Wednesday, November 22, 2023

Lunch at Oak Valley's The Melting Pot

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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Posted by MENU at 10:11 am 0 comments

A Hermanus, Hemel en Aarde Weekend

We took a family friend to Hermanus while we were staying in the Hemel and Aarde;
it really should be on all tourists' agendas
It is such a great place to visit and if you are lucky, as we were,
you might spot some whales breaching and flapping their tails in the air


After a short walk in the town, we headed for the sea front. It was a little blowy, but the fresh sea air is such a tonic



Where to have lunch?
We have our favourite places and this time it was to Bientang's Cave
which does really good seafood, and is just above the rocks, close to the sea


On the menu was something which can be a risk, as it is sometimes made from yesterday's left overs
This Seafood Potjie was as fresh as a daisy, in a superbly rich, creamy tomato, saffron and Pernod tasting sauce,
with prawns peeled and whole, mussels, tender calamari and good pieces of fresh fish
Served with rice and a wedge of lemon, it persuaded Dutch guests at the next table to order it
and they enjoyed it as much as we did


A large portion of fresh hake in batter served with crisp chips, lemon and a dipping sauce was also much enjoyed


The Hamburger topped with bacon was also perfect for someone not wanting to eat fish or seafood

You can also do some bird watching from your table, there are many seabirds on the rocks
We delighted in watching these Black Oystercatchers





John managed to catch one feeding its chick hidden in the rocks

The splash in the water as a huge whale lands just after breaching

Then it was time to venture over into the hills to spend two nights in our favourite cottage in the Hemel en Aarde
The road from Hermanus is not open, as it was nearly washed away in the huge October storms
so we travelled on the very well-graded dirt road from Karwyderskraal
The view from Newton Johnson wine estate shows the route the road takes

Luckily, the flood did not reach the cottage we stay in and the views are always so relaxing and rewarding

The cottage has three double bedrooms and three bathrooms,
a large living room, kitchen, internal wood-burning stove and externa1 braai and shower and a dipping pool
You too can book it on AirBnB

We could see the damage on the mountains caused by the storm which caused so many washaways or moraines
There was a downpour of more than 300ml in less than one hour

Sunshine flowers in the garden


We went for a walk around the property and saw the damage caused by the flood
The river had overflowed and taken out the ponds on the grounds, which now have to be remade


Taking with it most of the water and half the land


All the waterlilies and waterblomme are stranded on the mud
We hope that the spring will start running again and the river can be put back within its banks

Such destruction in just less than an hour

Happy moments over the weekend had us watching the exciting final of the Rugby World Cup
and seeing our South African Springboks win the Webb Ellis trophy

and the joy on the faces of the players and our President, although we are not sure why he was there...

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Posted by MENU at 7:17 am 0 comments
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