Getting older is not something one feels like celebrating over a certain age,
so this year Lynne's birthday was a quiet celebration 'à deux' over lunch at a new venue for us,
Hiro Izakaya at Constantia Uitsig. It is chef Cheyne Morrisby's new venture
so this year Lynne's birthday was a quiet celebration 'à deux' over lunch at a new venue for us,
Hiro Izakaya at Constantia Uitsig. It is chef Cheyne Morrisby's new venture
Small cottages in the grounds of Constantia Uitsig now house several different restaurants
and we were happy to sit on the terrace, as it was a good sunny day for a change
Waiting for our table while the photographer takes his time
We decided not to sit inside, but it is nicely decorated
and quite spacious
Studying the menu to see how things work
The menu explains it all
Drinks. We decided to drink beer; it does go well with Asian food
The only wines are from Constantia Uitsig's "lower-priced" range
Lovely views of the Constantia mountains and vineyards
You can walk in the Uitsig Heritage gardens
We must say that the taste of the food overall was excellent, but the portions are very small; often just one bite
Why is it when you share plates between two that you get three portions? Too small to cut in two, so who gets more?
This is Tuna Tataki. Tacos with lime avocado aioli, one bite. R170
And some dishes have hefty surcharges, so we avoided those as we wanted to stick to the R700 menu
We drank Devil's Peak King's Peak Pale ale which came in the smallest bottles we have ever seen. R52
Served in very ordinary 250ml size tumblers
The portions are very small. Thin strips of crisp Mumbai Chilli Beef in a Teriyaki cardamom glaze at R148
River prawn tempura, tamarind unagi, garlic truffle emulsion
Really delicious and crisp with great sauces, but about two prawns cut up into six bite-sized pieces
The waiter dropped one of the pieces and the manager did generously bring us another plate
But is this good value at R140? We see huge profit margins. Price over substance
Duck, Lime leaf & miso croquettes. Duck Duck sauce, Holy leaf salad
Um, that's mint on top, not basil or salad. Again three portions to share and they were tiny, one mouthful each
Wonderful flavours. R145
Some excitement, Baboons appeared; it is, apparently, a daily occurrence and the waiters were off to chase them away
It took a while
Metal sculptures on the roof to deter them
Don't seem to work; they are probably seen as lazy members of the troop
Oven roasted Aubergine Dengkaro, Miso, Mirin, Sake R100
We love aubergine, especially cooked Asian style but this, sadly, was only half cooked and chewy
Good flavours
Lynne was really surprised and touched when the staff came and sang Happy Birthday to her!
The service was excellent
The underwhelming Ding Dong Sundae. One scoop of Vanilla ice cream in a tumbler does not a Sundae make
The same tumbler as the beer. Not much chocolate sauce, some raspberry gel and some bashed shortbread crumbs. R125
The meal cost R941 including three beers and 10% tip
Views of the back of Table Mountain in the far distance
Aggressive pose of metal mesh baboon
We took a peak at the Tas(t)ing room... but it seems you now taste the wine in the Wine Sales shop across the way. Confusing
All the stories we have produced since 2012 can be opened from the archive list near the top of the column on the right of this page
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