Al fresco country restaurant, nestled in a Macadamia orchard, close to the Knysna Forest. It is child friendly, serving wholesome vegetarian food as well as a variety of meat dishes, pizzas, Mediterranean, Portuguese and South Indian style tapas. Ingredients are locally sourced, organic and free range. There are exciting desserts, sunset cocktails, a full liquor licence and functions are catered for:
Open 9 am to 4 pm
Wednesday to Sunday and Public Holiday
As well as Friday nights till 11pm
Call: 082 739 0962
theredbarn.co.za
15min from Knysna along the Rheenendal road and 8km from the N2. Salim, a master chef, will welcome you to a fine dining experience.
Contributed by Ian Armitage. One of a handful of freelance writers in the Garden Route specialising in short artcles and reviews for internet maketing consultants servicing the hospitality and catering service industry. He is a participating member of a Professional Writers workshop.
Top pizza – definitely worth the drive to Rheenendal.
MOTHERS DAY LUNCH GONE HORRIBLY WRONG
The restaurant getting my sour award is the RED BARN IN RHEENENDAL. A mothers day lunch to forget !
On arrival we were seated at a table outside in 14 deg. and wearing light clothes. When asked to move inside which was empty we were told that nobody is sitting inside today. So…? Anyway we went inside. Waited for 20 minutes before being offered a drink and a further 20 minutes for our selection of the 3 course set menu. My starter was a potato and asparagus quiche which was very tasty but two bites and it was gone! The kids had ONE spring roll each, to their horror. The main course was 2 slices of very well done roast beef, 1/4 gem, 1 tiny carrot. half zucchini, warm salad and if you were lucky 2 potatoes ( mine were missing). The Yorkshire pudding was very good and the only thing warm on our plates. Now here comes the best of all, the “baked custard pudding with berries” sounds delicious…well here is the recipe… a dash of ultramel topped with a swirl of cream and 10 gooseberries from a can served ice cold.
At a pop of R95 per head, this was day light robbery. The stop at Woolworth for a roast chicken and a chocolate cake was a hit !!!!
We did the regular Sunday roast at the Heath. They do a very tasty leg of lamb with pud to follow. The service is atrocious but it’s always been that way and you get used to it. The kids also have plenty of space to run around and build up an appetite. We enjoy it and at R85 with coffee thrown in I believe it’s good value.
Happy to hear that your experience was okay. We had the Beef Roast with veg. Tasty but overcooked.
We were never offered coffee but the moms did receive a sherry on arrival. True that R85 is not bad but when you times this by 5 its costly !!!! Knysna residents accept sub standards because we have no choice but if we all speak out about sub standars in the service industry then perhaps one day we will walk out of a resaurant that charges R120 per head and say WELL WORTH IT< GOOD FOOD AND SERVICE, the way it should be !
There are a few place on the Garden Route where I enjoy taking the family and its to the sort of places where the emphasis is more on taste and sometimes even value for money. But service? That is a tough one in this part of the world and I rather look for some inherent sense of hospitality to compensate.
I don’t know the Red Barn that well but I think they are trying too hard and forgetting what is really important when it comes to food and the people they serve.
I tend to agree. You just don’t get the sort of service you can expect in the bigger towns and cities. Our restaurants are either far too busy or far too quiet. There are no in betweens and there are very few which will ever get it right. Those that do are exceptional and they are generally well supported as a result. But even they creak and groan in the crazy times.