Jardine at Jordan

We know we have written about eating at Jordan several times, but it is our favourite winelands restaurant. George Jardine’s food is delicious, local and fresh. His presentation is fantastic and we love the relaxed atmosphere of the restaurant, the views 

and Jordan’s great wines to accompany the food. We took our Dutch friends and their Aunt Maureen there for lunch last Thursday and we had a superb time.

It was an end of summer day with a heat haze across the valley, but the temperature at this time of year is very comfortable. The dams in all the areas we have visited are very low and we are all hoping for a wet winter this year. But it has been a fantastic harvest for many of the areas and we are already hearing great reports of superb wine from Gary Jordan and other wine farmers.
Some may produce quite low alcohol wines, as ripening has been slow and steady with good phenolic ripeness but lower sugars than usual, not a bad thing. 

To accompany our starters, we had a bottle of the Outlier Sauvignon blanc and followed it with a bottle of the splendid Prospector Shiraz with the main courses. The rich, classic slab of terrine de campagne is full of flavour and pistachio nuts and is beautifully matched with a honey parsnip puree and tiny squares of sour green apple.

Peter’s starter of Saldanha Mussels en Papillote was full of Asian aromas, flavours and fat, plump green lipped mussels.

A starter of Figs, preserved, fresh and roasted, with deep fried breaded spoonfuls of smoked mascarpone cheese and crisp peppered lavash flatbread was decorated with summer flowers.

All the women chose the Confi’ed and roasted Kroon duck, roasted mushroom, roasted fig and honeyed parsnip puree. The duck was in rare slices, the confit in small croquettes rolled in sesame seeds and the dish was topped with baby leeks and watercress; a small portion but enormously satisfying.
 True to form, the men ordered very tender aged Chalmar Ribeye, served in neat fingers, topped with tempura shimeji mushrooms, roasted broccoli, sesame, onion and a rich soy dressing.
John had it without the mushrooms
Both courses went well with the Shiraz.

Only two could manage the wicked dessert of Vairhona chocolate torte, honeycomb, roasted plum and fig sorbet, the rest of us feasted with our eyes.

And then two people shared a cheese board they had selected from the air-conditioned cheese room, which does hold some really special local cheeses.
Riaan Nel is a very friendly and efficient manager
and the staff reflect this
 Only two of us could manage the wicked dessert of Valrhona chocolate torte, honeycomb, roasted plum and fig sorbet; the rest of us feasted with our eyes.