Hard charging Hussar Grill, Camp's Bay

 29 March 2025

 

THE HUSSAR GRILL 

Shop 2, 108 Camp’s Bay Drive, Camp’s Bay, Cape Town

 

Fourth time lucky, we were. After three less than stellar experiences at the Mouille Point, Century City and Franschhoek outlets, we finally found a Hussar where the dining experience exceeded expectations, well, it wasn’t hard, given our previous travails  and lack of expectation going in, but it was pretty wow factor, nonetheless.

 

We’ve driven past this iteration of Hussar Gril hundreds of times and even though we’re hardly aficionados of the brand, Von-Mari often commented on her interest at eating here. We just never got around to it until today. 

 

A late morning online booking secured our table. Hmm. I thought, can’t be that popular if a same day booking is so easy.

 

Well, it seems that this Hussar is absolutely very popular and that going out for dinner early is what secured the reservation so easily.

 

The restaurant is considerably larger than we’d anticipated and our hostess took us on a scenic journey to our table in the space at the rear. It was still early though the joint was busy but nothing compared to what it was like about 90 minutes later. Von-Mari’s comment was that this Hussar obviously attracts the locals as well as tourists.

 

The ambience is dark wood, white linen tablecloths, leather and a gentleman’s club style of décor. Not so much a steak house as a steak manor house.

 

We started with a glass each of the truly magnificent Morgenson Miss Molly bubbly, whereafter Von-Mari, who drives, stuck to her sparkling water and I had an Aperol Spritz.

 

The free stuff on the table comprises a bowl of olives and a bowl of crisps. Nobody ever offers a basket of baguette slices anymore.

 

We shared the starters of caprese salad and baked Camembert, two things we generally love, and these examples were scrumptious. 

 

Von-Mari ordered the 200g chateaubriand, medium rare, as main course with fries and creamed spinach and butternut and I was swayed by the 300g bone marrow rump, urging our server to impress on the chef that I wanted my meat as rare as humanly possible.  My choice of vegetable was also the creamed spinach and butternut.

 

At a previous Hussar, I ordered the roasted vegetables and was somewhat disappointed, which is why I eschewed them tonight, but on reflection it might’ve been a good choice here.

 

I was tempted by the pork belly dish on the menu, which wasn’t available at the Franschhoek Hussar, but as I’ve mentioned before,  most of my recent interactions with pork belly at restaurants have been challenging and I didn’t want to risk disappointment tonight.

 

The steaks were perfectly cooked. It might seem superfluous to mention this point, but even restaurants specialising in the care and cooking of red meat can get it wrong and if your steak is served exactly how you ordered it, you know that the restaurant aims to get it right first time around.  Who wants to send a steak back because it wasn’t cooked as required?

 

The fillet had a thin, pointy end and Von-Mari was sure this part of her steak would be overcooked but it was as medium rare as the rest of her steak and she regretted not ordering the 300g portion. The server performed the flambé ceremony for the bit of theatre that adds the special touch.

 

My bit of rump was cooked to my express wish and almost said hello to me with its last breath. Precisely seared and melt in the mouth tender and succulent. There was an indulgent abundance of marrow (in the halved bone) and butter that I was required to mix. The flavour was a tad underwhelming until I grasped that seasoning was required.  Then it was yummo to the max.

 

The dessert menu was not inspirational. We had the chocolate martinis, not served in martini glasses and bereft of tangible alcohol and left.

 

The bill, before tip and with drinks came to R1 126,00.

 

This Hussar Grill is as popular as the other three we’ve been to but for my money it’s a far superior experience, mostly because the food was so good and because we had none of the niggles at the other outlets. The service was efficient and cheerful, the ambience was warm and comfy and, where we sat, not overbearingly loud. A lovely night out.