Ocean Basket East London

We had some guests who highly recommended Ocean Basket in Gauteng, but we were very disappointed when they experienced food poisoning after we ordered for a party of 10. It was incredibly embarrassing and felt like a complete waste of money. We won't be returning.

I had my worst experience at any Ocean Basket I've ever visited. The plates were dirty, and the halloumi we ordered—for which we had to send it back—had some strange gray residue on it. The side dishes arrived only after we had finished our main courses. While the food itself tasted great, the presentation left much to be desired; I've never seen such tiny calamari rings in my life. I'm concerned about how much worse things could be, especially since there were only four tables to serve that night. Even though the manager stated that she wouldn't charge us for the halloumi, we ended up getting charged anyway. The franchise owner really needs to take a serious look at what's happening in their establishment.

Typically, the food here is excellent, but tonight's meal was quite disappointing. I ordered the fish and prawn combo; while the fish was good, the prawns were terrible—mushy and unappetizing.

This is my second visit, and unfortunately, I've faced poor service both times, even though it wasn't busy either visit. On this occasion, some of the food, specifically the prawns and mussels, were undercooked. To make matters worse, the manager was sitting behind the counter watching funny videos and laughing, which could be heard from across the room. I've attached a photo showing the undercooked prawn tail. At least when I pointed out the issue, they did bring out new food after they finally returned to our table.

I wouldn't even give this place one star. The fish was old and reheated. They serve it warm on a plate, but the fish itself is cold—so unappetizing!