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Protégé at Le Quartier Francais

Reviewers' Choice 2023 - Top 50
Asian/Oriental French Fusion
10 Wilhelmina St, Franschhoek, 7690, South Africa
(1323 reviews)
RRR+

Attributes

  • Child Friendly
  • Romantic
  • Outdoor Seating
  • Wheelchair Friendly
  • WiFi
  • Fireplace
  • Reviewers' Choice 2023 - Top 50

Protégé is an exciting casual fine dining eatery under the guidance of previous Eat Out Chef of the Year, La Colombe’s Scot Kirton.

Scot is proud to be part of the process of recognising young talented chefs and giving them the opportunity to put themselves on the map. In keeping with this, the restaurant was aptly named Protégé.

The idea with Protégé is to keep it casual and comfortable, working with local suppliers to keep the menu as fresh and as seasonal as possible.

The restaurant space has been designed around the central show kitchen with al fresco dining planned at both ends of the restaurant.

Protégé is open for lunch from 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm and for dinner from 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm.

Reviews (1323)

4.6 out of 5.0
Based on the past 12 months
Food 4.8
Value 4.5
Service 4.7
Ambience 4.6
  • Dominique et Françoise B. Dined: 3 days ago
    4.5
    Food 5.0
    Value 4.0
    Service 4.0
    Ambience 5.0
  • Natalie F. Dined: 6 days ago
    5
    Food 5.0
    Value 5.0
    Service 5.0
    Ambience 5.0
  • Elodie d. Dined: 5 days ago
    5
    Food 5.0
    Value 5.0
    Service 5.0
    Ambience 5.0

    Reviewed on: Mon 28 Apr 25
    We had the most perfect night. Food, service, everything was excellent! Thank you we had an amazing time!

  • Peter S. Dined: 6 days ago
    4.8
    Food 4.0
    Value 5.0
    Service 5.0
    Ambience 5.0

    Reviewed on: Sun 27 Apr 25
    Very stylish restaurant - had the short menu - a touch too much spice for my wife but very good. The springbok dish was outstanding in so many ways - thank you Anna for looking after us too

  • Johan B. Dined: 1 week ago
    5
    Food 5.0
    Value 5.0
    Service 5.0
    Ambience 5.0
  • Quirin S. Dined: 1 week ago
    5
    Food 5.0
    Value 5.0
    Service 5.0
    Ambience 5.0
  • James G. Dined: 1 week ago
    1.8
    Food 1.0
    Value 1.0
    Service 4.0
    Ambience 1.0

    Reviewed on: Thu 24 Apr 25
    I always prefer to give feedback directly but there is no email for the La Colombe group. So maybe they will see it on here. We visited protege on Saturday 19th April - special treat whilst spending the weekend in Franschoek from Cape Town. We visited protege a couple of years ago and found it excellent. We have visited quite a few of their locations over the years and always found them great. However this visit just wasn’t up to parr and we left feeling quite dissatisfied and somewhat hungry. Food coming from the kitchen was slow, bread took approx 15 minutes and when it did arrive the butter was rock solid and unspreadable. Whilst there was normally staff on the floor, at that moment no one was around to get their attention. Already a little frustrated by the wait.. we ate some of the pate with our bread. We got the waiters attention who apologised and said they would get another… 5 minutes goes by and nothing so we ate the bread. Waiter came over to check all was ok but we explained the butter hadn’t arrived and we had eaten the bread. We requested that we just get on the with the next course so the plates were cleared. Next course, again took quite some time to arrive. Both portions of chicken were not enjoyable at all. Not hot for a start but the Chicken meat was dry and the glaze so thick that it made the batter just sloppy. The lamb in the roti we found fatty.. and not a good melt in your mouth fatty, but a chewy fatty. I ate mine but my partner took his apart and removed the fat what he could. Not the way you really want to eat your meal. My partner didn’t eat the crab claw based on the other 2 dishes. Starters were fine Main course took a long time to come from the kitchen. To a point that we became bored of being there and at that point considered just getting the bill. We had to request the waiter find out where our food was and the manager did come over to apologise and said it was coming. There was a huge brigade in the kitchen so I just don’t understand the delay in what felt like all the courses. Main courses, whilst fine just felt cheap. I understand the effort that goes into creating emulsions and purée but when you serve a simple blanched tiny carrot and a single piece of blanched broccoli cut in half it’s not good enough. Purée was underseasoned and just underwhelming. My dish that was advertised as coming with asparagus had 2 tiny spear heads. I’m not expecting to have a pile of asparagus but this felt very underwhelming. I understand the need to control costing however it just felt this had taken over priority of the dishes. There was nothing on the plates that impressed enough to override the feeling that the dishes were either just very small portions with not a lot of substance or use of cheap ingredients. We left hungry and disappointed that we had spent our money on this meal. I think they can do better. The manager heard most of our issues/feedback on the night and gave a discount on the bill. He managed the experience as best he could but it was not about the money. The experience was just a massive let down. We won’t be returning to protege and will think twice when considering their other locations. This may sound extreme however as locals in Cape Town, there are a vast amount of restaurants doing similar and doing it well. I hate leaving a restaurant feeling ripped off, but on this occasion this was exactly that feeling. I hope this feedback is treated as helpful in improving the offering.

  • Christina S. Dined: 1 week ago
    5
    Food 5.0
    Value 5.0
    Service 5.0
    Ambience 5.0

    Reviewed on: Tue 22 Apr 25
    the food is outstanding and this for years

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Opening Hours

  • Monday 12h00 - 20h30
  • Tuesday 12h00 - 20h30
  • Wednesday 12h00 - 20h30
  • Thursday 12h00 - 20h30
  • Friday 12h00 - 20h30
  • Saturday 12h00 - 20h30
  • Sunday 12h00 - 20h30