We visited Plettenberg Bay over the festive season. Our friends invited us to a dinner at Sand and what a fantastic culinary experience! Our table had the tasting menu. The wine paired with each course was suited perfectly and the food was absolutely phenomenal! The restaurant service was prompt and the staff friendly all throughout the hotel. We visited many restaurants during our stay in South Africa and Sand came out on top of our list. What a delight and a perfect end to our stay in a wonderful town and country.

Having Booked a table at Sand Restaurant at The Plettenberg Hotel for my wife & I, whilst we were staying in Plettenberg Bay for a couple of days, we were subjected to what can only be described as one of the most excruciatingly bad dining experiences we have both had for a very long time. We foolishly opted for the Tasting Menu and were subjected to a horribly amateurish attempt at fine dining that staggered us both in its failure to deliver anything resembling either taste or representation! The Chef was punching way above his weight in executing some of these ambitious dishes (that admittedly looked quite interesting when first opting for the Tasting Menu) and the end result was course after course of bitter disappointment (in fact, we were about to ask for the bill and leave the restaurant after the first two Courses, as they were so confused and appalling in their assault on the palate, that were it not for the slightly better third course of the shellfish bisque...we decided to stay in our seats, hoping to see an upturn going forward....this was sadly not the case and we dramatically regretted our decision by the time this ordeal had come to an end on course six. The Maitre D was, by now, squirming with embarrassment over the consistently undigested plates of food that had been scantly picked over (but, sadly due to the fact that the restaurant was unsurprisingly almost empty, he kept a brave front on it and offered little insight into how the meal had been served up so disastrously)! I can only assume that Gideon Landman was off sick that evening and I am almost certain that had Peter Templehoff been sat at our table, then he would have been close to tears at what was being served up in one of his establishments. We had both enjoyed several excellent and absolutely faultless tasting menus throughout our trip through South Africa at both La Colombe & Le Quartier Francais and, to be totally honest, this meal wasnt even in the same sport (let alone the same league as either of them). One thing worthy of merit was the well selected, accompanying wine tasting menu (no easy job for such a messy collection of dishes I hasten to add) which helped to ease the pain somewhat along the way. I very rarely feel compelled to write reviews on websites for good or for bad (maybe rightly or incorrectly) but on this occasion we were both so incensed by the experience that I felt the need to warn others off such a diabolical culinary visit...as the website and a few other mis-informed reviewers promised great things.

Had the tasting menu on 4/1/11 - awesome!

We were recommended to try the tasting menu offered by the restaurant and I have to say that we were overwhelmed at the balance and flavours presented with each dish.Chef Gideon Landman out did himself , not only with the palate pleasing, harmonious, unusual, and exotic mix of combinations , but the care taken on the presentation of each dish was critical to the success of the overall evening. The waitrons were attentive and pleasant. All in all...after seven dishes of great diversity we finished the evening off with some very fine handmade chocolates...WOW!. All at the table agreed that it was fine evening.... one of the best experienced in a long time!

Wow, the food was incredible. The restaurant atmosphere is a bit stiff, but the food is excellent. Probably the best in Plet. Try the duck with banana and bacon.Well done.