Les Delices de France – authentic French in the most unlikely place

Let me start off by saying that I do not have anything against the Westrand, in fact, I grew up and went to school here; but in all honesty this is not the hub for nice restaurants. This is definitely not where you will find a sophisticated charming place to dine… except for this one.

What a spot of luck to stumble upon this delightful authentic French restaurant on the corner of Gordon and Keith Rd.

A house that has been renovated into a spacious and plain restaurant – no frills no fuss. The same approach is used in the food, no frills no fuss, just delicious French cooking.

 I had the French onion soup, and I stand to reason that this is a soup that would have warmed the heart of the legendary Julia Child ( and any Parisian for that matter), and a lovely goats cheese salad.







The non-veggies indulged in the likes of pan seared foie-gras  on an apple puree, an amazingly flavourful lobster bisque, Kinglip (if I remember correctly), saffron seafood curry and duck breast.

 

 

Desserts – usually my highlight to a meal, were all perfection. A passion fruit crème brulee with a perfectly golden paper-thin burned sugar topping – just the way it should be; an individual baked pear tartlet on-top of a silky thin custard, and a lovely light slice of Opera cake, and let it be known that I am not fond of cake, but this one I will gladly eat again.

 

 

The owners are the chef and his wife – all the way from France, which you cannot miss with their beautiful rich French ascent. She runs the front of house, and he obviously the kitchen.

They’re friendly and willing and prepare wonderful food. They also host food and wine paring evening at a very reasonable price.

A nice variety on the menu, and from what I can tell, changes monthly or so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prices are not sky-high, but definitely a little higher that what you would find at your local Westrand steak house, and thank heavens for that!  I do however feel that for them to fully benefit and have an overflowing restaurant the location is not ideal. I’m taking this as a blessing in disguise though, as prices might have been double and portions perhaps half if this was situated in the popular dining cove of 4^th Ave Parkhurst.

Do not miss this little pocket of Paris, in the heart of JHB suburbia.

Bon appetite!
Until we eat again…

India Palace, Weltevreden Park - Warm and inviting

On this cold and drizzly summers day (??) I would like to do 2 things – 1) Be dressed much more appropriately for winter, whilst cuddling under a huge fluffy duvet and watch movies, Masterchef Aus marathon, or an entire season of Grey’s…

2). Indulge in wonderfully warm feel good food, that makes you want more. I’m think along the lines of proper Indian.

 My favourite is Karma in Greenside, but recently I have been introduced to a charming slice of India, in a nook at the Palms Centre in Weltevreden Park. Yes – the centre is slightly suspect, but most things in Weltevreden Park are, but once inside India Palace you’ll not even notice the fake palm tree trying to disguise a signal pole or the KFC drive-through.

A lovely little restaurant with a warm interior and extremely friendly authentic Indian staff who make you feel right at home.

Whenever I dine at a restaurant of a different culture, my key is took look at the owner, chef and people who work there – if they are authentic, chances are the food will be too, which means you’ve got gold!

 A fair selection of wine, at a very reasonable price, and delightful warming dishes for all meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. What makes any Indian dish even better? Naan!! India Palace has a nice variety of naan breads and roti’s to select, to enhance the indulgence of your meal.

Crispy, non-oil dripping vegetable Pakoras and onion Bhaji with a spicy minty sauce is the perfect way to wake those taste buds for the love that is to come. The portions are very generous, definitely to share, and all appetisers for under R20.00!

Most people order Dahl as a side dish – but here, I had the black Dahl as my meal, and cleaned the little brass pot with naan to get every last bit of flavour.

The Korma is packed with flavour and ingredients, loads of different veggies, or juicy bite sized chunks of meat. At a glance and a smell the butter chicken look rich creamy sauce without the luminescent guava pink colour to it ( in my eyes, that is a bonus) which means only one thing – the colour comes from the proper ingredients used, and not from a little Moir’s bottle.

What I don’t like – the mountains of basmati rice that come standard with any order…rather give me Naan, or a choice of rice or naan. The massas of rice just goes to waste.

" I like rice. Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2000 of something."

                                                                                                                   - Mitch Hedberg

I think I might need a take away to calm my nerves after the storm that is to come. Keep warm, and your cars covered!

 

Happy Friday! Until we eat again…

 

The Red Chamber, Hyde Park - Tantalising authentic Chinese cusine

When you think of Chinese food, do you get an image of deep-fried balls/strips of what is supposed to be chicken, but could in fact be any form of animal protein (know as well as unknown to man), drenched in that sickly sweet pink sweet-and-sour sauce, accompanied by enough rice to feed a family of 6?
You have that picture in your mind, and feeling slightly uncomfortable and nauseated? Aha, yes – we all do, and if you don’t, you are in need of some culinary education.

Today I will tell you where to go to have anything but the above mentioned.
The Red Chamber.

Owned by a Chinese lady who has been running this authentic restaurant for almost 30 odd years, speaking a very good English but still with a heavy Chinese accent – you know you’ve hit the jackpot.

Dark wood with accents of bamboo to break the lighting on the sides of the restaurant, and proper chopsticks (well not the R0.50 wooden ones that splinter in your mouth) no silverware present on the tables – this is the real deal.

Armed with a delicious and curios array of dishes, lamb, duck, chicken, pork, seafood and of course vegetables, you’ll take a couple of moments to decide what to take and what to leave; who you can persuade to take the second dish you would like to try, doing so with the “sharing is caring” motto.

If all else fails and you still want to order food that might feed and army, ask the extremely helpful waiters or owner, who will tell you what the specials are, the most popular dishes as well as how they can change the dish you want to enhance your experience.

Big juicy spring rolls, packed with veggies and flavour, not transforming paper to translucent with oil, and a spring onion think-crust pastry is always the way to start, you  will not regret this, served with a soy, ginger, chilli dipping sauce - what an outright delight!

The portions are very generous, and ideal to share, especially if you are planning to indulge in starters and mains. However, I do not see the problem with a little take-away snack for late night nibbles.

An easy spotted favourite – or easy heard favourite is most definitely the sizzling duck, beef or kingklip with garlic and chilli. The sizzling and smokingly hot plates are delivered to tables all around with great fascination and delightful aroma. A little bit of theatre at the table.

What I love is that you order your own rice or noodles - as much or as little as you like, one portion of noodles is usually enough for 3. Waste not want not.

(I do suggest an ice-cold Chinese beer rather than wine to compliment the flavours).

This is without any doubt my favourite and most authentic Chinese restaurant in all of Africa (and other countries, perhaps maybe even China).

Tantalising tastes and wonderful flavour combinations guaranteed in this humble little place.

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. ~Luciano Pavarotti

Untill we eat again…