A birthday lunch at The Table at Oak Valley

We have had some wonderful times at Oak Valley Wine Estate in Elgin,
enjoying their wines and having excellent meals in their classy Poolroom restaurant,
so relaxing with dining indoors or, more appropriately in Summer, around the pool
The theme of the restaurant and its name have changed this year and it is now The Table at Oak Valley,
which is an offshoot of The Table at De Meye in Stellenbosch,
of which we have seen very good reports in the last few years

Our friends from the Netherlands were here and there was a birthday to celebrate,
so Lynne suggested we try the reimagined restaurant
The theme is unique and we quote from their website:
"Leigh and Brendan will bring their renowned set, three-course, sharing-style lunch concept to this new venue,
featuring locally sourced, seasonal ingredients
The rich abundance of produce and local offerings from this region will add new dimensions to the menu"
and its only one hour from Sea Point

Our table by the pool

We had a quick wine tasting at the table to choose the wines we were to have with lunch

and our urbane multilingual waiter Teddy brought us the first course. Service was excellent

Warm, freshly baked ciabatta bread, a garlic aioli, some very good black olives and some piccalilly

and, given our mostly senior ages, an appropriate wine to choose, the Fountain of Youth Sauvignon Blanc
A Platter 4.5 star wine, crisp, aromatic, layers of Sauvignon flavours and so enjoyable with food

For the second course, the 2022 Sound of Silence plush Pinot Noir, grown high up on the slopes of the Groenlandberg

Perfumed and intriguing nose, with a hint of spice, red cherry, black cherry on nose
and then it follows through on the palate
with a bite of chalky tannin, and an immmersion into more dark cherry and cranberry fruit
with some umami and a zing of grapefruit on the end; another food wine 

Please NOTE: the menu changes with the seasons and the weather. This was what we ate on the 16th of March

Voted by some as the best dish of the day, the combination did initially give us pause
Plump new season's black figs baked and surrounded by warm gooey, cheesy Welsh Rarebit
A magic made in heaven and topped with a fresh green leaf salad coated with grated parmesan
It disappeared

Experienced restaurateur Leigh Thorncroft supervises the kitchen and does the menu planning for both restaurants
Her husband Brandon cooks at both restaurants
They alternate their presences at them on alternate days with Leigh at one and Brandon at the other

Succulent roast duck for the two at the table who are not huge lamb fans

But they did sample the lamb; there was plenty and they said it was very good, enough to change their minds

Crisp cos lettuce sections with Green Goddess dressing and some gently pickled red onions

A rich and spicy Aubergine and Chickpea stew, with faint Moroccan tagine notes,

topped with fresh mozzarella and a herb dressing. This was much enjoyed and would be so satisfying for vegetarians

Slow cooked shoulder of lamb with a rich wine jus, topped with green beans

SO tender, we could just tear it off the bone

About to tuck in. We demolished almost everything... so yes, we do sincerely recommend the food

It is also a lovely relaxed way to enjoy lunch with friends and family and the stress of ordering is relieved

You can phone ahead to see what the menu might be on the day you want to come

It is freshly cooked, perfectly seasoned and delicious

They are sensative to allergies you might have and can recommend other items

And they have just released their cookbook which contains the recipes of the food we ate

It is on sale in the tasting room

They will be open in the winter and the menu will change for the seasons

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