1001 Dinners 1001 Nights

The Potsticker (Caulfield North) 01/2012

2012-01-24T22:51:00.011+11:00

*Click on pictures to enlarge.
The corner of Hawthorn and Inkerman Rd. has been the kiss of death for restaurant after restaurant. Lone Star, Millers, Scherazade and several others have failed to thrive here but The Potsticker, still showing signs of Chinese New Year, was close to full on Tuesday night when we dropped in. It offers Cantonese style food and has a reasonable wine list or accepts BYO. Some one with a bit of flair has redesigned the interior by making bar style seating around a large rectangular elevated shallow pool surrounded by 20 seats in the middle of the room. This very decorative area, partly curtained off from the rest of the room, turns what used to be a barn like space into an attractive and practical dining area. Here decked out for New Year.This bit was left intact for the last two proprietors.Led by Eric Wong, former owner of Cina, we were shown to a seat by floor staff wearing loosely knotted narrow ties glistening with shiny metallic sequins. The menu offers several banquets as well as the regular a la carte dishes and we chose the $65 deluxe banquette.
It started with a very good sea food san chao bao, followed by a second entree of dumplings, like Shanghai dumplings these potstickers had retained a little soup within the pastry packets. Very nice. We swapped the spicy prawns for battered prawns with a sweet sour sauce served in a separate bowl to keep the batter crisp. The sauce had a good balance between sweet and tart, a very good dish though could have done with a little more. Two pieces of duck breast, presented as Peking duck followed. The pancakes were not quite as fine as they might have been, but better than most and the duck was not thinly sliced. I suspect it was just roast duck rather than the traditional Peking duck. We enjoyed it regardless. Continuing to avoid the hot dishes we swapped the chicken on the menu for chicken with cashews. This was a simple, standard, Cantonese dish, served with fried rice. Mongolian beef with bok choy was the last main course before the dessert. Comparisons, the saying goes, are odious but I have to say the generally much more expensive restaurant that we ate at a couple of days ago served a much less aesthetically pleasing rendition of this dish though they both tasted good. Dessert was a slightly over gelatinized mango pudding. We returned a few days later and had some more very good dishes. Substantial crabs claws ($8) were good starters. A plate of mixed mushrooms ($20) was excellent although the tofu was over baked and a bit tough. Silken tofu would have been better. A whole barramundi ($30) was quite small but a very fine fish with gentle white flesh which we all enjoyed. Sweet and sour prawns were exactly like those we had at the banquet. If they continue to serve good food at reasonable prices The Potsticker has lasting properties at this normally unpopular site.

Score 14.5/20

Davids (Prahran) 01/2012

2012-01-23T21:26:00.010+11:00

*Click on any photograph to enlarge it.
David's has long been an AGF one hat restaurant, featuring an emphasis on the curative properties of their various teas. It's Chinese New Year. The year of the Dragon is upon us so we're going to have a seven course banquet ($65 pp only $6 more than their usual major banquet. The place is packed and noisy. Since we were last here they have added more tables to the front of the place and removed the stands of teas. They've also added some new decoration along the wall.
Service is a little slow with the large crowd but after a one hour lag from when we arrived until the second course dishes appeared at a reasonable rate.
Shredded duck meat soup infused with mushroom and bamboo shoots perfectly described this dark and satisfying soup. Shanghai garlic pork ribs which were actually dried pork chops coated in bread crumbs and garlic, there were however no bones, seemed a very un Chinese dish. It was quite pleasant and could have been served in a Mediterranean restaurant anywhere. Peking duck, supposedly thinly sliced roast duck meat in a home made pancake with cucumber, spring onion and special plum sauce was a poor effort. The duck was a thick slice of breast and the pancake quite thick. It was presented wrapped and ready to eat. My duck had a little plum sauce, far to little, at the bottom of the pancake and the cucumber and spring onion were lost with the thick piece of duck breast. Lobster with XO chili sauce was overcooked and the lobster meat was quite tough. I'm unimpressed with strong sauces and delicate sea food but on this occasion it hardly mattered as the over cooked lobster had lost any delicacy.
Sauteed rockling with Chinese rice wine and woodear fungus served with steamed rice was a complete contrast to the lobster. A beautiful dish worthy of David's reputation. Mandarin steak, diced eye fillet with Mandarin sauce and seasonal Chinese vegetables came with David's fried rice. A good dish but the presentation with large Bok Choy on the plate adjacent to the small diced beef jarred aesthetically with me. Fried rice was excellent, which it almost always is at any Chinese restaurant. Red bean pancake with ice cream was a pleasant end to a very patchy meal.One hat restaurants don't always live up to their reputation.
Score 13.75/20

Terrace Bistro Bar (Prahran) 01/2012

2012-01-23T21:17:00.002+11:00

We came to this cafe restaurant as a result of what seemed like an irresistible offer from Groupon, a company that send me a barrage of offers from companies willing to supply discounted services for almost anything.from exfoliating socks to wire screen doors It's the food offers that interest me. This one came up as too good to believe.
The Terrace Bistro Bar

Meat and Seafood Platter for Four People Plus One Bottle of Wine
Voucher value: $265.00
Voucher code: 16/5748 Security Code: 65AD1380A1
Valid from 20.01.2012 to 20.05.2012
REF: 715929436
The merchant: The Terrace Bistro Bar
162-164 Commercial Road, 3181 Prahran, Tel. (03) 9098 1155
http://www.terracebistro.com.au, Opening times: Mon-Sun: 7am-late
Fine print
Purchase multiple vouchers, 2 vouchers per table, Subject to availability, 48-hour cancellation policy or
voucher is void, How to Redeem, Valid from 20 Jan 2012, Valid to 20 Apr 2012, Phone to book: (03) 9098
1155, Present voucher on arrival.
The photo reproduced above just looked like a promotional cafe picture but in fact it was the $265 dinner for four.
It consisted of the following seafood: A couple of slices of smoked salmon, a few lightly crumbed calamari rings on a bed of dandelions and three or four salmon croquettes which tasted more like potato than anything else. The meat was three bland small meatballs, two tiny pieces of pork belly, not at all crisp and three or four slender slices of sausage in a tomato sauce. In addition there were a couple of slices of fried egg plant and a corn fritter with a spicy avocado paste on top. They also served some very nice bread. At most restaurants each of these serves would be described as a taste and would not be more than a maximum of $9 and possibly as little as $5 or $6 at a cafeteria like this. Call it what you like it was no more than a meal for two people. Everything had to be cut into four making each thing only a mouth full. The wine was the best part of the meal and that was nothing special.Before we were served, and not knowing what was coming, we asked that the dishes be served separately rather than all at once. That's fine our waitress said. a few minutes later the two platter arrived. We were astonished. the person who seemed to be in charge was totally inflexible. That's how we serve it and that's what you get - you saw the picture!!! Yep, just like the photo.Even if you take off $20 for the wine, I saw it on line for $18.95 a bottle, that leaves $245 or say $120 for each platter so this was $120!From the restaurants point of view I think this represents a sad misjudgement. They probably pay Groupon at least $20 Their wine probably cost about $15 preparing and serving the meal must have cost at least $30 so they are making no money and may even be losing on the whole thing. As a promotion it is worse than doing nothing because, not only would we never go there again we naturally relate this misadventure to all our friends.
Three tiny meat balls for four people, don't make me laugh. Two miniature pieces of pork belly, oh come on. $265 for these two little platters and a $20 bottle of wine, hysterical. The whole thing amounted to a snack. I could have eaten the lot all by myself and what's worse the food was poorly seasoned and had NOTHING to recommend it to us. We left to go and get something to eat.Score: 12.5/20

Fitzrovia (St.Kilda) 01/2012

2012-01-20T10:58:00.010+11:00

*Click on pic's to enlarge.

I sometimes look at reviews on sites like UrbanSpoon to see what people are saying. Generally there is a fair consistency with an occasional extreme view. Fitzrovia proved to be an exception with plenty of strong opinions both in favour of and detesting the place. This is not just the case of an off night but goes well beyond that. We have friends who love the place so we decided to see for our selves.
It's fairly undistinguished as a venue in what was once an Edwardian house still showing signs of it's vintage with some stain glass and attractive pressed steel ceilings. At the end of the eating area there is a completely open kitchen where the chefs can be seen at work. Head chef, Paul, came over and introduced himself to us. Before long an amuse bouche of battered fish fingers in newspaper paper cones arrived, reminiscent of the fish and chips we used to get wrapped in newspaper. Loved them as a kid and still do. These were beaut. They offer appetizers and entrees and we started with the latter. Smoked pork hock and confit of duck terrine with home made piccadili, which seemed to be some sort of corn but I do not know what it actually was, and crisp bread ($17) was up to expectation without being exceptional. Stuffed zucchini flowers were also quite nice again not exceptional. Our friends had a pomegranate salad and a pea soup both of which they enjoyed. So far so good. Unfortunately we struck out with the mains. A line caught flathead for two ($60) sonded great. It came with chips which were shaped like railway sleepers and would have been OK had they not been covered in salt. Chef Paul was only to happy to replace them with a less salty version. The flathead was a bit of a disaster. Caked with salt and herbs we both found it inedible, Sandra felt it had removed a layer of mucosa from her palate! A fillet of snapper was much better as was a duck breast. The best thing on the menu was a chocolate tart but that came to late to save the night.We drank a pleasant French Chablis ($70) but I would have been happy with a local wine at half the price. Certainly the food was not amazing and we would not be rushing back. The cooking was far to heavy handed in the use of seasoning.
Score 13.5/20

Bamboo Room (Balaclava) 01/2012

2012-01-18T22:50:00.007+11:00

Balaclava Rd is an area full of character with a great variety of shops catering particularly for an ethnic mix of Russians, middle Europeans and established Australians. There is a thriving coffee culture and a good variety of restaurants. Not long ago one that I especially liked, Wallah, closed. It has reopened with new tenants as a refurbished Chinese restaurant. Previously Chef Tina and front of house man, Danny, had this as a 23 seat restaurant in Collingwood. They've now finding their feet in an entirely different environment and in a much larger venue. It's a different sort of community and tastes are different too but they are serving food which has a lot to be said for it anywhere. The menu is not large but it has good variety.
We started with home-made chicken dumpling. There is a choice of chicken, beef, pork, prawn or veg (steamed or fried) black vinegar, sesame, chilli oil, garlic, coriander sauce (10pcs) $10.00. There are dumplings and dumplings. Most look good but the combination of really good pastry, well balanced and tasty flavours with the freshest of ingredients is hard to come by. Here they got it just right. A second entree, smoked salmon tart with avocado, radish, sriracha, ginger and soy dressing (4pcs) (gf) came in pretty little gold plated pots. We had ours without the sriracha which is a hot Thai chili sauce. This made it a little bland but their freshness and textures shone through.Bamboo room crispy pork loin in sweet sour sauce, chicken breast was an option, shredded bamboo shoot, ginger, spring onion, picked carrot, coriander (gf) $21.00 was a great surprise. The sauce was light with just the right level of sweetness and tartness, the pork, in a genuinely crispy butter, a delight and it was a good size serve too. A great dish. Braised whole New Zealand flounder spring onion, garlic, ginger and soy dressing ($28.5)turned out to be a HUGE New Zealand sole. I had ordered flounder and was disappointed to be served this fish which is only like flounder in shape but the flesh is quite different, being coarser and less delicate in taste. We managed less than half of it but were pleased to take the rest home. To end on a sweet note we had green tea crepe and guava ice cream ($11.50) This interesting dessert had the crepes stuffed with bean paste which worked well. The restaurant is clean and attractive, serves are large and very tasty. Chairs comfortable so it is nice to spend time eating there however the service left something to be desired. It was exceptionally slow because everything was cooked from scratch and not pre prepared. Our waitress was pleasant but clueless. She took a seat at the table with us to explain some of the items on the menu which I can not recall ever happening before.
They are awaiting a license but accept BYO with corkage $3.
Not expensive, at 302 Balaclava Rd., this is another fine addition to the street.
Score 14.75/20

Flinders Hotel (Flinder) 01/2012

2012-01-12T16:09:00.010+11:00

* To view enlarged pic's click on the photograph.
This refurbished country hotel is reinventing itself as a premier country gastro-pub importing highly regarded chef Pierre Khoja, formerly from Canvas, in Hawthorn. The place has been renovated and looks the part and they are currently building motel style accommodation adjacent to the hotel. The place is very attractive and so is the menu and the offerings look good. They have several eating areas. The most formal is Terminus which has a covered veranda area which is less formal than the inside dining area. There is a more casual separate eating space called the deck. Superb hot bread rolls came with olive oil and a herb butter.
We started with Flinders tomatoes and avocado salad with gaspachio dressing which was lovely and a stuffed quail. The quail, with cinnamon and buttermilk gnocchi and dried grape jus was quite substantial but too well cooked and over seasoned resulting in it being too dry and too salty.Eye fillet was attractively presented but was surprisingly tough and far from blue as it had been ordered. They did offer us another piece of meat but we decided against it and it was, generously, removed from the bill. Rabbit, with scampi, replaced here by a prawn, and foie gras dumpling, tiny little ones but they tasted great, was also quite dry, though this is often a feature of this animal. It was beautifully presented with a variety of colourful young vegetables. A side dish of spinach and mushroom bake did not appeal as the spinach was rather tough.The outstanding dish for the meal was, without doubt, the soufflé. It was a long wait but well worth it. Turkish delight with lychee and halva ice cream was mouth watering with contributions from all the elements. Service very pleasant but there was a very long wait between courses. It is hard to be too critical of a restaurant that treats one so very well. We were offered a glass of French champagne on arrival. It was also unexpected and most generous of them to take the steak off the bill.
I do not believe that it is appropriate to do this if the patron simply does not like what they ordered. If the food is not cooked as requested, and agreed to, and the chef offers to redo the dish the situation is not so clear cut but I certainly believe that there is no obligation on the restaurant to foot the bill if the replacement is refused.
In all FH is an extremely attractive venue that is close to being very good.
Score 14/20

Wongs Cafe (Elsternwick) 01'2012

2012-01-12T10:16:00.008+11:00

It's 5 years since we last ate at Wong's which has been completely renovated. They have also added a Japanese component to their menu. Despite the new look, which is clean and attractive with minimal decoration, it is very much the same with the same family running it. Five years ago we found the food very ordinary and it has not improved but it is very inexpensive. Perhaps that is why it was near full. Steamed dumplings were very plain. A soup with pork, chicken, vegetables and noodles looked nice but had little taste ($5.5).
A soup with dumpling, noodles and vegetables also lacked taste, a dollp of soy sauce helped. Sweet and sour prawns with pastry and vegetables was awful ($15.5). Characterless sweet sauce and over cooked pastry, almost burnt. A chef's special seafood hot pot with mixed sea food and vegetables cooked in a hot pot ($16.5) was, I'm told subtly flavoured. This I interpret here as more bland food. The best dish was beef with cashews and vegetables ($11.30) but it was very disappointing from a gastronomic point of view.
Fully licenced for BYO wine, corkage is $2!
They have several inexpensive banquets.
Service is erratic with some staff having difficulty with English
Score 13/20

The Livingstone Room (Victoria Falls Hotel) Zimbabwe 12/2011

2012-01-08T00:41:00.008+11:00

“Mr Livingstone I presume” is probably the most famous greeting ever recorded. It was that of Stanley Morton when he came across Reverend David Livingstone, who had not been heard of for 5 years, in the jungle in Africa. The Livingstone room is a grand dining room in the Victoria Falls Hotel. The hotel was built about 150 years ago and has hosted Queen Mary, who was Queen Elizabeth’s grandmother and King George as well as Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret when they were teenagers. It is a fabulous building set in magnificent grounds only a kilometer or two from Victoria Falls, one of the most impressive waterfalls in the world. With the accompaniment of gentle live piano music we enjoyed one of the best meals we had in Southern Africa, Zimbabwe to be precise. The meal began with a cream of parsnip soup with basil cream cheese was rich and creamy, a voluptuous start. A semi dried balsamic cherry tomato and feta cheese salad with organic basil and coriander, cashew nuts, cucumber, pumpkin seed and caper oil came next. They grow a lot of herbs in garden beds around their courtyard ponds so they don’t need to go far for organic herbs. Aged Zimbabwean beef fillet with comfit potatoes, oyster mushrooms, spinach, horseradish crust and bacon jus. I could not have wanted a better piece of meat and thoroughly enjoyed the accompaniments. Chocolate filled doughnuts with cappuccino ice cream could have had a bit more chocolate filling but I’m not complaining. Coffee and petit fours, Chocolate parfait balls completed a meal that I would have enjoyed anywhere. Sandra had a pan fried Zambesi bream with comfit potatoes, oyster mushrooms, spinach and Holllandaise sauce which she did not care for.

Twenty Israeli Restaurants

2012-01-06T23:24:00.012+11:00

Abu Shakri
Old City humus hotspot
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/abu-shukri-old-city-jerusalem-122011.htm

Alma
Jerusalem hole in the wall with good food
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/alma-jerusalem-122011.html

Arcadia
Modern organic forager in great old building
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/arcadia-jerusalem-122011.html

C2 Bar Restaurant
Business lunch or romantic evening wit great views over Tel Aviv
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/11/c2-bar-restaurant-tel-aviv-112011.html

Catit
Quality in every way, for the well heeled
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/catit-tel-aviv-122011.html

Checkpoint Charlie
South East Asian influenced suburban restaurant
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/checkpoint-charly-yehud-112011.html

Derby Bar
Fish specialist on the marina
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/11/derby-bar-herzylia-marina-112011.html

Etzel Turkit Restaurant
Turkish in name but very Israeli
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/etzel-turkit-restaurant-or-yehud.html

Eucalytus
Biblical food with flair and some theatre. A ton of food
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/eucalyptus-jerusalem.html

Goocha
Crustaceans served with appropriate equipment
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/11/goocha-tel-aviv-112011.html

Goshen
Kosher meat specialist
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/goshen-tel-aviv-122011.html

Hafinjan
Morroccan style noted for bone soup
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/hafinjan-jerusalem-112011.html

Khader's
Armenian pizza's and sweets.
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/khaders-old-city-jerusalem-122011.html

La Regence
Fine food in a historic hotel overlooking the Old City
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/la-regence-king-david-hotel-jerusalem.html

Little Tiberius
Great foie gras and excellent pasta
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/little-tiberias-tiberias-122011.html

Manta Ray
Stylish sea food venue
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/11/manta-ray-tel-aviv-112011.html

Mehane Yehouda
Hot spot for the under 30's. Pretentious food.
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/mehane-yehouda-jerusalem-122011.html

Mul Yam
Lobster specialists. Elegant venue with prices to match
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/mul-yam-tel-aviv-122011.html

Nof Harcarmel
Druze restaurant worth a visit
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/nof-hacarmel-usfiya-122011.html

Samarkand
Grandma's Israeli influenced Bokharan home cooking
http://1001dinners.blogspot.com/2011/12/samarkand-or-yehud-122011.html

Basiea (Soweto) 11/2011

2012-01-06T08:21:00.005+11:00

SOuth WEst Town is the possible origin of this town which has been in the news so much over the massacre of youngsters demonstrating against being forced to take their classes in Afrikaans that it is known through out the world. It is the area to which Johannesburg blacks were sent to when they were forcibly evicted from their homes when apartheid was introduced into South Africa. It’s a name that one associates with Nelson Mandella or Hector Pietersen rather than restaurants but it is now a huge thriving place with millions of residents. We were fortunate to enjoy a taste of Soweto, in Soweto by Sowetans. Basiea is a modest size place with indoor and out door dining areas mostly catering for groups with Afrocentric buffet meals which cost from $15 to $20/ person. We have had quite a lot of buffet meals in Africa and, although they often look quite similar, they vary greatly in the quality and tastes of the dishes. This was particularly enjoyable because the food was cooked well with good products and good seasoning. The food was laid out on a side table, here is a small part of the salads before they were unveiled. One dish that is common throughout Africa, with great variation, is known as pap. It has many other names in other parts of Africa and many presentations. It is made from white corn or maize, which can be ground to a powder and cooked like rice, it can be made like polenta or served like porridge. It can have vegetables added to it, or meat too and it can be served as a dessert with a sweet syrup. Here it was served with beans as a stew as it was here and also as plain cooked powdered corn which could be eaten a bit like mashed potato adding other curries or stews from the buffet for flavour.. This sort of porridge, with beans is the form that sustained Mandela as he grew up and which he still loves. The corn provided carbohydrate and the beans provided protein. We ate pap at several African meals and found it the best here. My plate here has on it clockwise from the chicken leg, beetroot, simple white pap, garden salad, lamb stew, bean and maize pap and beef stew without the sauce to give some idea of what the food looked like. The remainder of the buffet was typical with salads and meat stews finishing with an excellent dessert of apple pie, jelly and custard

The family that own Basiea do the cooking and help with service. They are very happy to talk about the ways that their food is prepared and sat and chatted with us which added an extra dimension to the meal. Mum is the chef and Dad works in the front of the house.

A simple home style African meal that was tasty and enjoyable from the first mouthful to the last.

Saxon (Johannesburg) 11/2011

2012-01-01T22:39:00.010+11:00

Described as the best boutique hotel in the world this is a most extraordinary place. Formerly a private home, in which Nelson Mandella resided for some months after his release from 27 years in jail, regaining his health and completing his book The Long Walk to Freedom. Some time later the owner decided to turn his house into a hotel and restaurant. In 2001 it was regarded as the finest boutique hotel in the world. It is set in 10 acres of garden, guarded by two enormous wooden doors with two uniformed security officers in attendance. After providing your name and details of your reservation these giant doors slide aside to allow entry to our chauffeur driven limousine. It takes a few more minutes to arrive at the entrance to the building where more staff greet us and show us into a very large foyer. Two staircases encircle a chandelier meeting in a balcony at the top. The whole room is decorated with traditional African fertility symbols. We pass beneath this to a bar area which also accommodates a pianist before entering the main dining area. This very large area, which used to be an indoor swimming pool has large well spaced, double clothed, tables with very good quality cutlery and glassware. Service is impeccable. A very well informed somellieur has a 40 page wine list with a selection of European and New world wines as well as many South African ones from which to choose. The menu comes with a philosophy. Their kitchen id designed to provide inspiration for innovative ideas for delectable dishes and unexpected combinations of tastes and textures using contemporary and classical techniques with ingredients, grown with integrity, sourced from ‘passionate purveyors’ By international standards prices are extremely low. The least expensive wine, by the glass, is less than $5! This one cost a a little more.The menu is similarly inexpensive. Starters are expensive by South African standards but for international travelers they are quite bearable at about $20 to $25. Mains are around $30. The meal started with a choice of breads served with a garlic butter, olive oil or a paste made from peppers which was worth bottling, followed by an amuse bouche, a small glass of herb flavoured soup. We were curious about their oysters ($2.5ea). They are farmed and very similar to medium size Pacific oysters retaining the taste of the sea. I had a scallop Carpaccio with caviar and fine chives and toast points which was a super way to serve this delicate shellfish. The scallop had been chopped fine but still had plenty of texture and body to it and the caviar and chives were not only decorative but also added to it by their contrasting, but not overwhelming flavour. Sandra had a goat’s cheese tortellini, veal sweetbread, crispy pancetta and truffled potato puree entrée in which she expected more tortellini and less sweetbread. It looked good and I thought it tasted good too but she was less impressed. The sweetbread had been well prepared being tender with no chewy fibres. Mains were rather ordinary. My roasted sea bream thyme jus, sautéed porcini and tomato, asparagus and king oyster mushrooms was more cooked than I would have liked despite my request that it be minimally roasted. The asparagus accompanying it were also a little over cooked and sagged on my fork. I did not have the heart to return the dish, which I might have done had it not been so late. If one has a very fresh piece of fish it should be a simple matter to cook it.

Sandra’s fillet of beef ‘rossini’, mushroom duxcelle, seared foie gras and wilted baby spinach was also medium rare when she requested it blue. It’s strange that one can, to coin a pun, get a steak like this so rarely! It was an extremely good piece of meat and the foie gras was superb. It melted in the mouth. Of course it is almost pure fat. We added a side of spinach in butterwhich was stringy and very tough.The cheeses on offer were uninspiring. South African brie and camembert have been disappointing and Pont le Vec is very ordinary. We settled for a couple of desserts. Peach snow egg, peach granite and peach fool was quite a nice dessert but very very sweet, a hot hazel nut soufflé turned out to be quite raw in the centre. They offered to replace it but by now we were ready to go.

Although it was one of the best meals we had in South Africa I only wish the food had been better because everything else was faultless. The décor and decoration in the adjacent lounges and bars is worthy of a museum.

A female symbolFertility symbols

A male symbol

Score: 14/20