Morells , North cliff – A Wolf in Sheepskin .

Most of you might know the name due to it being acclaimed as a 5 star boutique hotel and exclusive wedding venue in North Cliff. They recently also opened a French style bistro at the venue, so this exclusive little place is now open to the public.

I’m a sucker for French cuisine (well anything French actually) but especially French food. Having read about the bistro on more than one platform, and finding ourselves wanting to try something new on Sunday, we set off for lunch with great expectations.

Let’s start off with the good shall we, and I urge you to read the following 2 – 3 sentences carefully, as this will be the full extent of the good:  The venue really is gorgeous and has a lovely ambiance,  feels like you’re sitting in a secret garden, when in fact you’re on the corner of 14^th Avenue. Everything is neat and clean, and you are welcomed by a man in a penguin tail tuxedo with top-hat and cane. The owner/manager is a very friendly lady, offering blankets should you be a little chilly by the water fountain.  

The bad: I will try to keep this short, but I will also tell I like it is. As picturesque as the setting is, quite the opposite is true for everything that follows; service (or rather lack thereof) and food.  Service:  As we were seated our waiter asked if we would like anything to drink, we order water while waiting for the wine list…which never arrived. We sat and admired the surroundings, and chatted for about 10min, with no waiter approaching our table again, after standing up to call someone, we received menus.

Again we waited roughly 10min to catch a waiter’s eye in order to place our food orders. When ordering, I specified that I would like the French Onion Soup for starter, and the Tomato Tart ( which is a starter) for main – our waiter confirmed with me that I would not like to order a main, but that I would like the second starter as a main instead, I confirmed this a 3^rd time.  Needless to say, I received both the above mentioned with the other starters, and one of the luncheon party did not received her starter. No one apologised for this mess-up, or for the delay in the correct missing starter being brought out when the rest of the table where just about done with our starters.

Mains arrived 45min after the starters have been cleared – also only after calling a waiter to ask what is the hold up. This time around, I did not receive the Tomato Tart, but a fillet of Salmon, which I advised was not my order. Again, no apology for the mess-up, or delay in receiving the tart – which was by no means re-made since being brought out an hour earlier, as this was stone cold, so the delay in bring me the correct, but cold, order is slightly baffling to me.

The ugly – or rather The Bad continued; I warned that there is not a lot of good about this one…Food:  Menu has a lovely variety, and descriptions are full of flavour. You really get excited when reading this, really actually mouth-watering. Unfortunately this is a complete hoax. Guaranteed the descriptions are looked up on the internet or in a proper French cookbook – but the food does not live up to this at all.

French Onion Soup is one of my favourite soups, due to the pure simplicity of the flavours, on this occasion every spoonful tasted like a mouthful of onion jam – now don’t get me wrong, I love a little dollop of onion jam on a melba toast with a slice of brie; but as a savoury onion soup – not so much. (and the cheesy baguette – turned out to be what looked like Parmesan powder?)

The tomato tart, which in the menu, is described as a Confit Tart Tartin, served with basil lentils and a poached egg and red wine reduction, came as a cold hard baked slab of puff pastry, with 4 cherry tomato’s half, a dessert spoonful of cold brown lentil (with a finely chopped green something – could have been basil, could have been grass, who knows?). The poached egg was a hard pan fried quail’s egg, and perhaps a teaspoonful of balsamic vinegar that is supposed to be the red wine reduction.

The Seared Pork shoulder turned out to be a piece of pork fillet, also cold – and underdone in the centre, wrapped in bacon, served with sweet potato mash, crumbed sweet potato, one baby onion and a 4cm cut of celery. No sign of the Parisienne sweet potato, red apple puree or cauliflower crisps… really just unacceptable to say the least.

Osso Bucco came in a gigantic portion, double the amount of couscous to meat, and just a dollop of sauce. As I don’t eat meat, I can’t give much of an opinion on this – but it evident that this was not too great from the fact that not even one of the pieces of meat was eaten, and did not receive rave reviews from the rest of the table.

In all honesty, I think the Seared salmon option was the best of the lot…keeping in mind that it does not take a lot of talent from any kind of food to be better than any of the described dished, in fact I think McCain pre-frozen veggies, that are steamed with a smidge of béchamel or a simple grating of cheese would outshine them all. But hey, perhaps that’s just me.

Dessert, which is customarily my favourite part of any given meal, we completely skipped, as we could only imagine the catastrophes that would come out of the kitchen.

 

All and all – disaster.

And what mind-boggles me the most, is that this is a supposed “5 star” exclusive venue, hosting extremely expensive weddings. Now dear management, if you, your service team and kitchen struggle on a Sunday afternoon lunch service – not fully booked might I add, perhaps half ( and this is not a big restaurant ); then how in the world do you handle a wedding?

There is a saying – the higher the pitch, the lower the profit. I could not think of a better description for this “elite” restaurant. Leave the penguin suits, top hats, and fancy descriptions at the door – and rather focus on producing good and proper food.

Avoid at all cost!! Rather order pizza.

Until we eat again…

Il Leone, CapeTown – Effortless goodness.

The effortless goodness of the cuisine, is reflected in the simple and clean lines reflected in the décor and furniture, with a wonderful ambience created by the lighting. No frills no fuss. This restaurant is all about the food, and rightfully so.

The atmosphere is cosy and friendly, very helpful staff and a well selected wine/beer menu.

 In my previous posts I’ve made it very clear that I am not a fan of Pasta at all, that it is a vehicle for yummy sauces or ingredients that could be used more delightfully in a different dish, in a different way…and a fattening vehicle to boot.
It was at this humble Italian eatery that I had my first plate of pasta that my taste buds dance. ( This was a couple of months after I became a vegetarian, otherwise I would have never ordered pasta).
                                                                                 Perfect pockets of ravioli – so that you could see the orange colour of the butternut glow through, layered with a four cheese sauce.

This was absolute heaven! I never knew pasta could taste like this, and for the first time in my culinary noting life, I could understand how people in Italy could eat pasta every day.  I also have to add that I’ve been in Italy more than once – and never have I come across such a wonderful mouthful of pasta.
It was love at first taste!
Due to this, I make a point of dining at Il Leone every time I visit in Capetown.

I’ve also had the Melanzane which is good and proper, but in my eyes nothing will compare to the Butternut Ravioli with four cheese sauce.

For the meat eaters, they have a lovely selection of hearty meaty dishes, which I have heard the praises of, and seen and smelt the rich aromas.
The seafood also look fresh and juicy.

 

For dessert I once had the tiramisu, which was delightful, and the crème brulee which was backed and torched to perfection.

This restaurant is easily missed, as you only see a small plaque hanging above a small door on a tiny patio.
Even with the lack of advertising and huge signs, they’re always overflowing  with patrons – so do make a reservation a day or 3 in advance.
And be sure not to miss this hidden gem.

 

 

Happy mid-working week!

Until we eat again…

Scusi Bistro, Parkview – Delightful and Deliciously unassuming

Dear Universe I love, you know I do – but I’m rather annoyed at the fact that you kept me from this darling bistro for 2 years…

A good friend of mine has been telling me about this little bistro for more than two years now, but it seemed the universe was against me discovering this delightful eatery. At long last, I finally I got the chance to go for an early dinner directly after work a week or so ago.

Situated on the corner of Tyrone Avenue and Ennis Road, in the leafy JHB suburb, this café is elegant and vibey with a strangely soothing feeling.

Filled with black and white photographs, it pays homage to our lovely city of Gold.

The service is friendly and helpful, and the menu as a good variety, form the Grill, to Seafood and Vegetarian. The wine menu is sufficient, but could perhaps have some more wines added – my opinion.

As you might or might not know, pasta and me are not friends.  Like rice – it is a vehicle for sauce or the actual thing with flavour. So why not just have the thing with flavour, or the part f the dish with the flavour on something else with texture and flavour?

I have exactly 3 pasta dishes that I would gladly eat again, 2 of which is very unlicky to cross my path again as they are in Peru, the other in Cape Town.

Now, I have a forth to add to my short list of delicious yummy, non-useless pasta dishes. ( if this trend continues I might be converted into a pasta lover…somewhere in the far future…)

I had the butternut ravioli with a slightly creamy sundried tomamto sauce – bliss!

My friend had the fillet with mushroom and pamasan risotto, she cleaned her plate which is a good sign, and I’ll say it looked gorgeous and had a wonderful truffel mushroomy scent, one of thebest aromas in the world.

Scusi definitely do not penny-pinch, you get what you pay for. The portions are lavish.

Due to the above fact that we did not order one of the lush desserts on offer – but next time I most definitely will.

 

The only negitave I can comment on for now, is that they are only open from Monday- Friday, which saddens me, as this is a perfect spot to induldge and relax under the leavy trees on a Saturday or for Sunday Breakfast…

 

I’ll definitely be back within the next week or 2.
Don’t miss out.

 

Until we eat again…

Hard Rock Café, JHB – what is in a name?

Since learning of the opening of Hard Rock Café in Sandton , the entire JHB has been in a frenzy to visit this iconic restaurant.

Located on the popular Nelson Mandela Square, but tucked away in the corner, this is sure to be a huge success. And indeed it is.
This restaurant/bar is overflowing with customers practically every day of the week.

 

Home of the burger – this is a burger lover’s dream, I think. If you prefer an old-school type “real” burger patty, and not the more recent gourmet burgers that you can find at Dukes and The Wolfpack. I’ve never been a fan of the burger, so I to me this is more of the same. A veggie burger would be nice to see on the menu though. Or a meat-free salad as well…
I opted for the Chicken Quesadilla – without the chicken and added mushrooms instead.

I can comment that the portions are plentiful, very generous, and everyone seemed to enjoy the food a lot – whether this was because it was so darn delectable, or due to the fact that we’ve been having a couple of bottles of wine, and only ordered at around 9:30pm, I’ll leave open for debate…

 

The service was great, we had an amazing waitress and two managers who checked in regularly, without being overbearing.
All in all, I’d definitely go back for a drink or two, not so much for the food. Meat/burger lovers might disagree. It promises to be a fun night out.
For now though I do think the hype is all about the name, we’ll see how this plays out over the next 6month or so.

 

 

Opt for a seat on the patio, the music inside grows louder as the evening sky grows darker, until your ears almost start to zing.

 

Until we eat again...

Casparus, Stellenbosch – Just because you can, doesn’t mean you have to…

The chef of the restaurant was one of the first professionally trained chefs, all the way from Belgium, in South Africa and produced amazing food in the heydays.

He then disappeared from the food scene for a couple of years – in which the Cape winelands grew to be THE destination for decadent dining.

Situated in an art gallery in Dorp street in Stellenbosch, it look intriguing and contemporary. The menu and combinations are set-out to match this vibe.

Some odd combinations which one would easily have gagged about a couple of years back, are now as common as bread and butter, and you struggle to think of a time when you would not want salted chocolate, chocolate and chilly, strawberry’s with balsamic and black pepper, or even fillet with a chocolate sauce.

Ethienne Bonthuys is riding on this wave, but taking it to extremes – and unfortunately he’s crashing into a boulder with most of his weird combinations.

 

The signature dish is calamari with oxtail…I saw that face-pulling action going on just now, and rightly so. It tastes exactly as it sound – and even worse if the calamari is underdone, which it was when we dined there. Another 2 of the most bizarre combinations – Kingklip with a dark red wine and balsamic sauce; and then it’s counter – Fillet with a fishy/prawn white wine sauce? In both cases it was commented that the sauces were really nice – but did not fit with the protein at all, these two should have been swapped around and he would have had a winner.  Fortunately I am a vegetarian and had the privilege not to taste these extremely peculiar combinations.

I had a stuffed giant mushroom (and I was a happy camper seeing this on the menu as this is one of my favourite things). In all honesty I was not aware that it was possible to do a bad job at stuffing a mushroom. Some spinach, pine-nuts and goat-cheese should be one of the most elementary things, apparently not.

 

Dessert is probably my favourite part of a meal, but after the meal itself, we were all so put off that we skipped dessert and coffee.
(You’ll notice that I do not even have pictures – which is a very rare occasion for me not to take pictures of the lovely food everyone is eating.)

 

The setting is creative and unusually inspiring, unlike the food.
The service, or rather lack thereof is rather shocking, and super slow. On the evening we dined there, only one waiter was to be seen for the entire restaurant, albeit only 2 tables had patrons. Which confuses me even more – if this restaurant and food is all that and a bag of chips, why only 2 tables booked on a weekend evening? And how is it possible that the waiter struggles so with serving these two tables?

 

My advice ( to the chef and his combo’s, as well as the unsuspecting patrons) – just because you can, doesn’t mean you have to.

There are so many gorgeous restaurants in this area that leave you desiring to go back for more – do not waste your time at Casparus.

 

Happy Monday, I wish you all a lovely week.
Until we eat again…

Crepisimo, Arequipa – Paper thin crepes oozing with flavour

If you have read a couple of my post on this blog, it is easy to spot that I love a bit of good French food. Crepes are the ultimate street food of French, and when made properly these delicate creations are marvellous.

On my 2 most recent trips to Paris I was utterly disappointed that it was so difficult to find a street vendor of café with a proper freshly baked crepe – mostly the batter was too think, and they were pre-baked and cold.

I could not in my wildest dreams think that I would find a prefect crepe in the middle of a small Peruvian town named Arequipa.

Situated at the entrance of the Alliance Francaise, this 10 table restaurant and bar – with an astounding selection of beers from across the globe is the epitome of excitement. People queue and comeback and queue and sit and eat at the bar. Incredible how such a small amount of people can create such a vibe.

Lovely selection of fillings for the crepes, and you can also create your own should you wish to do so. For the more health conscious they offer a brown batter on any savoury crepes, which is made from a Quinoa type of grain – this brown batter is bursting with flavour and a wonderful alternative to the classic white batter.

For dessert crepes in Peru, they have created their own signature – Dulce de Quinoa, and what a signature this is!

The best way I can think of explaining this, is something between a rice pudding and sweet risotto, delightful and sinfully sweet with the texture of the Quinoa.

The prices are extremely reasonable, service quick – not a lot of English, but they try very hard to assist where they can. And luckily pointing at the Spanish translation on the menu is really not difficult.

Aaah, the nostalgia is taking over and I’m salivating just think of these heavenly mouthfuls.

(PS - we dined here 3 times...twice for dinner, and once for lunch, yummy everytime!)

Until we eat again...

The Foodbarn, Noordhoek - Real Food, Simply Delicious

Take a drive along the coast of the Cape, and take a turn to Noodhoek, just off the street you’ll find the vibey Noodhoek Village that offers a pub, some touristy shops, swings and playthings for little children on the grass lawn and an old hotel. Look to your right, there you’ll see a sign above a door, reading The Foodbarn. Walk towards it. Step through the door.

Once inside you are swept away by the serene all white innards of this building, with just little touches of blue to remind you that you are in fact not lost in the arctic snow. Bliss.

Simplicity is key with décor, and to a certain extent with the food as well, even though you’ll never know as Franck Dangereux manages to conjure the most define and powerful flavours out of any ingredient. A true artist who can make 6 ingredients taste like 16. Perhaps this is the freshness of the ingredients, or just his sheer brilliance in the kitchen? Who knows! I think it might be the combination of the two that gives your palate the buzz.

We were presented with dazzling Springtime menu, filled with choices and flavours that makes you want to be a glut, and order for 2...

A lovely wine list (which is to be expected when dining in the Cape) as well as a selection of local craft beers. The service is efficient, personal and friendly, without being familiar and having you feel like you should pull up an extra chair. Extremely helpful and knows the dishes off by heart.

 

Usually I’d now proceed on dissecting what was eaten and what the menu offered – today however, I’ll rather just give you the menu and photos of the delicious and beautiful food, as we were 5 people, all ordering starters, mains and desserts, so it might take a while.

 What I can and will say, is that no-one had an inkling of unhappiness about any bite of food they took. No surprize really, as it is Franck’s restaurant. I would have liked more than one goats cheese fritter as a starter though – very small portion, but I was slightly starry eyed at the spring risotto, which very rarely happens to me when eating risotto (or any pasta). Food is plated elegantly without being over the top or disguising what exactly it is that you’re eating – what you see is what you get, just with much more flavour and perfection than you could imagine.

 

 I expected a little more from the dessert menu, nothing really drew me... but the Pear tart Tatin was the perfect end to the meal.

 

When I’m in Cape Town again, I’ll gladly drive around the coast to enjoy the beautiful view, on my way to The Foodbarn.

***Note – you’ll definitely have to book in advance!!

 

Until we eat again…

Dukes Burgers, Greenside - More than a mouthfull

I have been a big fan of Dukes Burgers in Greenside since this quaint restaurant’s opening – the fact that I knew the chef at that time might have something to do with this  . However, after this chef took flight, the food and quality stayed the same offering luscious gourmet burgers with a selection of sides.

In my never ending search for new restaurants, I had to take some time away from Dukes, and have not been there for at least 7 months. The craving spoke, and I had to answer, so I kidnapped a friend new to JHB for lunch today.

As a vegetarian I was happy to see that all the wide variety of meat-free burger were still available.  We opted for the Lady Marmalade (rosemary roasted butternut and halumi with red onion marmalade) and the Mushroom Mafia (grilled mushroom steak and avo) as these have always been my favourites.

The Lady Marmalade had an entire butternut (true story) on the bun – perhaps a little overkill, one can only eat so much butternut!! And the Mushroom Mafia changed from being 2 beautiful juicy mushroom steaks to chopped up creamy button mushrooms, which takes away much of the gorgeous mushroom flavor that put this on my favourite burger list. However, the service is still friendly and the ambiance great as well as the choice of side accompanying the burgers.  They also offer a good variety of nice wines by the glass.