I have to admit I didn’t intend to end up at this restaurant, but the need to find a place to wait out a massive traffic jam led me here by default.

It was not a bad place to spend an hour. Located upstairs at the cute Benmore Gardens shopping center, this casual-dining restaurant offers a decent menu that’s heavy on meat, reasonable prices, and a nice outdoor patio that faces Sandton City.

The décor tries to be upscale modern-European, with a red, white and black color scheme, but it comes off a little tacky at times. Downstairs is the main dining area, and upstairs is a lounge-bar-patio area with leather couches and cushioned armchairs.

The starter menu offers the usual roundup of grilled halloumi, peri peri chicken livers, butternut salad, etc. I chose the beef carpaccio, which was perfectly sliced, flavorful, and served on a crisp bed of rocket with shaved Parmesan.

For mains I chose the three mini-burgers, which were not quite as tasty, with the mushroom and peri-peri sauce being a bit overwhelming and the meat lacking in flavour. But I scarfed them down regardless. In hindsight I should have tried the T-bone steak or chicken schnitzel, which I saw other diners enjoying heartily. The menu also carries fish, pasta and pizza, in keeping with the restaurant’s loosely Italian theme. If you’re with a group (or just can’t decide), there are several platters that combine meat, fish and beef selections.

Dessert was the best part of my meal – I had the tiramisu, which, though not necessarily “authentic,” was delicious and my portion generously sized. Other dessert items include Lindt “bomb-bons” and baked apple crumble.

The place seemed to be full of corporate types having dinner before heading home, with a smattering of couples on dates. Apparently on Friday nights they have DJs and dancing, which might be your best bet, as the food is a bit mediocre but combined with entertainment you might be able to overlook that.