.: Lunch at Oak Valley's The Melting Pot

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

After our visit to the Hemel and Aarde,

we booked to have lunch at The Melting Pot on Oak Valley Wine Estate on our way home

It was such a successful visit that, as we were going to be in Elgin for the Open Garden's weekend,

we immediately made another reservation

As they are now on the list as one of the Eat Out best restaurants to visit in the winelands,

we wanted to show you the delightful food we enjoyed

You may sit around the pool, but not dive in...

Chef Patron John van Zyl

We so enjoyed the two Oak Valley Chardonnays that we paired with the first meal

Beneath the Clouds is golden on the nose, with lots of stone fruit on the nose and palate,

with zingy acidity; a lovely full, satisfying wine

The 2022 Groenberg Chardonnay is elegant, very French in style,

crisp with long flavours of lemon and lime with a helping of chalk, so special

Followed by their two exceptional Pinot Noirs

The 2022 Sound of Silence has a hint of woodsmoke

with lovely raspberry and cherry fruit which follows through on the rich palate with layers of berry fruit and warmth

The Groenberg 2021 Pinot is elegant with strawberry and raspberry fruit

Some chalky tannins on the palate, good red berry and black cherry fruit, length and depth

The food is served tapas style and the portions are generous, certainly enough for two to share

The plump and juicy mussels float on a large slice of sourdough bread

in a cream, fennel and white wine sauce, topped with a shredded fennel salad

On the second visit we had a bottle of The Fountain of Youth Sauvignon Blanc,

a wine we often have at home which goes so well with this sort of food

This is the delicious and generous mezze board with plenty to dip and share

Great farm olives, hummus, aubergine salad, labneh and tabbouleh, served with soft pita breads

This we had to repeat - the best chicken liver pâté we have eaten in a long time,

topped with butter and served with a dark onion relish

Perfection. It comes with bread to share.

And really divine pork potstickers in a spicy and warm chilli sauce

We made two converts of our guests who now cannot wait to try these Chinese dumplings again

You will need to make a reservation; the restaurant is becoming very popular. https://www.themeltingpotct.com/menus

The first receipt; the second was paid for by our companion
And yes, we did order two portions of the potstickers

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Wednesday, November 22, 2023