morkel Bellevue Tumara blend.

Francois then kept us entertained throughout the evening with some of his wine stories, pity the rest of his crew were not as good. The starters (my wife had a choux pastry filled with spinach, cheese and salmon and I had the garlic snails) arrived and were mediocre at best. We waited for the langoustines and "very large" is certainly in the eye of the restaurateur instead of the diner. They were however perfectly done with a great garlic and peri peri sauces as accompaniments. We certainly didn't feel that we got value for money on this dish though.

The main courses arrived and were not great: the duck my wife ordered was smothered in a cherry (instead of orange) sweet sauce which soon made the crispy skin soggy and my pepper fillet was ordinary. The frites (thin potato chips) were the highlight of the main and were really good. We decided to skip dessert and head off home rather than tempt fate gain. All round not very good and would not recommend that you go there for seafood unless you have loads of cash and are looking to impress. I believe you can find the same quality seafood elsewhere at a better price.