Friday, December 10, 2021

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 19. Robertson - Marbrin Olives

Our visit in Robertson had been so kindly and efficiently organised for us by Rene at Robertson Tourism
even though she was about to go on leave. We are very thankful to her indeed

Marbrin Olive Farm is in the Klaasvoogds area. It was on our list to visit and it happened to be the first place we found
on our way to check in to our overnight accommodation
It is down a rather bumpy farm road, but the main building is set in a lovely verdant garden

Inside, we met Briony Coetsee, who owns Marbrin with her partner, Clive Heymans. She told us that they worked in London previously, at some of the top restaurants, before returning to South Africa. He was a chef and Briony told us that she is a sommelier. She took us through a tasting of their olives, oils and other products, then had to leave to collect her child from school. We explained that we had both done olive oil courses with Linda Costa, had participated in many industry tastings on olive farms and had sold only SA Olive products in our shop, so we did not need her to explain the process of making the olives and the oil. The oils were good, lots of purity of flavour and you could taste the different characteristics and age. We realised that we already know the infused oils; we use the Fennel flavoured olive oil, which we bought at Woolworths. They are worth trying. The Dill would be great with fish, gravadlax, peas & broad beans, The Coriander seed oil with boerewors and Asian food. The Fennel is great on pork, tomatoes and fish. They have a flavoured Truffle oil. The Chilli oil has a slow burn. The bottled Mission olives are big, salty and juicy, with a bite of expected olive bitterness. The two pestos were good

Some of the range for tasting

The price list

Extra Virgin Olive oil for tasting. These are two different pressings, one early, one later in the season

They have won several awards

which are displayed on the wall behind the tasting desk

A grumpy Clive Heymans came to take over, but we found his attitude rather off-putting, especially when he discovered that we were doing a story about Marbrin. In fact, he was downright rude, so we tasted just two pestos and then left. He said that, usually when he spends his time with “Bloggers”, they only write one line about them! Believe us, we were tempted. Not the best way to get publicity for your products. We know, we used to sell things like this in our shop, where we also won awards, but we welcomed everyone

Beautiful views of the mountains in the distance looking over the olive groves

With just harvested cornfields in the middle distance

So, off to lunch and a tasting with Johann de Wet at De Wetshof (Click Here)

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Posted by MENU at 6:16 pm 2 comments

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 17. Belvidere Manor, Knysna

If there is a place where one can slow down, destress and enjoy the beautiful scenery, it has to be Knysna
We had not been for seven years, so it was a definite stop on our journey
And what a treat to stay for two nights at beautiful Belvidere Manor Hotel, hosted by our friends Sue and Mike Mills

It is a really special resort at the inland end of the Knysna Lagoon, with superb views

and the view across the lawn and the swimming pool is of the whole Knysna Lagoon;
you can see right down to the Knysna Heads

Our lovely cottage is splendid, so comfortable, spacious and well designed, it has two large bedrooms, two bathrooms, a huge sitting room, kitchen and an outside veranda with table and chairs. The perfect place for a long stay. The cottages are serviced. There are several cottages on either side of the vast lawn with the main house at the top, which is where you have breakfast. Some are privately owned and available for rent when the owners are not there. One or two are permanently occupied. We would love to live somewhere like this, if we weren’t happy in our Sea Point home

They had left us some welcoming treats to enjoy. Those brownies are A–ma-zing!

A lovely welcoming note too

The fully equipped kitchen

The very comfortable lounge

A fire, Satellite TV and a table and chairs for meals or computers!

A large and very comfortable bedroom with a huge bed. The linen and towels are of high quality

and the other bedroom has single beds. Each has its own bathroom

The view from the stoep

The main building, where you go for breakfast; in good weather it is served on the terrace

There are also apartments at the back of the main building, and some can cater for larger groups

Our kind hosts Sue and Mike Mills had invited us to join them for supper in the Bell, their pub restaurant
next to the Manor and we had a suitably libacious evening with very good food

This is the menu where they list the Covid protocols

and the food

The thirsty 'lads' began with some draught Devil's Peak IPA, served in a Mitchell’s glass

Souvenirs left by the many foreign visitors

Mike Mills and one of the wines we sampled that night, Rijk's Touch 2018 Pinotage from Tulbagh
- some from our cellar and some from Mike's

John enjoyed his usual choice of a huge Hamburger with very crisp chips,

Mike a Chicken and Mushroom pot pie



and Lynne ordered the Spiced Calamari with a salad, just right, she had been longing for some seafood and this really delivered, although she was tempted by the beer battered Hake and Chips. We were, after all, now back by the sea
We also had a Peter Bayly Sauvignon Blanc

Sue had the Mussels in cider with smoky bacon and crusty bread, which looked superb

Then at 11 we headed back to the cottage and bed
It was a very crisp night and we were thankful for the heater and the electric blanket
It was a very peaceful night and we slept very well; it must be the sea air and the very comfortable bed
Oh, that view

Next morning, we walked up to the main building for breakfast on the terrace

We were given a delicious plate of pawpaw, ruby grapefruit, green melon, ham,
brie, blue cheese and cheddar to begin with, and we ordered our coffee and green tea

There are some great choices on the menu. John had scrambled eggs, a very good pork sausage,
4 rashers of bacon and fried tomato
We were so impressed with the eggs, they were expertly seasoned
and they put a little cream into the mix when cooking them;
it does make such a difference

and Lynne had scrambled egg, topped with smoked salmon on a muffin

Toast and marmalade followed and then it was time to take a walk and explore the Belvidere grounds
before we went off to see some of Knysna

An indigenous watsonia

The gardens are beautifully planted

They have their own jetty where you can tie up your boat if you bring one. We walked down to see it
The wind was blowing quite a stiff breeze, good for sailing on the lagoon
We chatted to the fisherman seated there, and no, he hadn’t caught anything yet
Then back through the lovely Belvidere gardens

Some rowing boats waiting to rise with the incoming tide

The town of Knysna seems to have grown and become much busier, but still has the same good atmosphere
It was nearly spring tide, so the lagoon was filling up nicely

In the evening, we stayed in the cottage as we had to repack the car for the next leg of the journey. We had to be up early the next morning for the drive to Robertson, where we had a mid-morning appointment. We had a quiet and early night in and didn’t need supper as we find two meals a day now are perfectly adequate. The kitchen had generously provided us with some sandwiches and fruit to eat in the morning, as we were leaving before they began to serve breakfast. We were sad to leave this lovely place, where we feel so at home





Posted by MENU at 5:51 pm 0 comments
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