Friday, March 24, 2023

Meerendal's new La Romantica Restaurant

We were invited by Meerendal Wine Estate owner Herman Coertze
to the opening of La Romantica, a new Italian themed restaurant at Meerendal
Durbanville is a great food and wine area; they believe in generous piled-high plates for reasonable money
and they produce excellent wines
It took us only half an hour to get to Meerendal on the farming outskirts of Durbanville,
driving down one of the most spectacular roads through the wheat lands and vineyards, the Vissershok Road off the N7

The old restaurant area has been opened up and has such good space, both here and in other areas, and outdoors
It also looks to be a good space for special functions
The farm produces excellent award-winning wines, has a boutique hotel
and also focuses on events, weddings and conferences
For the energetic and athletic, they offer 5 km, 7 km or 9 km running, cycling and BTB trails
through the Meerendal vineyards,
offering spectacular views along the way. Now you can enjoy a reviving meal after your exercise

Chef Adrian Cook is in charge in the large kitchen

The restaurant has three different menus, all available on their website https://laromantica.co.za/menu/
One for Breakfast, Mains and one for Bambinos! - as well as a very comprehensive wine and drinks menu
All the dishes we were served were mini taster versions of the full-size dishes on the menu
and they do have a date night special

Plenty of friendly waiting staff, who helped us find a table as more and more guests arrived

and the mini bites of the food began to arrive almost immediately
This was a tender, moist and flavourful lamb kofta on a stick, dipped in Tzatziki

A Margarita pizza topped with slices of fresh avocado was superb
The crust is thin and very crisp and the topping was the classic that one expects
One to order and share, definitely. They also have a vegan option with vegan cheese

Tiny Caprese salads on a stick, mozzarella, tomato and basil with basil pesto dressing, were also much enjoyed

and this dish of Penne pasta in a Creamy Brandy Flambéed Bacon, Mushroom & Parmesan Sauce

was one of the best dishes we tried. Definitely one to return for, to enjoy a larger portion, with good crisp bacon,
creamy sauce and lots of good parmesan cheese. The pasta is your choice: Linguine, penne or tagliatelle

The Hamburger fans amongst us were very impressed by the texture, flavour, sauce and layers of these mini hamburgers
There are several choices on the menu


This dish, "Steak a la Romantica", of rare sirloin on a bed of linguine was very much enjoyed,
the good quality of the meat being remarked on

Tiny arancini rice balls 

We were able to try the organic Meerendal wines with the food and also could enjoy two cocktails
This is the one Lynne chose, a favourite Tanqueray Seville Orange gin
The other was made with Red Bull and vodka. They have an extensive bar

Small spinach and feta lasagnes much appreciated by the vegetarians

Tara looked after our needs very well

Lynne and Esme Erasmus of TygerBurger chatting to Chef about the food and the plans he has

Many people were arriving; all the tables filled up quickly

A treat was to see General Manager and Cellarmaster Wade Roger-Lund
Wade won the Young Winemaker of the year award in 2017 (we were there to help him celebrate!)
and has gone on to have a stellar career in wine. He was previously at Jordan wine estate
Wade is converting all the vineyards to organic status

Deep fried hake in batter with matchstick chips

Esme having a laugh with restaurant owner Benjamin Lazarus
He told us that they do hope to franchise La Romantica to other venues in the Cape

The crew we spent the afternoon chatting to:
La Romantic restaurant owner, Benjamin Lazarus, Meerendal owner Herman Coertze, Chef Adrian Cook,
Meerendal Marketing manager Benny Howard and Cellarmaster/GM Wade Roger-Lund

Another round of that marvellous Penne. We also had samples of the delicious pork belly

We sampled two of the desserts, a very creamy unset 'crème brulée' topped with shards of caramel
and a killer chocolate ganache, another definite to return for

Another area of the restaurant, one with views across the vines and valley

and outside on the terrace

Everyone was enjoying the evening, despite a bit of a breeze

Autumn vines on Meerendal with the Stellenbosch mountains in the far distance

The restaurant from the lawn
Thank you all at Meerendal and La Romantica restaurant for a great experience

We drove back on the Contermanskloof road, which winds its way through the wheat lands,
now all fallow after the summer, past the cement factory and had a terrific view of Table Mountain,
which we had never seen from this angle with so much  swirling cloud cover 

The city and mountain covered in the roiling cloud, suggesting we might have some welcome rain. And we did
Meerendal is only half an hour from the centre of Cape Town
The cattle were grazing on the shorn wheat fields

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