A la Bouffe, Linden – Fair, not fabulous French

First things first – the name does not mean “of the beef”, “from the beef” or “at the beef” – basically nothing to do with beef.

Directly translated it means “In the Food”.

I am a huge fan of le Julia Child, and I am not afraid to admit it. Frankly, I think anyone who claims to love food, or be in the know of food, should be a fan of this marvellous woman, the mother of French Cuisine. If you do not know who Julia Child is – I am shocked and appalled! Stop reading immediately, and go and repent yourself.

If you know who Julia Child is, because “..oh isn’t it that lady in the Meryl Streep movie?” – I am still disgusted, but at least you have a slight idea. (Now finish reading this, then go Google le woman, ok?)

Getting back to business, Julia is the ultimate non-French French chef, possibly better than most French folk alive today. The chef at A la Bouffe is apparently le proper Frenchie, so one’s expectations are high…

 

Le Good:

Simple open space, with minimal décor. I liked this less is more vibe.

Le menu is small, basically 5 of everything, starters, salads, mains and desserts. Keeps it light, and you know the chances of you getting re-heated pre-prepped frozen dishes, are slim. This is the opposite of the Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none approach, as it should be.

A good variety of all proteins available throughout all the courses.

Friendly French-speaking waiters. If you are not speaking le French, don’t worry, they do speak English as well, this is a nice touch.

Le Food, or le bouffe, is fresh and yummy. Authentic French…hmm, well this is debatable. There are some dishes, which are traditional in a sense, and then there are some which have a traditional name, but not prepared in the traditional way. All in all, the food is fair.

 

Le Bad:

Even though le waiters are friendly, the service is not sufficient. We had to stand up and look for our waiter more than once throughout the evening. The restaurant was not completely full, yet the barman had to double as the waiter. Perhaps look at employing an extra waiter.

Unfortunately the vegetarian choices are very disappointing, no veggie main? Tsk tsk tsk … in this day and age, it is simply not acceptable to not have vegetarian dishes on your menu. Have at least one option per course. Especially for a French restaurant, there are many lovely options to offer, go on, show-off your skills a bit. A salad simply does not cut it, I can make a salad myself which is much more satisfying.

 
 

 

Le Ugly:

The portion sizes are rather small (possibly in true French style – but we are in Africa after all). More veggies with the protein would be nice, and some mash! Where is a portion of golden delightful buttery mash?

Nothing horrible here that I can classify under the ugly category – instead I will mention a couple of unknown and pleasant surprises.

 

Le Lovely:

We went here for a birthday dinner, and I made mention of this toward the end of the evening to our waiter, during chatting to him about the ordering of le Bubbly. We did not order dessert, but as a surprise, the birthday girl received an extremely generous portion of chocolate mousse (with a candle atop!), enough for the table to share. Not only was this a lovely gesture, but the mousse was delicious and decadent.

 

Le Tips:

- Make a booking, just to be sure – even though I think the hype around La Bouffe has passed.

- I would avoid A la Bouffe for Sunday lunch, as they offer a standard Sunday roast. To me, this is a no-no, I want options and choice. There are many people who do enjoy a buffet-style Sunday roast, I am not one of them.

 

All in all, it was enjoyable and pleasant. Not quite the menu and food I would expect from a proper French chef though. I would go back, hoping that they have more veggie options, and an extra waiter or two.

 

Happy Wednesday dears!

Halfway to the weekend, hang in there.

 

Until we eat again…

Makaron at Majeka House, Stellenbosch – Delectable and darn good-looking!

I’ve dined at most of the best and renowned restaurants in Cape Town and Stellenbosch, and have never come across this gem, never even heard of them, until September that is, and what an absolute pleasure it was!

The Good:

Everything!

The setting is beautiful and modern, the staff is friendly and service prompt without being invasive. Great location, as Makaron is situated in the Majeka House in the beautiful Stellenbosch. I was pleasantly surprised, wowed actually at the immense style this restaurant depicts from the get-go.

 

Extensive and exciting wine list, we had the Catherine Marshall Pinot-Noir which was enchanting ( the sommelier thought this very amusing and coincidental upon discovering that I am a vegetarian, as Catherine is a vegetarian, and therefore her wines are all vegetarian…) Fun fact.

The amuse-bouche was delightful and beautiful, followed by a surprise course of the chef’s play on a pink-vienna dish, which she cleverly turned into a mouse, and served in a tin. Such a fun idea to proof that her favourite child-time food ( the vienna) could be so much more, and could be served in a 5 star restaurant. I had the pleasure of sampling the Ancient Grains, delicious!!

 

We did not order starters, which I am truly haunted by to this day – having known then what I knew know, I would have ordered a full 3 courses, even if it meant having to force-feed myself like a foie-grass duck!

Mains were a winner all around, plated to perfection with delicate details. There is no doubt that this young chef does every single this with love, care and passion. I had the Roast Butternut Cannelloni, it was to die for! Definitely the best pasta and/or butternut dish to have every graced my taste buds.

 

 

Desserts were great too, and very creative – but comparing desserts to amuse-bouche/second course and mains, the first bunch comes out on top. And then, just to make you wonder again, there is a wooden chest filled with ice, and different flavoured bite-sized ice-cream sandwiches… I mean really, what more do you want? This is perfection!

 

The Bad:

Hold on to your seats – I have nothing to say here. This might be a first.

The Ugly:

And here it is for a second time – nothing, yes, absolutely nothing.

 

Tips:
Book a table here NOW. Go, on treat yourself!

Do not eat lunch before dining here, if you are going for lunch, skip breakfast. In fact, just starve yourself for a good 24 hours. The food is amazing and inspired, and you’d want to be able to eat as much of it as possible.

Now I can safely say that this is by far one of the best dining experiences I’ve had, in my life. And I can vouch for this, by letting you in on a secret: we had a gorgeous and big lunch the afternoon before our dinner here, and were stuffed (hence not ordering starters). And even with the feeling of not knowing how we would feasibly eat one more morsel of food – we devoured every single plate! Even with all the extras. Everything was just so darn delectable and good-looking that you could not possibly say no.

I’m salivating as I think back on this lovely experience.

And in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger – “I’ll be back”.

One more day ‘till weekend, you can do this.

Until we eat again…

Tokara Restaurant, Stellenbosch – Famed Mediocrity

On a recent culinary adventure, eating our way through Cape Town, we had dinner at Tokara.

This was our first time, and we were very excited as this was a nominee for one of the Top 10 restaurants in South Africa… I’ll give you the outcome of the nomination at the end of this post, for now, let me get started.

The Good:

The setting is beautiful, overlooking the lush green vines with a crackling fire giving a prefect ambience in dining room. Friendly and informed waiters, who are able to provide clarity on any aspect of the menu and its intricate dishes.

The menu is well balanced, and makes you salivate just by reading the descriptions of the dishes. Even for me as a vegetarian, I had difficulty deciding what to choose (this happens on very rare occasions).

The Bad:

Food arrived, looking gorgeous, but the taste unfortunately did not live up to the description or look.

Starters all around were pretty good, but nothing that made your taste buds dance, or which you’ll remember a week later.

Mains were disappointing all over, and the portion sizes very stingy! Some main portions were literally smaller than the starters.

Dessert was a disaster! I think this is where one should keep the “less is more” rule in-mind. It was just too many elements, of miniscule proportions, that just did not work together. And I’m still confused about the sickly-sweet the meringue shards featured on all of the desserts?

 

The Ugly:

No bad attitude or bad service, and again the ambience is lovely.

Look, I’m not saying it was horribly disastrous, but disappointing, definitely yes.

Tips:

All in all, I think the Deli at Tokara (aptly named DeliCat ) is a much better bet, for a lovely lunch among the striking scenery.

Compared to most other highly rated restaurants ( especially in Cape Town), I do not think that Tokara was a deserving nominee for the Top 10, and it seems that my instincts were right, as this restaurant did not make the cut onto the final Top 10.

Happy Monday ( and last month of work left for 2014, for most)

Until we eat again...

Perron, Illovo Junction - Meh...Mexican

This little restaurant has created such a hype since opening; it’s literally been on everyone’s lips (so to speak).  I set out to investigate with the help of some friends for a Book club evening, I was also doing sober September at that time, so therefore I know my opinion is definitely not influenced by anything else than my 5 senses.

The good:

Great ambience, colourful with a touch of Mexico, without being over the top. We were seated immediately, and a friendly waiter over second later.  Prices are very reasonable.

The barman has a heavy had when it comes to cocktails, and this might fall in the good or bad category depending on personal taste; and if you like drinking clean rum on the rocks. My virgin mojito won the cocktail round…

The menu has a fair variety of salads and nibbles - the jalapeño poppers were yummy, and probably the most generous portion of Gauc I’ve ever seen served with nachos. Followed by mains, consisting of about 12 bundled groups of fresh ingredients to stuff your quesadillas and taco’s with, but in all honesty a burrito is a burrito is a burrito (which, for those of you who don’t know, is in essence actually a soft version of a taco).

The bad:  

Portion size – all the portions are extremely small, and this explains the reasonable prices… I do not mind ordering tapas style and sharing at all, I rather fancy it, as you get to taste a lot more than one or two dishes. And this is exactly what you get, a taste that is all.

I’m trying to think really hard of any place where I have seen smaller mains, but nothing comes to mind. For example I have never been able to eat a quesadilla by myself ( thank heavens for that! ) and I don’t advise you to try this at home – but here, I could have easily put away 3 full ones, and probably still have space for dessert, keeping in mind that this is after having had little nibbles to start. Think of a normal tramezzini – now downscale by about a quarter of the size, and there you have the size of Perron’s quesadillas.

Flavour wise, I expected more, a lot more. Mushroom, spicy re-fried beans, lamb? Who knows.

Service - our friendly waiter was very attentive for the first 15min, and then went MIA.

The ugly: 

Nothing much to say here. Nothing horrifyingly bad, unfortunately also nothing exceptionally good.  Just, well average. A Mexican native might spit some Tequila in Perron's eye... 

Tips: 

Go here for a first date – heavy handed cocktails, small portions and not expensive, everyone wins. Avoid if you are hungry, or looking for authentic spicy Mexican food.  The hype? I don’t get it.  It is possible that the locals are just so happy that the previous old fart of a restaurant closed down.

I’ll go to Perron again, perhaps on a Saturday afternoon for a boozy lunch with and jugs of margaritas. 

Happy hump-day!

Until we eat again...

Scusi Bistro Parkview, Revisited - Too much of a good thing

As Shakespeare once wrote, too much of a good thing can be bad.

It saddens me to have to write a bad review about a restaurant I previously wrote a very good one about. But I hope this shows that I am here to be objective. If your food or services goes downhill, I feel it my duty to report on this; similarly, if your food and service improves, and you impress me, I will give credit where credit is due. Like the Magical Sitar in Moulin Rouge, I too, only speak the truth. And let it be known, neither me, nor any of my party on this occasion were fussy eaters.

I previously dinned at Scusi and was absolutely delighted to have come across this little gem; therefore it was a no-brainer to select this quaint little bistro a stone through away from the Alliance Francaise for our girl’s dinner.

 

The good:

Still a lovely ambiance, and the friendly service; unfortunately that was about it. I played it safe with a tomato tart for starter and Mushroom Risotto for main, which where both decent.

 

The bad:

There were only 2 specials available, both for main course; and both big cuts of red meat.

The other 2 ladies ordered the grilled Halloumi for starter, and neither of them could eat even 2 of the fingers on the board. I had a taste, and can honestly say that this is the saltiest halloumi I have ever stated in my life, in fact, not only was the saltiest halloumi, it was the saltiest anything I have ever tasted. I am pretty sure this is what it is like to lick a salt-lick.

A Scusi salad – looking delectable on the menu, turned out to be a mountain of mixed leafs (thank heavens for the mixed leafs, it could have been worse and just been Iceberg lettuce…), 4 slithers of Avo, 4 quarters of raw semi pickled artichokes (literally inedible) and a couple of shaving of parmesan cheese. Tisk tisk tisk.

The piece de resistance, pan-seared beef fillet with mushroom risotto. The “meat” on this plate was so pale that we were convinced that this might be pork; we asked the waiter if he was sure they did not by mistake provide pork? He advised that this was in-fact beef, and that the reason for it being as pale as a ghost is the method of pan searing… Now I know I no longer eat meat, but even I could see that there was something drastically wrong with this meat.

A medium-rare beef fillet, no matter the method of cooking should have a dark golden, almost trickle like colour to it, and should be very pink in the middle, no?  My friend who was the unfortunate one with this on her plate confirmed that this does not taste like meat at all, or at best like a piece of meat that has been washed, and scrubbed, repeatedly, to rid it of any blood or meaty taste. Or perhaps it was just a very anaemic cow.

After having discussed this with the waiter, and having taken a bite of the cardboard, she advised the waiter that it really tastes worse than it looks, and just not like fillet, or any kind of meat for that matter. The waiter advised the manager, who came along, and after a 5 min long explanation, he offered to give her one of the other cuts of meat that is on special. She declined and ordered a burger instead.

The burger was nothing to write home about, but at least edible, accompanied by the most tasteless mushroom sauce. I think mushrooms around the world would be offended, and bow their head in shame.

The ugly:

Not too much to say here, it was actually nice that they did not charge us for the paper-mâché “fillet”. But a little annoying that we were asked three times why we were not taking the half burger as a take-away, and if we were sure that are you sure that it was just okay? Yes we were.

Come on guys – to mess up a salad and a burger? That takes a special kind of apathy towards your food.

All in all, 2 out of 6 meals were acceptable. This is not a good rating.

I won’t go back here soon. I might give them another try in summer – when there might be (one can only hope) a new menu.

Happy Monday!

Until we eat again…