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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