The Sweet Service Award goes to OYO restaurant in the V&A Hotel in the Waterfront, which invited a number of writers to a yummy crayfish lunch, to try out its crayfish special of R 185 for 500 grams (the same offer is available at Salt restaurant in the Ambassador Hotel). The restaurant has bought a 7-ton pre-allocation of crayfish, giving it 14 000 crayfish tails. The crayfish is served grilled or cold, depending on the diner’s choice. It is served with a choice of three sauces: lemon butter, garlic, and peri-peri, and home-made mayonnaise. The main course was preceded by a most beautifully decorated 5-oyster dish served on a bed of coarse salt, served in 5 styles: dukkah, Bloody Mary, tempura, verjuice and pickled. The Boschendal Brut Rose’ was an excellent match to the seafood lunch. The dessert was a beautifully presented cherry and champagne jelly and ice cream with a fine biscuit cup holding a finely chopped fruit salad and served with a Rooibos African Ruby Vermouth made by Klawer Cellars. The Friday afternoon lunch was the perfect way to end off a busy week. The OYO name comes from the shape of two plates and a cocktail glass in the middle, a waiter explained. The service from the waitrons was very attentive.
The Sour Service Award goes to the Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa for wasting R 235 000 of taxpayers’ money when he stayed at one of Cape Town’s most expensive hotels, The Table Bay Hotel in the V & A Waterfront, for 17 days, while his parliamentary residence was being renovated. His accommodation included stints in the Presidential Suite when the hotel was allegedly fully booked on some nights, as well as accommodation for 5 bodyguards and 2 officials. The Minister denied that he had made the hotel arrangements, blaming “officials in his office”, according to a report in the Cape Times. He also claimed to not know the high prices charged by the hotel. A week later The Sunday Independent reported that the same Minister spent R 578 499 at the Hilton Hotel in Durban. He justified this expenditure as accommodation for a crime prevention roadshow!
The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog. Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com. Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.
