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…

La Mouette, Sea-point Cape Town - Crouching delight hidden potential

On a very popular website where people from all walks of life, all around the world are encouraged to jot down their experience at hotels, restaurants and things to do in different cities; is where we found this restaurant rated as one of the best in Cape Town, in Sea Point specifically.

Tucked away just one street from the beautiful beach ( what a pity not to have a sea view).

La Mouette is situated in a lovely old 1920/30’s style house with gorgeous wooden floors.

The Good: Menu. Service. Presentation. Ambiance. Price.

This is a lovely restaurant with an amazing menu, and very reasonably prices – it is clear that this is not yet aimed at tourists coming to Cape Town with Euro’s Dollar or the mighty Pound.

It was difficult to choose, as the courses and descriptions all sounded delectable.

The meal started with oven-fresh breads that melted in the mouth and awoke the appetite, with home-made butter and mushroom mousse.

I had a Pea Soup with Goat’s Cheese Croquettes and balsamic jelly to start – it look gorgeous, and tasted great, a lovely light soup. 

We also had the Cheese and Truffle croquettes, which were to die for! These little heavenly balls are extremely rich, too much for one person to devour (luckily), so we all got a taste. 

The rest of the table opted for the Crispy Pork Cheeks, and apparently it lived up to the expectation and reputation, I’m sure I heard some silent whoops going around…This proved to be the dish of the day.

Mains, where unfortunately, much less impressive than the starters. My Butternut risotto was yummy, the caramelised hazelnuts added an unexpected texture and flavour. 

The rest of the table opted for the following dishes: Bhaji spiced crispy hake – presentation was beautiful, but not a lot of crush in the crispy batter, and no detection of the Bhaji spice, no other spice or seasoning at all for that matter. Beef sirloin – this was cooked well, but the trimmings where a let-down and the star of the dish – Parmesan and Truffle sauce was almost undetectable.

Lastly the Pulled Crispy Lamb, in contrast to the pork cheeks, this was the disappointment of the day. Huge portion, the lamb formed into croquettes which in not what you expect when ordering pulled protein – it could have been anything really. If I have to give credit to this dish, it would be on the dryness, it has to be an art to get anything this dry. I have never seen someone struggle to swallow (what is supposed to be melt-in-your-mouth tender) meat as much as this day.

The Bad: Lack of sauce. Dessert.

This a classic case where the food stated out great, exceeding expectation, and then went downhill from there.

On all the main meals, sauces are served individually with each plate, graciously poured over your food by the friendly waiter. Unfortunately there is not a lot of pouring going around. It’s literally a serving spoonful of sauce, 15ml max. Now that’s just mean.

On the website mentioned earlier in this post, the Rhubarb Crumble is praised to the heavens, so this was an obvious choice. 

The Hot Chocolate description on the menu is quite an eye catcher, and a Lemon Poppy Seed cake, a classic favourite.

The results were disappointing and mediocre to say the least. And the Hot Chocolate dessert was in-fact not a dessert at all, but a cup full of shop-bought powdered drink… uhm…? What?

The Ugly: 

If you offer a dish with a sauce (especially an amazing sounding sauce) then please add the sauce to the dish. Bring it separately, that’s fine, but please bring more than a taste full.

Do not mess with classic dished such Pulled Lamb, or a gorgeous Crumble – don’t “fix” it if it ain’t broke.

 

As previously stated, the service falls under the good category, and I will point this out even more, as it was my brother’s birthday, and they made him a little tasting plate of all the desserts, even though he didn’t order any dessert. A lovely touch. (Pitty is was a tasting plate of the underwhelming dessert, and not the delicious starters).

In conclusion – this is a nice restaurant to go for a light lunch maybe – have 2 starters, 3 even. If you have mains, insist on extra sauce if you want to live, and give the desserts a miss, have a glass of bubbly instead. A charming place with lots of potential.

Happy Monday!

Until we eat again…

DW eleven-thirteen - gorgeous gastronomy, Dunkeld JHB

If you are a foodie and have dreamed about Heston Blumenthal kind of food - then DW is definately the place for you. Magical plates of flavours and textures to excite all your sences.

This is one of my favourite restaurants in JHB, well in South Africa actually, and has been for a couple of years. We have been lucky to dine here since they first open their doors, and have become regulars at this modern restaurant. Why have I not written down my comments about this little gem? I have been waiting for the right opportunity, and I think it is here.

The clean green and white interior with simple lines, and stand-out metal focus points is the perfect setting for the gorgeous gastronomic wonders that appear on your plate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Service is prompt, professional and friendly. Atmosphere is sophisticated and slick. Menu has a wonderfully diverse variety, and changes seasonally (or a bit more often, but always using fresh seasonal ingredients).  Yes, the prices are a bit pricey – but also keep in mind that you are not dining at your local steakhouse when at DW, you get what you pay for, and perhaps even a little bit more…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The chef (Marthinus Ferreira) has succeeded in exceeding my expectation yet again.  His a master at what he does, with beautiful flavour combinations; sometimes classics, sometimes daringly different – but always exciting and spectacular.

Be assured that you’ll never find something ordinary on your plate, even if it might sound ordinary on the menu, like a tomato soup for instance, will arrive with a touch of theatre and self-engineered droplets of “caviar” topped with flavoured foam.

 

Marthinus will always come out and greet his patrons, it is evident in all he does that food is his passion, and he goes to great lengths to show this in every bite on every plate. Presentation is always amazing, and he ensures that you indulge all your senses when dining here.

As a chef he is not the biggest fan of vegetarians, but will always create a beautiful vegetable plate for you, which is done with careful precision, and bursting with flavour.

I could go on for hours about the food, flavours, combinations, textures and tastes – but I think it will be best to just show you a glimpse of the glorious plates and you can decide for yourself.

This is a world class restaurant, not to be missed.

( Oh - and do not forget to make a booking in advance!)

 

Salivating just looking at these pictures....

 

Happy Monday,

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…