Cross posted from HelloPeter
Last week Saturday we decided to have a meal at Jimmy Killer Prawns in Ballito, with family members who were due to leave the next day.
When we entered the restaurant, it was virtually empty, something unheard in season in Ballito. This should have been our clue to get out of there, fast…
We waited a while for a waiter to take our drinks order, until I had to get up and go and call the manger for help. We then decided on a ‘shared meal’ they offer, with all sorts of starters & prawns.
Well, almost all of the starters were terrible. The holumi we ordered was covered in some salty batter, the chicken livers were beyond hot, none of us could eat them. The chips had been cooked in the oil from yesterday, and were burnt. Even the sauce on the prawns were drenched in garlic, which made them taste awful.
At the end of the evening when we approached the manager, who ended up serving us the whole evening, and told her we were unhappy with the meal, she just shrugged her shoulders and didn’t even apologise.It is a pity that this restaurant is going to the dogs in Ballito, and I can’t see many of us locals supporting it for very much longer.
7 replies on “Jimmy’s Killer Prawns – Ballito”
Pity indeed. The Cape Town ones are quite good.
Thanks for the heads up. I’m going to Ballito on the first and will not go there :D
I couldnt agree with you more. This is the E-mail that i sent to their customer services….Will keep you posted of the outcome
“I must say that I have never been so disappointed with a restaurant or as disgusted with a manager of a restaurant before. I am a nurse at Netcare Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg and am here in KZN visiting my family. As I leave back for Johannesburg on the 1st January 2010, my family decided to go to Jimmy’s Killer Prawns in Ballito for a dinner out. Prior reservations were telephonically made and we arrived at the restuarant as planned. On arrival, we were informed by a waitress (whom we were later advised is the manager) that they were fully booked and could not accommodate us. On asking the person that made our reservations, we were advised that he “forgot” to enter it into the book, but that he would make provision for us. We were eventually seated and were informed that the House wine was Four Cousins….so we ordered a bottle of the Cousins…. only for the waiter to come back 10 minutes later and inform us that they were out of stock. Ok…things happen..so we ordered another brand of wine. We were given menus that included a sushi menu…so we pondered the menu and decided exactly what we wanted to eat for our starters….only to be told by the waiter that there is no sushi…..Fine….We settled for a salad instead. We also decided to place our order for our main course at the same time. I am allergic to shell fish and hake so naturally, my meal was a combination of calamari. We were advised that the Kitchen was abit slow, so we waited patiently. Our salad arrived and that was good. We then waited 1 hour after finishing our starter for our main course. Mind you, we entered the restaurant the 19h15 and it was now 21h00. The waiter starts to bring our food to our table and in the middle of doing so, advises that there is no calamari at all so “can i give you something else instead”……. I mean seriously…… I waited an hour and fifteen minutes, couldn’t you advise me of that sooner… I was really upset but as there were other patrons in the restuarant, I quietly asked to see the manager…who acted really busy even though there were only about 25 people in the restuarant. We stood up, asked for the bill for the wine and the salad, and moved to the cashiers desk. The “waitress” who was rude to us on arrival, then came to print out our bill.This is when I was advised that she was the manager. I have never seen such an arrogant, sour person in all my life…n trust me… in my job… i tend to see alot. She was so rude that she even argued with the waiter in our presence and mind you…the waiter, whose name I forgot, was a really sweet kid. And so ended our lovely evening out. Im a patron at Jimmy’s in Bedford View and in Fordsburg in Johannesburg, and I have nothing but praises to sing about them….. But as for my experience here in Ballito-KZN…… it makes me really sad he Jimmy’s could earn a reputation thats so bad. I pray that I never have to go there again.”
I have just returned from this restaurant (wouldn’t even list it as that, I”ve had better meals from a flea market stall).
Just as you said the manager just shrugged off our complaint, and even though we did complain, the service and the food didn’t improve. Sorry I didn’t read your mail prior to going, but I”m so used to getting the same Jimmy’s service everywhere I go.
Hey Daryl & nydia, thanks for the comments.
I am glad to see that I wasn’t the only one who had shocking service from Jimmys Ballito.
I had the head office call me and tell me they were “sorry”. Apparently the branch has a new owner and doesn’t seem to fall under the Jimmys regional manager any longer. This could explain for a couple of things.
They also offered me a R200 voucher to go back, but after reading the latest comment, I am very very reluctant to head back there :(
Pity though
Below is another comment I received from Rene Grobler about her staff’s experiences at Jimmy Killer Prawns in Ballito:
The Jimmy’s Killer Prawns in Canal Walk, Cape Town is awful too.
The prawns are almost literally rubbish, the waiters laugh at customers behind their backs, provide no service, food is flavourless and stodgy, and the manager then has the audacity to DEMAND a tip, even though the waiter wasn’t around to do anything.
If the management and food is horrible imagine what the hygene is like in the kitchen!
I’d avoid this franchise, something fishy is going on that will be the death of you.