Firefly Eating House

Saturday, December 13th, 2014

Reviewed by Thomas Barry

It was with trepidation that we ate at the Firefly Eating House, as the internet reviews are wide ranging, from scathing to absolutely fantastic! The restuarant is intimate, with a garish red theme that is overpowered by red lighting, however with the table candlelight a wonderful ambience is created. The personality of the restuarant is defined by the owner, who energetically flits between tables offering succinct and incomplete tidbits of information on the food and wine on offer. The menu is Tapas style with a fantastic variety, and one is spoilt for choice. The bobotie spring rolls, dusted with what appears to be coconut and icing sugar, is a triumph and taste sensation. Paired with fantastic local wine, the evening was most enjoyable.....that is until the owner launched into a vitriol of narrow minded racist commentary on the state of South Africa to a innocent German couple enjoying the intimate evening. While political opinions are wide ranging in South Africa, the tirade of narrow minded political opinion to ones guests is highly inappropriate in a restuarant context. As South Africans we were embarrassed by the misrepresentation of our country, and left the restuarant disappointed. A potentially wonderful evening was ruined by a bitter person who felt it her duty to be a poor ambassador to our country. It was a bitter sweet evening, as the food was sublime, however the restuarant personality was rotten to the core. A terrible shame! Avoid at all costs.