Wednesday, May 11, 2016

New chef and menu at Mondiall, V&A Waterfront

Patrick Symington is the owner of Mondiall Kitchen and Bar in the Waterfront and he invited us and a few other media people to come and sample the food of his new chef Stephen Mandes, their new Autumn/Winter menu and see their fresh new look. We had a lovely relaxed lunch in this waterside venue with some of the best views in Cape Town
The entrance and front desk on a sunny day
The main restaurant. It has become less industrial, more warm with the wood cladding, bookcases and plants, rugs and fireplaces
Some Champagne riddling boards used as decor. This is the original method of riddling champagne bottles to get the yeast into the neck of the bottle so that it could be removed. Each bottle is turned and raised just a small amount each day
A dividing wall of glass and greenery in the conservatory section
On fine days, the windows slide back to open up the restaurant
The new Autumn/Winter menu, quite varied and concise with a very good varied selection to tempt everyone, including vegetarians and people on gluten free diets. http://www.mondiall.co.za/
We had some lovely wines to accompany lunch
A small sample selection of some of the starters. At the top left, especially if you are Banting or vegetarian - roasted and creamed cauliflower with crisp parmesan tuilles, pesto and sundried tomatoes. Below from the left: A mini version of an almost Waldorf Salad with blue cheese, apple and walnuts on crisp leaves of endive (chicory )[one to return for]; a morsel of the crispy ham hock topped with celeriac remoulade and apple purée - good contrasts; a crisp wonton filled unexpectedly, not with Chinese flavours but with rather plain smoked goats’ cheese and onion; and some classically made shellfish bisque, another favourite
Chef Stephen Mandes, only 28, was chef/proprietor of La Vierge restaurant in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley outside Hermanus for the past year, and winner of ‘Ultimate Braai Master’ Season 3 in 2014 as team Tikka Boys. He started his career at the Cape Grace Hotel, where he worked as Junior Chef de Partie before his appointment as Chef de Partie at the Belmond Mount Nelson, followed by De Grendel Restaurant, where he worked as Junior Sous Chef. In line with the emerging trend of cooking off hot coals, the Mondiall kitchen now boasts two ceramic ‘Green Eggs’
Patrick Symington with PRO Janie van der Spuy and journalist Andrew Donaldson
We were encouraged to order any main course we liked, so there was a wide selection of food that came to the table
Grilled Prawns Peri Peri with polenta chips and a chef's salad. They were in their shells with lots of heads, sweet but messy (as expected), with the spicy but not too hot Peri Peri
Cape Malay Lamb Curry with fragrant rice, sambals and a poppadom
Seared Norwegian Salmon with artichokes, radishes and a chive velouté
The Braised Beef short rib with pickled beetroot, cucumber salad and garlic buttermilk was very popular and reportedly very tender
Grilled Sea Bass, now farmed in Mauritius, served with new potatoes, shaved fennel salad and salsa verde
Dry aged grilled sirloin steak with Béarnaise sauce and parmesan truffle chips
The dessert selection of a blue cheese mousse on a fruit compote accompanied by fruit bread; salted caramel tart; and a mini banana tart tatin with milk ice cream and a maraschino cherry. A delicious lunch
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

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