We love good food; it is a passion, so we follow all the top restaurants on social media
Reading their menus is a guilty pleasure, and we admire the awards they garner, if we think they deserve them!
We also find following food trends interesting.
We have a background in food having run a successful business selling unusual ingredients and fine wine
and Lynne is a passionate cook who has a very wide repertoire
However life on a pension does not make for regular visits,
so we have respect for top restaurants who offer winter specials for the locals each year
This means we can at least sample one or two of our favourites
While we write about food, we do not get invited to complimentary meals
FYN in Parliament Square is run by very talented chef Peter Templehoff and his excellent staff
and, this year, it moved from 90 to 60 on the list of 100 Best restaurants in the world
Fyn is running a season of winter specials and as it is one of our favourites we grabbed this with both hands,
found the money and booked for lunch. We certainly were in need of a cheer up this year
The entrance on Parliament Street
There is paid garage parking right opposite which the restaurant can book for you
Lovely fresh arrangements of proteas
Bonsai spekbooms on every table
Fine glassware and an Asian style table setting
The food uses fresh local ingredients and "is tempered by the style of contemporary Japanese cuisine"
Something new was poured for us to begin the meal
A complimentary glass each of Japanese sparkling Fukumitsuya Kagetobi Saki
They had a battle to get it into the country and now it is here after some sterling work by their group CEO
The brewery uses only two ingredients: high-quality sake rice from contracted farmers and "Hyakunensui,"
which means one-hundred-year-old water sourced from Mt. Hakusan
The back label, it is only 11% alcohol
It is like a good Cap Classique at first, with a fine crisp mousse, then you get the flavour of toasted rice,
a hint of dry sherry and then a faintly fruity apple and naartjie peel flavour and warm spirit
Really enjoyable served ice cold. It really works as an aperitif
Their wine and drinks list is epic,
they have a seriously good list and we especially liked their perfectly aged selection of older wines
which you can order, at a fair price... Many of which we covet
The By the Glass section suited us this year and we chose a glass each of white wine to start with
We had booked for the Winter Lunch Menu
You need to pay a deposit up front when booking and it is then deducted from your final bill
Sadly needed as some rude guests book five top restaurants,
decide where they are going at the last minute and only turn up at one!
If the restaurant is popular they can fill every seat and do not want "no shows"
The Tsukemono, Onion Kakiaga and Hokkaido milk bun
Van Loggerenberg Trust Your Gut Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc 2022 has smoke,
then richness of ripe golden fruit on the nose which follows through on the palate with lime and lemon zest
Rebel Rebel Colombard from a small single vineyard on Kaapzicht in Stellenbosch
Earthy petrichor on the nose then perfumed apricot and fresh apple peel
Rounded, rich and full on the palate with more ripe cooked apple and lime, it calls for food
They were both good matches for the food that was to follow
Japanese pickles (漬物, tsukemono) are an important part of the Japanese diet,
served with practically every traditional meal alongside rice and miso soup
We were invited to eat them before each course to cleanse our palates
Pickled daikon radish, smoked daikon is very unusual, it looks like a slice of truffle, carrot, cucumber
and a tiny, very sour pickled plum that draws your cheeks in
Very enjoyable as they did indeed enliven the palate
Second course Onion Kakiage, Tentsuya, Ginger Kakiage is tempura vegetables
and Tentsuya is its classic four ingredient dipping sauce: Dashi, Soy, Mirin and sugar
The ginger went in the bottom of the dipping bowl
The super crisp and excellently crunchy tempura onion, sweet potato and spekboom lit our palates
We found the dipping sauce light and therefore it worked very well as a miso soup which we make often
Cheers! Lynne does not like having her photo taken...
but the new hairdo is fabulous
The open kitchen and the industrious chefs preparing everything fresh
The Manager and the waiter Tandeka Taetenda gave us superb service as did all who we came into contact with,
it is seamless service and very professional. That is why they are on the list of the world's top restaurants
Next came the course that everyone was raving about and trending on online food pages
Burnt Mushroom custard with an Oh, so soft Hokkaido milk bun to tear apart and cover with the custard
It comes with a dark caramel burnt sugar crust like a creme brulée
and is creamy, deep and unctuous with lovely mushroom and truffly flavours. Delish
Because John is allergic to mushrooms, he was served a very good subsitute
A red pepper romesco sauce with paprika, pistacio and hazelnut paste
There was a large party at an adjoining table and they were having the full lunch menu
This was their next course. Tuna sashimi, bichotan grilled obsiblue prawn, seaweed salad, pomelo emulsion
The chef carefully carved off each a portion of the very fresh tuna sashimi
and our next course came from the same fish
Very fresh Tuna sashmi checkerboard, squares of raw and seared tuna with a pomelo emulsion to pour over
Chokka (squid) and octopus rice, seaweed salad,
a wild garlic and ink aioli and shards of nori to scatter on the sticky rice which was reminiscent of sushi
We liked the pomelo emulson and cut sections but did miss a bit of umami flavour with the fish
A surprise from the sommelier of a glass each of Thamnus Chardonnay from the Overberg
between Stanford and Caledon made by experienced winemaker PJ Geyer
Tim Atkin scored this highly
He also makes a Pinot Noir. Golden fruit, perfume and smoke on the nose,
wonderfully succulent on the palate, with crisp layers of good fruit
and added to that was also another gift, a surprise and a treat, a course off the main menu,
which sang with the Chardonnay
Perhaps not terribly visually appealing for some,
but when you unwrap the local kelp seaweed foraged by the chef ....
... it reveals pefectly steamed kingklip fillets covered with a flavourful saki espuma with spekboom and spring onion
The very fresh local fish is firm and flakes well, the flavours were excellent
We love eating locally sourced kelp; this lived up to expectations with sea flavours and iodine
A triumph of a course. Thank you chef for the experience
The dish is balanced on hot stones gathered on the beach.
and with the next course which is the main course, a choice of Kock locally made Japanese style steak knives
We could chose which one appealed. Not that they were needed for the very tender Wagu beef
Karoo sourced tender Wagu Beef which was served rare with braised Shiitaki mushrooms,
tiny squares of delicious soft pickled tongue in a rich dark umami dashi sauce, wasabi mustard
and a side serving of Ohitashi mixed vegetables
Lynne would love the tongue as a seperate course and enjoyed the beef
John did not get the shiitaki, instead he was served celeriac
We were now feeling the effects of all the courses and so, after a nice pause, it was time for the dessert
Titled The Honey Guide. A circle of delicious set creme fraiche parfait with the sharp flavour of a lemon posset,
rolled in honeycomb dust, with a lemon gel
It is accompanied by a traditional warm and sticky malva pudding
topped with honey, fresh ginger and rose geranium petals
Applause to the Pastry Chef Ellen Harris
We arrived at 12.30 and left at nearly 5, a long luxurious and extraordinarily good experience
We are saving for next year
Looking from our table over Parliament Square
The talented Pastry Chef Ellen Harris
Marcus van der Spuy, son of Mike van der Spuy, whom many will remember as the owner of Peddlers on the Bend
and other Cape Town restaurants, was one of the very friendly waiting staff
and before you go, rich chocolate Bon Bons on a bed of dried sour figs are another excellent spoil
Fyn is a member of the Relais and Chateaux group
Their other restaurant on the ground floor, Ramenhead. A visit is planned to this soon
The bill
All our stories can be seen in the Blog Archive near the top of the column on the right
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