Louis' on The Block

Louis' on the Block

4/7/2013

Louis is a man of experience; starting with the Captain’s Cabin in Long Street; legendary in the ‘80s for steaks - and parliamentarians of the day. He later joined as a partner to Brad’s Grill in Harfield village.

All of which was unbeknownst to host of the night, Son - who made a brave call in choosing Louis’ On the Block last night; a blind selection with only some word-of-mouth referrals.

The general consensus was very good steak, but let down by a miniscule portion of chips. The waiter did redeem themselves with a quick reload though. Some individual reviews below, but the combined overall ratings are as follows:

Overall:   7.1
Steak:     8.1
Sides:     5.8
Service: 5.2
Value:     8

Not bad – weighs in with very healthy 7.1, and slots into the exclusive top 10.

5 Comments

Fella

4/17/2013 15:20:39

Son's head was on the block (sic), but Louis's pulled through with a tasty man-sized 500g rump. The lack of chips was criminal. And they were pretty crap.
The Middle South is not known to be the trendiest area of Cape Town. And Louis on the Block was very suburban, pulling a suburban crowd that all seemed to be in bed by 10pm. The lack of an after dinner drink spot was painfully apparent, with Son desperately pushing for Pirates. The ous were having none of that, meaning one of the earliest endings of a Steak and Wine Club Function to date.

Steak: 8/10 very good rump, tasty and cooked to perfection. Nice mustard sauce.
Sides: 2/5 - oily onions, min chips
Service: 3/5 - not bad, but certainly didn't blow the lights out. Nice to have Louis come check on us, but he didn't hang around.
Value: 4/5 - pretty good
Ambiance: 2/5
After dinner mints: 3/5
After ting whipsky: 0/5 - Pirates? Really? Was that the best option in all of Bergvliet?!

A bonus point for Son for deciding against a second visit Brad's but -1 for bowing to external pressure (*cough* Blackdogg *cough*) from someone who had issues with having Brad's T-Bone too close to his rump (*cough* Blackdogg *cough*).
Total: 23/40 - seems a bit harsh... so I'll bump it up with a 3 point bonus point for the relative proximity to the Deep South.

Olas

4/17/2013 15:21:41

Yuuup. Brave call dragging us into the ‘burbs, but Louis pulled through. He unfortunately will never create the ambiance of a true steak house (or a ‘dining experience’ ala Carne), but gives excellent value for money and a decent chow, with the added bonus if you happen to have 1.5 children and 700 squares in lower (much lower) Constantia that you can get out and home again without having to shell our more than 2hours of babysitting for your precious 1.5.

Steak: 8/10
Sides: onions, 4/5, chips, 2/5, ave (for the webmaster) 3/5
Service: 2/5 – personally I think its criminal to get a guy’s order wrong TWICE, esp when you’re not busy and you’re clearly dealing with a Tough Crowd ™, I know it’s a homely little neighbourhood restaurant, but there’s some things you just shouldn’t fuck up.
Value: 4/5: can’t complain here – Louis makes good grub, at great prices. Just don’t be dof and skimp on the chups.

4/17/2013 15:22:00

A brave call from son... Paid dividends as the options for new "steak and wine club function" venues narrows month-by-month...
It worked, so not a bad call Son!! It was a tad too "suburban" for my liking. Plus no eye candy at all and non existent post steak shenanigans... Service was average and nothing special.

Steak: 8/10 - a good rump and very decent mustard sauce. I think Louis knows steaks!!
Sides: 5/10 - chips weren't great. mass manufactured and bit dull. onion rings were ok. let down on sides... min portioning irritates me.
Service: 5/10 - average, not that friendly, could have engaged with us as we are a "steak club" dammit
Value: 8/10 - pretty good value
Ambiance: 3/10 - lacking what Hussar / Carne offers... no atmosphere after about 10pm??

Juz

4/17/2013 15:22:40

Good to have some fresh blood added to the steak night with the return of Wojt and Chris to the motherland, bonus point.

It's not often you need Google maps to guide you to a restaurant so bonus point to Son for having the kahooners to venture deep into the burbs.

Steak: 7.5 - very nice piece of meat, pepper sauce a little watery and steak was closer to medium than medium rare, but only by about 1.75 grill minutes
Sides: 3/5 - after the jeering from the other meat lovers I think the waiters knew they needed to load my plate so I got a decent portion
Service: 3/5 - Good start with frosted glasses but overall very re-active and although meeting our needs, I prefer more engagement
Value: 4/5 - R270…bargain
Ambiance: 2/5 Did we scare everyone off?

Souta

4/17/2013 15:23:03

Did I ever think that I would be dining out in my old lounge at 7 Meyer St circa '95 ever again? Probably not.
And if I did, would I be eating a piece of meat as a likely contender to perennial Steak and Wine Club Function favourites - The Hussar and Carne? Most definitely no.
But, Louis on the corner, er Block, in leafy, yet pedestrian Bergvliet managed to a deliver a slightly-on-the-small-side 250gm cut of fillet that had the punch to take on the big guns.
Sides, service and ambience needed work. Kudos to our waitron, can't remember his name, for rectifying the lack of chips, bland as they were. My standard extra - the onions rings were Spur-esque and on the whole not too bad.
• Steak: 8.75/10
• Sides: 2.5/5
• Service: 3/5
• Value: 4/5
Ambience - 1.5/5
Total - 19.75/30
or a slight nudge-above-average 66%

After dinner shenanigans - pretty much non-existent, the price you pay for an excursion deep, deep, deeeep into the burbs.
Thanks for organising Son!

You're up Olas, northward we go!

Louis' on the Block

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