We arrived at 12h30 as per our booking and I showed the gentleman at the door my booking with ref no etc. Much to our disappointment, the huge restaurant was empty. There was a table of 4 inside, 2 tables of 2 outside and our table of 5 inside. This made for zero ambience, which was unfortunate. I was under the impression that Hemingways was a popular upmarket restaurant.
We were given regular restaurant menu's and seated. It took the waiter 50 mins to get us settled and get our drinks. When he came to take our order it occurred to me to ask if we were ordering off the main menu for Restaurant week. . .he didn't know, but went to find out. He returned 15 mins later with printed menu's with a price of R250.00 per person for the 2 course lunch. My booking clearly stated R200.00 for lunch. We didn't argue, but decided to order off the main menu, because the "saving" for restaurant week was non existent and there were only 2 choices per course. The starters arrived at 14h20. The Duck bitterballen were still frozen in the middle and the calamari was lukewarm. The Italian salad was mostly pasta, with a few bits in between but tasty. The main course arrived shortly after. Plates were covered by domes and the main course was revealed in unison with the second waiter and the pizza chef lending a hand. Food was lukewarm. The Rump steaks were of a poor quality, full of sinews and unfortunately poorly cooked. They tasted "stewed" and looked pale and unappetizing. There were 5 tiny shimeji mushrooms on 1 steak and 4 on the other. The "Whole roasted Kingklip" turned out to be a piece of fish which was slightly overdone with a large spoonful of risotto banged on the side and a "salad" of sliced red pepper and micro greens on the other side. Presentation zero.
The "sweet potato chips" served with the baby soles were dark grey and limp batons, not thin and crispy chips. This was also served with the weird red pepper salad, very strange. The salmon was cooked well, but presented on the plate poorly with the risotto banged on the side and yes you guessed it red pepper salad. We were pretty hungry so ate our lunch quickly and left at 15h10.
We were last at Hemingways 5 years ago, where we received a complimentary arrival drink, my chair was pulled out for me etc etc and the food was sublime and presented beautifully. Obviously the manager and chef took the day off. . .it was after all Worker's Day!

We made a booking through Restaurant week. We received 2 confirmation emails. On arrival at the restaurant they did not know anything about the booking.
The staff were friendly and helpfull
The service was VERY slow
The starters were very nice. Nice size portions and tasty
The main meals were terrible
1. My husband ordered the sirloin on the bone, medium rare. It was completely uncooked and tough. He did not even finish one 10th of it
2. I ordered the sole. It was completely overcooked and dry.
3. My sister ordered the Aribiata pasta. She always eats it at restaurants. It was so hot and spicy that she could not eat it at all.
4. My other sister ordered the Roquefort rump. Very tough and dry

When the bill came they charged full prices as per the menu. No discount for restaurant week despite us giving them the reservation code that we received.

I invited 8 people to my birthday dinner. It was a disasterous evening that i would not wish on anybody