Relish meets Fireman's Arms

A belated comment on Relish: it rocked! Some of the best cocktails we've ever had which only reconfirms it as one of Cape Town's most fabulous cocktail bars - that doesn't break the bank. Looking back, there seems to be no better place for the Honey Ho's to have been birthed. Having said that, we should note that Relish's food (and service) leaves much to be desired. We ordered 6 plates and when they finally came, they were delivered in the same state as our waitress: cold. We sent them back to be warmed up - much to the clear disapproval of both barman and waitress - and when they came back there were only 5!! We had to haggle to get the 6th plate back! So, quite simply, if you want cocktails, Relish is the place for you. If you want food, go somewhere else. (BTW: this is only for the Relish in town. 3 of the Ho's ate at the Obs Relish one evening and it was very cool. Limited menu but it does what it's got really well.)

Now, here's a question for other ladies out there: is it normal for a place to have a GHD that you can hire by the Rand in the bathroom?!?! WTF?! Girls actually do this when they are on a night out? Pop to the Little Girl's Room and have a quick straighten??? Jeez laweez, that's ridiculous. We were floored! That's not to say we didn't have great fun straightening various parts of Ho's hair and re-emerging looking like an 80's video, but I guess that just goes to show that we're not your average Ho's. Thank god. Anyway, GHD or no, we drank our fill of cocktails, to the point that these are the only pics that were taken - Haidee did take more but alas, was learning how to use her new camera and none of them are light enough for this blog. Next time. Next time.

The Fireman's Arms is a total gem! For the beer lovers out there, this is Utopia. And for the pub-bar-end-of-the-night vibe, this is it. Apart from being deceptively enormous, it was the perfect place to go and let hair down and chill with a pint. Or a few rounds of arm wrestling. What ever floats your boat! We will definitely be back there again.


Scorecard

Toilets:
Relish - 4 (the GHD took a point away, even though we had great fun playing with it)
Fireman's Arms: 2 (it's a pub, ladies, so the bathrooms are not all that. But they're good enough)

Price:
Relish - 3 (it's not cheap but worth paying for in terms of cocktails. Food? Overpriced.)
Fireman's Arms: 4 (what you see is what you get. Decent prices for well decent beer. We didn't eat there so can't comment on the food.)

Food:
Relish/Fireman's Arms - no comment. We didn't have meals only snacks at Relish so can't comment, and only had beer at the FA.

Ambience:
Relish/Fireman's Arms - 5 (great vibes in both. Different to each other but both shout "Good Time")

Decor:
Relish - 4 (trendy and good looking. Could do with a bit of a spruce but really nice. Great views too)
Fireman's Arms - 4 (it's a pub. A huge pub. So expect pub-like decor! Not much more to say here...)

Service:
Relish - 2 (despite a great barman - when it was quiet, different story when he was spinning - we had to deal with a lethargic waitress who took her sweet time to bring us our *cold* snacks and then bitched when we wanted them warmed. And then brought out one plate too few.)
Fireman's Arms - 5 (but this is skewed. We bought beer from the bar! How kak could the service be?? But the bar lady was awesome and well versed in beer.)

Value Added:
Relish - 0 (niks vir niks en vrekmin vir n sixpens)
Fireman's Arms - Can't comment

HO RATING
Relish - 5 (provided you book a space for all the girls and stick to their cocktails)
Fireman's Arms - 5 (remembering that it's a pub, nothing fancy)