Restaurant Rants

SPUR

Hola!

I have never been a huge fan of the spur but children tend to love it so we oblige by taking Hannah there occasionally. Needless to say, she plays more than eats and it gives Kurn and I some alone time to enjoy a few glasses of wine, a chat and a meal together. Unfortunately, it's gotten to the stage where I "whine" more about the food than enjoy the wine and dine!

I am not fond of the steak at the Spur - I think the quality is poor and I'm loathe to order seafood in a steakhouse. I do like Mexican food though and generally order the Enchilada but I have a huge issue with what they call sour cream which is served at most Spurs. I have eaten at 3 Spurs where actual sour cream is served and it's great - unfortunately, these Spurs aren't close to where we stay so to go there each time ends up being quite the drive. The rest of the Spurs serve a concoction of fresh cream that they "sour" themselves by adding lemon juice and lemon rind. It is absolutely hideous and I'm told that they use the same concoction on their baked potatoes - YUK! Funnily enough, Kurn often orders baked potatoes with sour cream but has never been subjected to the "soured" variety - it's always been the real deal.

Another gripe I have is that their menu specifically states that the Mexican dishes are served with rice. We were at the Cahokia Spur at Cape Gate Centre one evening and my Enchilada arrived with chips on the side. I told the waitress that the menu says it's served with rice and she apologised, removed the plate and returned it with rice. The manager came over to apologies and said that the waitress should have asked whether I'd prefer chips or rice!!!! So why does the menu not state that???

I took these matters up with the Spur Customer Service and this is the reply I received:

Dear Bernice
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention and thank you for remaining a loyal Spur customer. We comment as follows:

• Sour Cream: We allow our restaurants to purchase a pre-made sour cream or alternatively they may manufacture their own. Our in house receipts is: 500ml cream , fleshly squeezed lemon juice, salt and pepper, chopped fresh parsley. We use this product for our Mexican dishes, as well as for baked potatoes.
• With regards to chips being served with Mexican dishes , we offer chips, rice or baked potato with our Enchilada's. Our waitrons should always give you the option.

We trust that this will clarify your concerns and once again thank you for taking the time to contact ourselves.

Kind Regards

JUSTIN FORTUNE [REGIONAL OPERATIONS MANAGER] SPUR GROUP (PTY) LTD

I'm sorry but WTF??!! The underlying message here was "thanks for wasting our time and yours now piss off!!" What about their overall standard - why do some Spurs do sour cream and others soured cream. And how about changing the wording on the menus to actually include chips and baked potatoes??

So, here is a list of the Spur's I've eaten at that offer proper sour cream with their Mexican menu:

• Utah Spur - Milnerton
• Mexico Spur - Canal Walk
• Chinook Spur - Plattekloof

And a list of those who don't:

• Cahokia Spur - Cape Gate Centre
• Malibu Spur - Bayside Centre
• Soaring Eagle Spur - Cape Town International
• Silver Dollar Spur - Grand West Casino
• Red Mountain Spur - Paarl Mall

I would love to boycott Spur altogether but our little family takes turns in choosing a restaurant when we decide to go out for supper. And when it's a certain almost 5 year olds turn to choose, needless to say it always ends up being the Spur. So, what does one do - life is all about compromise, I grin and bear it and we usually end up at the Red Mountain Spur as they have the best play area but I stick to wine, Buffalo Wings or Burgers.

Hasta la Vista!