The 50% Rule

by Tara-Zee

So, this one time, Mr T-Z and I decided that celebrating Valentine’s Day by going out for dinner on the 14^th of February is just not worth it. Mr T-Z likes to call it his 50% rule … restaurants give you 50% less choice for meals, 50% worse service and charge you 50% more than they would on an ordinary night, in addition to squeezing 50% more people into the same space. Now that’s not to say that we haven’t had some winner V-day dinners; that one at The Cradle restaurant was a stunning evening, made even better by good food, a beautiful view and a foot massage between mains and dessert; and there was that time at Linger Longer where the meal and service were great (I won’t dwell on the couple at the table next to ours who did not say a word to each other all evening, or the one across the way where the man told his partner that he’d always felt like more of a father than a lover to her – awkward). But those were exceptions to the 50% rule.

This year, we spent Valentine’s at home, with our favourite pizzas from Col’Cacchio (the Erincella and the Moghul), a bottle of Eikendal chardonnay and a DVD – The A Team. It was a perfect night in. And by Friday, we were ready to brave restaurants once more and enjoy a date night.

Mr T-Z booked at the newly-opened HQ at Central 24 in Sandton. Another one of Mr T-Z’s theories has something to do with the number of choices on the menu and the quality of the food being indirectly proportional. If that’s anything to go by, HQ should be the best new restaurant. Their concept is that you can enjoy any starter and main for R155 per person … that is, as long as the starter is a salad (mmm, iceberg lettuce, parmesan and pine nuts with an addictive vinaigrette) and the main is a 250 g sirloin (or “sirlion” as appears on my receipt) prepared to your liking (rare for me, of course) in a café de Paris butter and served with fries. Their wine list is pretty pricey, but has some novelty options, from The Parlotones Giant Mistake to Schalk Burger No. 6. We went for a bottle of the Idiom Sangiovese to share. The dessert menu also has a lot of variety and we found that the chocolate fondant and lemon tart complimented each other.

The hostess was polite, but could perhaps spend a little less time on the couch chatting to a friend. The manager was friendly and eager to talk to us about the new endeavor and the waitering staff was attentive, but can go ahead and top up my wine without asking. This novelty restaurant seems to have taken off in Cape Town. Here’s hoping that Jo’burg has the staying power.