Posted on: August 23rd, 2009 GSGreenhouse
Our recent visit to the Greenhouse Restaurant at the Cellars-Hohenort Hotel left us very impressed. From start to finish, exceptional service was the order of the evening. The unobtrusive but personal attention from the perfectly-mannered staff was everything you might expect from a 5-star hotel, and by the end of the night, we left feeling like royalty.
Upon our arrival (and after being led to the restaurant by a helpful member of the hotel staff), we decided to relax in the adjoining Martini bar before our meal. Their cocktail menu is currently being verified by the Guiness World Record people as having the largest selection of Martini’s in the world – and it’s an easy claim to believe with 155 choices on the menu. In the end, we settled on two of the more exotic choices – a “San Martini” and a Spicy Cranberry Martini (a delicious cross between a Cosmopolitan and a Bloody Mary). Both arrived in attractive and unusually decorated martini glasses. My only criticism is that the prices were definitely aimed at the international market – between R55 and R90 per drink.
As we relaxed and drank our cocktails, there was no shortage of treats to nibble on. We were served both a tray of bar snacks (cheese sticks, chips, nuts and an excellent olive tapenade) and a selection of canapés – tuna tartare, a white tomato soup and a mushroom-cream pastry.
We elected to enjoy the Greenhouse Restaurants “Winter Warmer Special” for R200 per person, which expires at the end of August. We had two choices for each of the three courses (plus an amuse bouche). For our starters, we both elected to have the Seafood Cerviche – which arrived as a fresh and light salad which remained extremely true to the ingredients – whilst I was initially disappointed, I must admit it grew on me the more I ate. Our mains were, unfortunately, the only disappointing part of the evening. TH’s Yellow-fin Tuna arrived without any dressing of note, and in many ways seemed like a subpar rehash of the starter. My own roast chicken was a little dry and lacking in sophistication – a mushroom sauce on top failed to lift it out of mediocrity.
The remainder of the meal and service were excellent, however. The wine list seemed desperate to exceed even the cocktail menu in length, arriving in a large book with over 450 choices available. The prices were a little higher than average, but there were a large number of reasonable options to suit every budget.
Dessert was a return to form (an Amarula and pear crème brule, and an apple and toffee pudding), and by the end of the meal we both felt quite stuffed – and were surprised by the arrival of a platter of three more sweet treats each. Excess was possibly a feature of the evening – over the course of the meal I counted 8 separate servings of food – enough to leave us feeling like we’d had far more than our money’s worth.
If you have the opportunity, despite the mild disappointment of our main courses I would highly recommend giving the Greenhouse a try.
The Greenhouse / Cellars-Hohenort Hotel / Brommersvlei Road / Constantia / Tel: 021 764 5535 / Email: reservations@collectionmcgrath.com / www.cellars-hohenort.com/greenhouse
Posted on: August 17th, 2009 RLZibaldone
Once, long ago, we journeyed all the way to Durbanville for a then new restaurant named Zibaldone. We had one of the best meals ever. For months, I continued to dream of the Steamed Mussel starter in cream sauce. A sauce so good, that at the time, I drank up every last remaining drop with my fork! And believe me, that wasn’t easy.
Thus, it was with a certain sense of anticipation that we visited Zibaldone once again. Set alongside the water, the restaurant was exactly as I remembered; an oasis of quite, calm elegance with knowledgeable, friendly service, and a full Italian menu.
The mussels were just as good as I remembered, and the other dishes all very good, if not quite living up to the myth in my memory. Never the less, I had a wonderful meal with friends, and greatly enjoyed my experience.
I would definitely recommend that anyone in the area give it a try, and those further afield make the journey at least once. Prices are varied, but for an upmarket restaurant, fairly good. In tough times, you might want to save it for a special occasion, and savour the moment.
Zibaldone Restaurant / Shop 1B / Tygerlake Building / Carl Cronjé Drive / Tygervalley / Tel: 021 914 1771
Okay, technically not a restaurant but over the weekend we visited the Caviar Fine Foods Deli, part of the Caviar Group (Beluga, Sevruga and the “coming soon” Blonde), and were so impressed we felt it deserved mentioning.
The Caviar Fine Foods deli, recently opened in the V&A Waterfront, is the perfect place to go if you’re looking for top class cuts of meat, restaurant quality stocks, professionally made sushi or hard to find cheeses, and so much more. The stuff on the shelves and in the fridges are made in the Caviar Group’s professional kitchens so the quality is that of any of their restaurants.
We brought a 1kg fillet and mushroom sauce and armed with a few helpful tips (some olive oil, rock salt, a few herbs at 160 degrees for 30 minutes for medium-rare) we created a meal everyone raved about. Minimum effort, maximum results… and leftovers!
If you find yourself strolling past, go have a look… you might not buy anything but it’s worth noting what they have for the next time you want to cook a meal everyone will remember.
Caviar Fine Foods / Shop 6201 / V&A Waterfront / Tel: 021 418 0909 / Email: deli@caviar.co.za / www.caviar.co.za
Posted on: August 17th, 2009 BHHaiku
This is not the first time we’ve been to Haiku. The first time we weren’t that impressed, despite the hype and subsequently didn’t return. That was a while ago so we thought we’d better give it another go.
Haiku was the first restaurant specializing in Asian tapas…well, maybe not the first but definitely the first to create a hype. Since opening, Haiku has consistently featured on the Eat Out Top 10 although also receiving consistently bad comments related to service, mediocre food and high prices. So, to set the record straight or at least give our two cents worth;
Here are a few ground rules at Haiku;
1. In peak season, being a small restaurant, they have two sittings
2. They use a star system for their meals (*=R42)
3. There is a minimum charge for lunch (**) and dinners (****)
Right, now that that’s out of the way, let’s move on..
Service seems to be most people’s gripe about Haiku. While we would have agreed based on our first visit, I can happily say that the service the whole night was very attentive, our waiter knew the menu very well and made several good recommendations.
The next big gripe is mediocre food. Considering the size of the menu and the authentic nature of the dishes, I can imagine it can be quite easy to order a number of dishes not to your liking. If you’re a fan of Asian food then almost everything will appeal to you; between the two of us, we managed to polish off 8 dishes.
Third biggest complaint is price and the minimum charge. If you going out for supper at a upmarket location anywhere in Cape Town and expecting to pay less than R160 for food (start & main or main & dessert), you’re deluding yourself. Plainly put, eating out in Cape Town is expensive. Bearing that in mind, Haiku’s minimum charge for a dinner sitting of R168 isn’t out of the ordinary but perhaps should be a consideration if someone suggests Haiku and you’re on a budget.
It should be noted that we’ve reviewed this restaurant in Winter, a tough time for most restaurants, so here’s hoping that they “keep up the good work”.
Haiku / 33 Church Street / City Bowl / Cape Town / Tel: 021 424 700 / Email: haiku@bukhara.co.za / http://bukhara.com/haiku
According to their website, The Roundhouse Restaurant seeks to combine three important elements: expert, detailed service, exquisite cuisine based on seasonal textures and flavours and finally, fine, rare wines from a variety of boutique producers.
Unfortunately, they miss the mark on most of these points.
Although I was very impressed with the incredible phone conversation I had with the hostess while making my reservation, during which she even asked if I had any particular dietary requirements, I found this same level of attentive service stifling during our actual dining experience.
The waitrons were everywhere; talking to you, asking you questions, putting things down, milling about, smiling…. Now, this might sound like perfect service, and believe me, it was far better than a lot of other places I’ve been to, but after they’d asked me for permission to remove my empty glass, my dirty knife and my empty plate as well as followed up on my enjoyment of each and every course, including the amuse bouche and the palate cleanser, I was ready to smack somebody. In my view, the very best service comes when everything gets done without you even noticing the waiters are around. If they need to communicate, sure professionalism is essential, but really; I’m not here to have dinner with the waiters.
Now that my rant regarding that subject is sufficiently tired out, let me say that the cuisine, while beautifully presented, was a little lacking. It was clear that some interesting attempts had been made on the dishes, but somehow it just didn’t come together.
Finally, the wine selection. Yes, it does include some nice selections, but this too was a little disappointing considering the restaurants above mentioned goals.
All of this brings me to price, and I have to say, if I hadn’t been having the winter menu at the special price, I would have been a bit upset. The standard menu is far more costly and simply isn’t worth the higher fee.
What does The Roundhouse have to offer then, you might ask. Well, the service, if a little annoying is efficient, the view is beautiful and the building has a wonderful story behind it, which you can read while enjoying your meal.
The Roundhouse Restaurant / Kloof Road / Camps Bay / Tel: 021 438 4347 / Email: info@theroundhouserestaurant.com / www.theroundhouserestaurant.com
