Bradley Bordis, who had also joined me as Pigalle’s guest three weeks earlier, put it into perspective: Pigalle is the kind of place you’ll bring the gorgeous blonde secretary with whom you’re having an affair.

With R12 million and as much style to boot, the uber restaurant brotherhood of Naldo and Victor Goncalves' newest creation is set to be as successful as Back o’ The Moon and O’Galito in Johannesburg.

Named after Paris’s red-light district, Pigalle is well placed on Green Point’s Somerset Road.

The vast room, lit by custom made Art-Nuevoesque chandeliers, seats 400 on three levels curving around a bandstand and dance floor where top performers like Ian Smith, Onyx Phillips and others perform. It’s not difficult to see where the money has been spent and a glass-enclosed champagne and cigar bar is set to be filled by moneyed movers and shakers.

Oscar Wilde once quipped that he was having difficulty living up to his blue china and that thought crossed my mind when I looked at their menu. There is a disconnect between the stunning room, free live music seven days a week and the menu prices with starters at around R30, steaks from R65 to R75 and seafood from R65 for calamari to R180 for lobster. If they are able to maintain these prices (a real challenge, in my view) they will call into question a host of other Cape Town venues that are simply charging too much.

As their guest, they lavished food (and Martinis) on us and given the spectrum and quantity we tasted I wasn’t able to reach a clear judgment on the food.

When I visited, unannounced on a Monday to prepare this review, it became clearer: Pigalle offers unfussy food served in that clean '70s style we remember so fondly.

Regular readers will know that the gift I prize mostly highly in serving staff is premonition – knowing what a guest wants or needs before they order it. Vasco, who served us on both occasions, has this gift in abundance. He sensitively asked if we would prefer something instead of the chourico sausage before we had to ask him which dishes contained pork.
We ordered a Caesars’ Salad for the table (R32) and asked him to hold the crispy bacon bits. Cesar Ritz, who created this dish with cos lettuce, croutons and a sauce made from egg, parmesan cheese and anchovy, would probably roll in his grave if he knew how many establishments took his namesake in vain. The Pear and Almond salad ordered on our previous visit would have been a much better option than this clumsy offering.

Recommitting to my waistline, I ordered the Norwegian Salmon (R75) served with rice, chips, baked potato and stir-fry veg. I asked for the Salmon to be underdone and was served a magnificent piece of pink salmon which I thoroughly enjoyed. It came with ginger-infused vegetables and savoury rice. The chips were excellent.

Bradley, a cook of note, ordered the Prime Rib (R70) and was disappointed when Vasco emerged from the kitchen with two vacuum packs of meat, suggesting that the T-bone (R65) would be more tender. I’ve always preferred well-hung meat.

He enjoyed his T-Bone just with their basting sauce as opposed to the course salt, pepper and mustard seed treatment.

For dessert, Bradley ordered the chocolate cheesecake (R27) while I, counting the calories in the Martini and two glasses of Neil Joubert chardonnay, asked for a fruit platter (R25). This was perhaps the highlight of the evening - architecturally arranged sliced fruits provided a sin-free ending to a meal that was wonderful to eat.

While the venue may suggest something different, Pigalle provides well-made simple food that is reasonably priced. A quick ’n easy lunch menu is also served on the terrace overlooking Somerset Road. Find a perch at the glamorous long bar and enjoy Brett and his Martini menu or feast on the eye candy that before long will be vying for tables.

Pigalle Restaurant, 57 Somerset Road, Green Point. 021-421-4848.