Review Chief's Boma Restaurant - Johannesburg

The food was to on top off each other so it was hard to dish up as people just can't do things in a line 😫 the food was okay 👌 the sweet treats was not nice at all . The music was the best part of the night 🌙.

Love Chief's Boma Restaurants, all meals were well prepared and hot, the dessert selection is rather disappointing as the had a very limited selection. But the meals were delicious and the variety was pleasing 😋 The live band was great, most of the guests were Celebrating, so obviously a hot spot for celebrations, but the tables are spread well over the restaurant and privacy is attainable.

First time at Chiefs Boma and it was fantastic! Buffet was great, chefs were super friendly and the service was great. Highly highly recommend a visit!

We had work dinner function here. I highly recommend this place for large groups.

It was my first time here, but I liked it except for the waiting time for your meat to be prepared. They need to improve, like being allowed to place an order in advance. This place has got various kinds of meat like Kudu, Impala, Springbok, etc. and it's prepared while you wait. Overall, the food is very fresh and succulent.

The evening buffet was awesome. There’s a huge selection from appetisers to desserts. You can also choose your meat to be cooked in front of you, although there is a queue of people lined up. The restaurant has an African theme and we were entertained by a live band. Service was also good and our waitress was attentive. Ample secure parking available. The only negatives would be some of the meats were too fatty, desserts didn’t taste 100% fresh and the restaurant was humid (fans weren’t on). But other than that, great experience.

I must say, the difference between eating in a random fast food place and this establishment is the experience and the level service I received from California was exceptional, a wholesome meal served with a joyous heart and smile was an experience worth sharing... I will definitely return for the atmosphere, the food and the great service.

A great restaurant in Johannesburg 's suburb, the grilled meat is to die for, you can eat springbok and buffalo and the buffet is excellent too. There was also a group playing music so the ambiance was incredible. We loved this one.

This place is perfect for a group of friends or family dinner settings or if you have international friends visiting that you want to give the South African experience then this is your place to go. I have been there a few times and I highly recommend their stews, especially the LAMB stew but my husband loves the beef stew near the salads. Overall all their dishes are amazing and if you prefer fresh cut meats that will be braai'd for you that also is a winner. I highly recommend visiting this place if you like buffets.

Absolutely brilliant, a great experience, good spread and a nice selection of game meat. Buffalo, Kudu, Wildebeest and Impala. Good atmosphere and entertainment.

Went with my family to celebrate my dad's birthday. Enjoyed the food & the atmosphere, the band was phenomenal, & the lead singer is exceptional. Will definitely go back!

Excellent vibe good food 👌 good african music the place is warm even in this winter 👌

Lovely experience at the Boma.. the food was fresh and delicious, well cooked. The braai area was our favorite _ the wors is real real Boerewors!! The live performance is classy and elegant.

Absolutely enjoyed my time here.. staff were extremely nice ..The food was sooo homely... Vibe was relaxing..it was tooooo nice.. Thank you..ill definately come again...

The breakfast was very tasty and the food was fresh. Will recommend it to others

Had my 50th Dec 2016 & now my sons 21st 14th October 2017 great food & the vibe is something else staff is friendly good job 👏🏻

Yoh, It was on my Birthday when my friend introduced me about the place. I went there with my girlfriend together with my friend(Percy). Upon on our arrival, the reception was great, the service was also great and the food was very delicious. Everything was great. My day was very extra special. Ala Wiwi!!!...

Great ethnic cuisine this side of the ring road. Be warned too much food overload if a gluttonous meal is not to your liking. A great place to sample game and venison dishes. Come at dusk to watch the sun set by the little creek.

Excellent restaurant,great buffet food,not forgetting live ramba music,excellent customer service...just love the place/atmosphere

We arrived at 12.02. The 300 seater restaurant was literally empty; but they were unable to accommodate a table for 2 who had not booked.

My wife and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary at Chiefs Boma on Sunday 29th October 2017. The service and ambience was wonderful, friendly staff and atmosphere. As Chiefs Boma is not new to mei know what to expect and which other restaurants to compare it to. However it is different to your usual restaurant and for those with healthy appetites but can't afford R500 per head, Chiefs Boma Restaurant is the restaurant you will enjoy.

Best food whilst away from home in ages. Cool vibes, decent food and very attentive staff in a wonderful setting.

Top of the range! Friendly staff, good service, fantastic food, great ambiance. Ample parking.

Liked it. It's different. Help yourself to a very large selection of food. It's an African theme and there is something for all tastes. The boma overlooks a dam typical of the bushveld. There is play area for young children. Great for a lazy Sunday lunch.

It's a great place to cater for all your occasions the best was my kids were taken care

Service with smiles from the very friendly staff. The dishes were of a good variety and so were the accompanying sides. Well done!

Is the place to be when you visit Johannesburg nothing to worry about I loved it so much!

We drove past Indaba and saw an advert for Chiefs Boma restaurant. As it was lunch time, we thought let's eat. The huge restaurant could not accommodate 2 people even though it had just opened, and looked pretty empty. Unimpressed with the can't make a plan attitude.

Always do enjoy it so does my customers Very friendly staff and good food

Great food, fantastic vibe. Will be going back that's for sure.

als Einstimmung auf Südafrika bestens geeignet. Leckere südafrikanische Küche bei super Stimmung mit Folkloregruppe. Nettes Personal. Hat Spaß gemacht

Great place to be with awesome meals and entertainment

The best food,service and environment I loved it!!

Great food , great service. We want to go where people make you feel welcome.

Great food it was my frst time there. Will sure come back for more nyc food and good music

worst buffet ever. Lacked variety. Don't waste your money.

Awesome range of foods...first time I tried oxtail and it was devine....desserts were sublime

The variety is awsome!! Definitely one of my favourite restaurants

I loved every aspect of this place....

Fab food and venue

decor is African and stunning!<br/>Seating not very comfortable.<br/>Ambiance and live entertaining super awesome<br/>Service was excellent and everyone was friendly and very helpful!<br/>Food was fresh and everything we tried was wonderful!We Loved it! <br/>Thank you!

Basically a tourist trap. Tour buses, lots of foreign visitors having a good time trying to understand what meat they’re eating😊.<br/>Self service at a buffet.<br/>The meat is placed in a bowl and then grilled, so when you get it back, you haven’t a clue which cut of meat you’re eating. Basic vegetables. Mass catering.<br/>Chef uses the same utensils for meat and fish. <br/>Waitresses expect to be tipped for doing little with a poor attitude - spoilt by tourists.<br/>

STAY AWAY!!!  I would have liked to give a -100 rating!<br/>Friday, 7 September 2018, my friend RAVED about the Saturday lunch buffet special at Chief's Boma.  It's R265/2 people - AND THE FOOD IS SOOOO AMAZING!!!!<br/>I was a bit dubious, cause I remember that I've seen some bad food reviews regarding the Chief's Boma.  But I dragged my hubby there ...<br/>Saturday 8 September 2018.  It's a really lovely venue!  Just after 12 the waiter said buffet is ready.  I walked around and .... the salads were all still covered in cling film.  You are ready???<br/>I was looking for Mopanie worms, but they didn't have that.  On ice, they have quite a few raw pieces of game meat ... you order it and someone will grill it for you - to your order.<br/>Well.  No-one was there, cause the gas tanks weren't filled!  Seriously?????  Hubby ordered a few pieces of the meat - asked for medium rare - told the griller 'it's fine, thank you' but the griller continued to grill the meat - AND IT WAS OVERCOOKED!!!<br/>Game sausage had a good taste - BUT OVERCOOKED!  After hubby told the griller to remove it - and griller said 'no it's not done yet'.<br/><br/>The salads I have to admit were fresh and yummy.  The chicken wings were sticky and good.<br/>BUT THAT'S WHERE MY GOOD REVIEW STOPPED ABRUPTLY ...<br/>At the soup, there were small buns - COLD!  As if they've been in fridge overnight and haven't reached room temperature.<br/>Carvery - the pork crackling was fantastic - the pork roast?  DRY AS PAPER!!!!!  No seasoning!!!<br/>Lamb curry potjie - BELOW AVERAGE meat!!  It was sooo chewy, I couldn't eat it.<br/>Game stew potjie - BELOW AVERAGE meat!!!  Chewy and chewy!!!<br/>Mini apple crumble - tasteless and apples not soft<br/>Mini custard pudding - TASTED LIKE GAS!!!<br/>Mini peppermint pudding - TASTED LIKE SOAP!!!  Seriously, my hubby had to eat 3 mints to get the soap taste out of his mouth!!!<br/>What an absolute disaster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Went there for New Years Eve. Great ambience and entertainment but 3/7 people from our table had bad food poisoning at the venue which really spoilt our evening.

As always a good variety was on hand. Went there for a staff year end party. And for what is was worth it was well received. The only downside was that because we had a lunch booking and had some formalities to attend to while there. By 3.30 most of the food was finished and was not replaced. Around 4 they started clearing for the 19:00 dinner reservations. So not criticizing and they did help where they could. Suggesting just that you do inform your guests of his arrangement.

The food was great and there was a live band performing I really enjoyed my time there the waiter was amazing. They have a wide variety of food and they cater for a lot of tastes

The restaurant serves a buffet & has indoor and outdoor seating African themed. It's rather dark inside so much better to sit outside overlooking the gardens and lake which is a relaxing setting. The food itself it's a meat lovers dream- lots of game and uncooked meats which you select and they prepare for you. There are the usual cooked roasts, soups , salads and other items that are usually found on a buffet. As a vegetarian, I found the options very limited, and asked them to prepare a pasta as there wasn't a veg pasta on the buffet. The buffet desert options were good. Average service.

We had our company Christmas function here. It's a lovely tranquil venue and is quite central. We had a buffet lunch with a variety of salads and meat which everyone enjoyed.

Probably the best buffet I've ever been to. I came here on new year's eve and it was amazing. They had a lovely marimba group playing when we arrived and later on in the night they had such a cool band. I loved how they played such a variety of music. The food was sooo amazing!!!! They had such a variety 9f food there I might have gotten full from being overwhelmed lol. The food was really good. We got mini champagnes just before 12 to celebrate the new year. Our waitress wasn't the best she kept bringing the wrong drinks orders and when our bill came it had drinks which we didnt consume. She rectified it though. I will definitely come back here very soon

We decided on spending nye here. The venue is huge and spacious giving you that boma feel with the thatch roofing and wooden tables and chairs and a marimba band starting off the night. Sadly our table of 9 was not set up and we had to wait in the centre of the room before being assisted by the GM. He offered us a round of drinks whilst our table in the middle of dinner service was being prepared.<br/><br/>On the food side, buffets are always tricky but this is what this place specialises in. Too much food but nothing really prepared well. Not all items where labelled. A nice salad bar and selection of sides, roasted pototoes, veg, mash and rice. Sadly sauces for roast meats were lacking with a burnt out mushroom sauce and limited mini bowls of sauces for the cold prawns, pork and lamb roasts. Meats were okay although on refills of dishes you could taste lack of effort with no salt or flavour. Nothing stood out, just mass production of food.<br/><br/>The desserts looked good at start of the night as it was already set up, but again there was limited of items. On refills they changed the items, when asked about menu items they claimed they were never made but instead was finished. A cheese platter just one for the fully booked restaurant which holds at least 100 people or more was available and was what kept me from starving.<br/><br/>Service was slow with not enough waiters to clear tables and drinks from bar took forever, we eventually started walking to bar to order our own drinks.<br/><br/>Granted this was an event but based on the quality of the food at 475 pp, I probably wont be here again. It was NYE and thankfully alcohol and good company made made the night a celebration nevertheless.

Words don't really do justice to how bad this place is. We live in Beverley, close by and have always been curious so decided to try it for dinner. The atmosphere is ok but that's as good as it gets. The food is mass produced rubbish. If you want to braai save yourself some money and do it at home, trust me you'll be far happier. One word sums it up for me - avoid!

A total tourist trap. Came here with a colleague from abroad and I was embarrassed that this would be her impression of South African food. Food was of poor quality, bland, badly prepared and the service was crap. All the game meats you could choose was cut at about 5mm thick and was like rubber. We stayed until about 21:50 and they were cleaning up and packing up around our table (we were 12 people and had a substantial bill).

The fresh selection of food was readily available... We indulged in every single course... The traditional Sunday lunch was succulent... The Chefs Special variety of curries literally left us licking our fingers... <br/><br/>After we took in the views, devoured some delicious wines... We prepared ourselves for the dessert valley... Which did not leave us wanting... <br/><br/>Now it's time to head home for the much needed Sunday Afternoon naps... Eugene Swart 💯👍🏻🍴

Been to a couple of events at Indaba and been there when dropping people off at Indaba, and unfortunately the Chiefs Boma has not impressed me. The dessert actually ran out. The food is not the greatest. The price is very good, but sadly not for the quality received.

Been here a few times attending functions and it never fail to disappoint. Same food over and over prepared and presented poorly. Dessert normally runs out is the first few minutes of being served and the cheese which is offered on the menu does not even serve the 10 pax at our table

We attend a few functions here every year and unfortunately the experience has yet to thrill me. The food is almost always the same. Never enough and all the good stuff usually runs out in minutes and no more arrives unless serious complaint gets sent to the kitchen.

Fantastic! The food is to die for. The Marimba guys completes it! The ambiance! Succulent meat dishes. Very good on a Sunday evening. I love it!

We came here after a baptism,buffet was traditional south African ,like the boerowors .The food was good but not spectacular,there was good buffet selection

There is a nice variety of food available at the buffet dinner. It was my first time trying game meat and I'm definitely a fan after it was grilled so well. I was impressed with the starter section that included little nibbles such as droe wors, biltong, peanuts and spicy corn. The service was very good and welcoming, and we got to enjoy some great local music while we ate.

I was really impressed by this restaurant. If we ever have international guests visiting, we will take them there.<br/><br/>Ambiance: Relaxed with some African infusions. When the marimba band starts to play quite relaxed African music, the mood is set properly!<br/><br/>Service: Service is very difficult to review, because it depends on the person who assists you. I was very impressed with the floor manager who also welcome everyone as they walk in and sing out loud when it is your birthday. Our waiter was so well trained and did everything perfectly well.<br/><br/>Food: This is a buffet restaurant. Apart from many salads, desserts, and mains, I think one thing that makes them different is the variety of game meat that they offer and cook for you to your liking. Sometimes they do get a bit confused with the food, though...<br/><br/>Recommendation: One thing I missed at this restaurant was a fire. Even just outside.

Some thing for everyone's liking. This "African cuisine" offers visitors the opportunity to taste African flavours such as impala, kudu, warthog, springbok and wildebeest meat. Accompanied by tradition flavours of pap, mash patatoes and mielies. The buffet selection caters for everyone. The marimba band sets an unique African atmosphere- a definite must try.

Chief's Boma is consistently fantastic when it comes to going out in large groups. Their buffet is always on point and the in-house entertainment is a notable highlight. Their service is friendly and flawless, and unlike many other restaurants in this city they have ample safe parking space. My only critique would be that their desserts are often a bit of a let down in comparison to their amazing mains, but all in all definitely worth a visit, especially when you're entertaining a crowd.

The food used to be so nice here. Now the food isnt even worth the price you pay and is not even nice as well as my whole family and I got diarrhea the night after eating there on Christmas night. :( <br/>The price for one person is now R165 whereas before it was around R140 for 2 people and there were so many varieties of food as well as game meat.

Huge buffet. Lovely food. This a a banting dieters dream come true. meat meat meat................................................................................

Buffet lunch was very good, had a wide variety of meats and salads. Deserts were also very nice, a few were a bit bland. Service is good, waiters all friendly and make you feel welcome. A good day out especially for a birthday.

Went there for Sunday lunch....only 1 word......shocking!!!!!!<br/>We had to pay in advance by eft and when we got there they had run out of all the meat. We waited for an hour for some chops and a few steaks. Never again.

Buffet has a nice variety, but the desserts weren't great - everything tasted like too much gelatine... Service wasn't the best either - our waiter seemed annoyed and never gave us one smile... Nice vibe though...

Buffet is large and has specialty dishes. It caters mainly for meat eaters, not a lot except for salads for the vegetarian... It is however not their target audience. <br/><br/>Ambience is great and service is good.

Birthday vibes yesterday lunch time at the Boma with Khabo and friends. Still full from the buffet and dessert.

Pretty good. They have a vast selection of meats and salads etc for the buffet which is quite nice. They sometimes have interesting sleections like Tripe. But I opted for the safe bet and had steak. Overall it was pretty good, the staff are very friendly and know what they're doing. The food is okay, nothing to write home about. but overall a good experience. Definitely works for larger groups for conferences or other big functions. I don't think I would venture here otherwise.

Wow, it's a place to be, good African music, friendly stuff. Coming again soon