Spoil Mother this Sunday with these ideas

Some great Mother's Day events have been sent to us, so we've put them into a separate blog. One lucky MENU reader told us she's being taken to Pot Luck by her sons on Saturday night. We hope all of you who have mothers will spoil them rotten and give them loads of love.

Saturday, 12th May. A DAY OF SPOILING FOR MOMS AT LABORIE. “If the whole world were put into one scale, and my mother in the other, the whole world would kick the beam”. Lord Langdale (Henry Bickersteth). Laborie Wine Farm, situated in the heart of the scenic Winelands, is the perfect place to spoil your mom this Mother’s Day. One of the attractions on the farm, growing in popularity, is the Laborie Lazy Days Market. Open to the public every Saturday from 9am until 2pm, the laid back market offers visitors a wide selection of fresh produce and lifestyle goods. These include freshly baked breads, coffee, cheese, olives, honey and charcuterie. From mouth-watering food stalls to arts and craft exhibitors, the market caters to young and old, which includes ample kiddies’ entertainment.  In celebration of Mother’s Day, all moms attending the market on Saturday, 12 May will receive a complimentary glass of Laborie bubbly to enjoy. To add to the day’s celebrations, BMW will exhibit some of their sleek and sexy vehicles at the farm, which will certainly attract interest from all visiting the market. The market which has been up and running since February 2011 has gained popularity as the ideal meeting place in Paarl. Known as the ‘neighbourhood farm in the centre of Paarl’, it is the ideal occasion for family and friends to enjoy a Saturday morning in a scenic and relaxed setting. Another highlight of the day will be an interactive cooking demonstration at Harvest at Laborie with highly acclaimed chef Matthew Gordon. Budding chefs will meet Matthew at 10h00 on the day, where he’ll take you to market to stock up on ingredients for the demonstration. Afterwards you’ll make your way to the private dining room at Harvest where you’ll be using your newly gathered market goods for the demonstration, which should end around 12h00. For more information and costs contact Yolanda Prinsloo at Harvest on 021 807 3095 or yolanda@harvestrestaurant.co.za. Booking is essential as space is limited. Laborie produces some of the best Méthode Cap Classique bubblies; an array of award-winning wines as well as an estate brandy. Visitors can stay overnight in the tranquil guest house or enjoy a delicious meal at Harvest. An exciting new addition to the farm’s many offerings is Cecil Skotnes art exhibition, featuring 30 works by this highly acclaimed South African artist, which has been partnered with the Laborie Limited Collection wines. A permanent exhibition at Laborie, his masterpieces are on display in the Cellar Door, Manor House and in the restaurant. For more information contact 021 807 3390, visit our website www.laboriewines.co.za, join our Facebook page or email info@laboriewines.co.za.

Sunday 13th May. Buitenverwachting is offering a really special meal for Mother's Day. Edgar Osojnik has created a pampered relaxing and enjoyable experience which can be enjoyed at Buitenverwachting Restaurant. Mothers Day Menu: Amuse Bouche - Antipasto with Feta, Peperonata, textured Olives & Balsamico - Pan-fried Prawns with Oriental Salad, iced Air & Oriental Salad - Roasted Butternut with Mesclun Leaves, Springbok Won Tons - Creamy Millie, Spinach, Garlic Soup - with Lamb Osso Bucco Pies - Medium-rare grilled Chalmar Sirloin with Red Wine Shallot Jus & Porcini Potato Rosette - Plum Ice Cream with Crispy Sponge & Almond Crocante. 3-course Menu R265, 5-course Menu R355, includes 3 complimentary glasses of wine Amuse Bouche, Sorbet & Friandise. Telephone 021 794 3522 for further information or to book or email restaurant@buitenverwachting.co.za

Sunday, 13th May: SOFIA'S @ MORGENSTER  Mother's Day Mothers will receive a glass of Boschendal Brut Rose on arrival from the staff of Sofia’s For the winter special menu, see our Restaurant Specials list. 021 847 1993 www.morgenster.co.za www.facebook.com/sofias.at.morgenster

Sunday, 13th May: Treat Mom to a mouth-watering Mother's Day lunch at The Vineyard Hotel & Spa, Colinton Rd, Newlands. The Square’s executive chef, Alex Docherty, has opted for a choice between two starter options — roasted duck spring rolls with lime and ginger dipping sauce or prawn and avocado inside-out roll with wasabi mayonnaise and teriyaki dressing. Moving on to mains, diners can choose between a slow-roasted leg of lamb with roast potatoes, pumpkin puree and fine beans with onion and mint chutney and lamb gravy, or grilled local fish with tempura Asian salad and sweet chilli butter sauce. An extensive wine list featuring some of South Africa’s top Wine estates adds another dimension to the culinary experience. The pièce de resistance is a choice of two detectable desserts: an apple and frangipani tart with sugared almond ice cream, or a Lindt chocolate crème brulée with frozen black cherry sherbet. Each mom will also receive a complimentary surprise goodie bag from the Vineyard Hotel & Spa. The price of the three-course Mother’s Day lunch is R255 a person. Guests are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment. For more information about the Vineyard Hotel & Spa and its culinary offerings, visit www.vineyard.co.za

Sunday, 13th May. Treat your mom at Trees with a mouth-watering Mother's Day lunch. Trees Restaurant at the Townhouse Hotel has lined up a delicious buffet lunch menu for Mother's Day on 13th May. The restaurant's Michelin-trained executive chef Stefan Schmidt has created a veritable Mother's Day feast. Diners can choose between two heart-warming soups and a plated starter before tucking into an expansive buffet of mains. Schmidt tells us more: "We've prepared a range of sumptuous main meals, including slow-braised beef roulade in rosemary and mushroom gravy, Harissa-rubbed West Coast hake fillet with lemon and coriander sauce, roasted baby potatoes with sautéed onions and herbs, and baked ratatouille cannelloni with pecorino." Once guests have had their fill at the buffet, the Mother's Day meal is rounded off with a Rooibos-scented malva pudding with thick vanilla anglaise, caramelised apples and dark chocolate ice cream, accompanied by tea or filter coffee. Trees underwent an extensive redesign in 2010 under the guidance of leading interior designer Les Harbottle. The restaurant overlooks a leafy avenue adjacent to the famed Dutch East India Company Gardens. Thanks to its location on the hotel’s first floor and its large glass windows, the experience emulates that of being in a tree house. The 100-seater restaurant has a contemporary look and feel with some striking red accent pieces, a few ladder-back chairs, origami-inspired lampshades and an eye-catching installation at the restaurant’s entrance. The Mother's Day lunch menu costs R165 per person and bookings are essential. Please email trees@townhouse.co.za or call 021 465 7050.

Sunday, 13th May. Waterkloof Restaurant will be dishing up on Mother’s Day – Chef Grégory Czarnecki has designed a special 4-course Mother’s Day feast that even the most discerning mother will approve of, with each of the dishes paired with a matching estate wine. This fabulous foursome starts with Soft Boiled Farm Egg with porcini mushroom and sauce poulette served with the estate’s Circumstance Chardonnay 2008. Mom and her entourage will then be treated to his signature Monkfish served with crispy prawn, ginger beer compressed apple and curry, matched with the Circumstance Viognier 2010. Next on the sumptuous bill of fare is Karan Beef, served with shallot tarte tatin, tomatillo chutney and Waterkloof’s elegant Circle of Life Red 2009. To crown it all, Grégory will serve an exclusive Autumn Extravagance of ground berries, Tellicherry pepper panna cotta and smoked pear sorbet for dessert. The Mother’s Day lunch at Waterkloof costs R450 per person which includes all the wines on the day or R380 per person excluding the wine pairings. Bookings are essential. To reserve your table contact Tel: 021 858 1491 or send an email to restaurant@waterkloofwines.co.za. Waterkloof Estate is located outside Somerset West on the M9 Sir Lowry’s Pass Village Road.

Sunday, 13th May. Mother's Day at Winchester Mansions: Treat your mother to a relaxing Sunday Jazz Brunch while the live Jazz band sets the mood. Receive a complimentary Sunday Newspaper and a glass of bubbly on arrival and a gift for all mothers. Enjoy anything from eggs, sushi, dessert and loads more from our buffet for R250.00 per person on Mother's Day, 13th May. To check out the line up click here. Ginkgo Spa Mother's Day Special. Spoil yourself and your mom this month with a warm oil 20 min back neck and shoulder massage, a refreshing 30 min deep cleanse facial and a 30 min pedicure or manicure. After the day's pampering, enjoy a health spa lunch with a complimentary juice of the day. Treatment 1h 20 minutes for only R600 per person (save R200). For reservations or more information, call 021 434 2351 or email spa@winchester.co.za. To see more Spa Specials at Winchester Mansions click here. Get an extra night on us, valid from 1st May to 30th September 2012. Stay 5 nights pay 4, Stay 4 nights pay 3, Stay 3 nights pay 2. For more information, email welcome@winchester.co.za or call 021 434 2351 to speak to our reservations team. Winchester Mansions still has rooms available for Mother's Day 13th May. Win a Sunday Jazz Brunch for Two.  No better way to start your Sunday than with a Sunday Jazz Brunch for Two worth R450.00 for you and someone special. It's simple, just click here to like us on Facebook and enter the sweepstake. Winter Corporate Specials. Choose from: Accommodation only Single R950.00 Double R1200.00 To: The 24-hours package including the full day conference special and dinner at Harveys Single R1475.00 Double R2250.00 For detailed information and further specials click here. 221 Beach Road, Sea Point, Cape Town 8005. For reservations or more information call our banqueting department 021 434 2351 or email banqueting@winchester.co.za. Like us on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/WinchesterMansions

Sunday, 13th May. Introduce your mom to Le Good Life and treat her to a delicious Mother’s Day buffet lunch at Seasons Restaurant at The House of J.C. Le Roux. Moms will definitely be spoiled for choice with a wide selection of starters, scrumptious mains and delectable desserts, enjoyed with only the finest J.C. Le Roux bubbly to suit this glamorous occasion. Mom can choose from succulent starters such as Thai beef salad and Portuguese chicken wings, and tuck into hearty main courses of roast peppered beef, creamy basil pesto mussels, shrimp and kingklip penne pasta, or roasted butternut, sundried tomato and ricotta lasagne. The decadent dessert menu will definitely uplift Mom’s special day with irresistible options such as espresso tiramisu, chocolate truffles, and pear and almond vanilla cheese cake. Mom will also get a special sweet treat from the tasting room to spoil her even more. The Mother’s Day buffet lunch at Seasons Restaurant costs R160 per person and will be served from 12h30 until 15h00. Call Claudine on Tel: 021 865 8222 for bookings. The House of J.C. Le Roux is open seven days a week. Seasons at J.C. Le Roux is open from 09h30 till 15h00 with breakfast served between 09h30 and 11h30 and lunch from 12h00 till 14h00. To reserve your table or for information on cellar tours and tastings, call 021 865 8200 or visit http://www.jcleroux.co.za/.

26 April 2012 Main Ingredient’s MENU - Taste of Cape Town, Howard Booysen wines, Nobu’s Bento boxes, Crispy, chilli tempura squid, Products, Our market activities, Wine courses, Events and Restaurants

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A country road in the Hemel en Aarde Valley

In this week’s MENU:

     Products

     Our market activities

     Taste of Cape Town

     Howard Booysen wines

     Nobu’s Bento boxes

     Crispy, chilli tempura squid

     Wine courses, Events and Restaurants

Products     We have found some powdered agar agar, more of the valuable and oh-so-rare Argan oil, a whole new selection of patés from France and we have replenished our stock of truffle products like salt and oils. We also have new stock of the Mexicorn salsas and chipotles. For those and any other products you need, you can access our product list and see pictures in our website. If you can’t find what you need, let us know and we will try to find it for you. Until our online shop is ready, drop us an email and we will help you. We are very happy to see that traffic on our website is increasing and more orders are coming from it.

We have a lot of fun putting MENU together each week and, of course, doing the things we write about, but making it possible for you to enjoy rare and wonderful gourmet foods is what drives our business. We stock a good range of ingredients and delicious ready-made gourmet foods. You can contact us by email or phone, or through our website. We can send your requirements to you anywhere in South Africa.

Our market activities    We will be at Long Beach Mall tomorrow, Freedom Day public holiday, Friday 27th April from 09h00 to 16h00, for our South Peninsula friends, and we will be back at at the Old Biscuit Mill’s brilliant, exciting and atmospheric Neighbourgoods Market, as always, this Saturday and every Saturday between 09h00 and 14h00.

Public holidays, we think, are there for people in corporate jobs. They tend to be irrelevant to people like us who have their own businesses and, most especially, to all the people who look after your requirements in the hospitality and retail industries and to people who work in service industries like nursing, the police, firemen etc. So, to all of you who will have a day off, we hope you will have a most enjoyable long weekend, Tuesday, May 1st, also being a holiday. Of course, if you receive this at your work address, you may not see it until Wednesday…..

A reminder that this weekend there is the Cheese Festival and next weekend the Riebeeck Olive Festival. Mother’s Day will be on Sunday 13^th of May this year. The Square restaurant at the Vineyard Hotel is doing an absolutely scrumptious sounding 3 course lunch on Mother’s Day for R255 a person. And there is a surprise goodie bag for Mum. Book soon. Check out these and other great events in our events list.

Taste of Cape Town  The 5^th Taste of Cape Town took place last weekend from Thursday to Sunday and we did what we normally do and went to this great show on the first night and on the last afternoon. We could list the food ad infinitum (see the photos on our blog) but the show is over and so we just want to say how much good food we ate. We do recommend that, if you had dishes you loved, do now go to the restaurants and have the larger portions there. We hear that restaurateurs don’t do the show to make money but as a very good marketing exercise because people do visit restaurants they have not experienced before after enjoying their food at Taste. We were concerned when we saw that several restaurants we saw at earlier Tastes were not attending, but there was a very good range of top places there this year, so there were no gaps.

Someone on Facebook did ask why, if there are all those great food opportunities, were the rib and chicken stands so busy? Our take on this is that if they were busy, they must have been serving what people want to eat, but we didn’t even see them. We were not charged to taste wine this year, as we have been in previous years and if you paid for a glass of wine, they did give very generous measures. And although there were many alcohol outlets, we personally did not see any drunkenness. Green Point Cricket Club is a great venue for this show, there is plenty of parking and it is on the flat.

The Pop Up Chefs were a great attraction. These busy chefs could not commit to the whole show so four each took the stand for a day. We talked to Richard Carstens from Tokara on Thursday and tasted his beautiful Togarashi beef ‘sashimi’ tartar and Henry Vigar from our great local Sea Point restaurant La Mouette and tried his butternut and sage ravioli with brown butter. Then there were the cook-offs in the Pick n Pay theatre where two competing chefs were given a mystery basket to cook a dish, or two, in 20 minutes. We watched Brad Ball from Bistro 1682 at Steenberg cook against Bertus Basson (the winner) from Overture. They each cooked two different salmon dishes, and an aubergine dish and it was a very fast and furious but close finish and great fun to watch.

A huge negative was complaints that there simply were not enough toilets and the poor kitchen staff and chefs were reduced, like the rest of us, to stand in very long queues rather than be on their stands. We hope they sort this out next year.

Bento Boxes at Nobu   What is a Bento box? It is a beautiful Japanese lacquered box, traditionally packed with food delights for a single person to be taken to work or school. Now you too can try one at Nobu, who have two on offer for lunch and dinner for the winter season. Ushered into the restaurant by the traditional shout “Ira-shai-ma-se”, “Welcome to our home” in Japanese, our delightful Kenyan waitress Mercy showed us to our table. Then came Keith, the sommelier, who we had met last week at Tracy Van Maaren’s trade tasting. Much study of the wine list had left us feeling rather winded as the prices are certainly some of the highest we have seen in the Cape. He persuaded us to have a bottle of Kleine Zalze Chenin Blanc, which he said would be (and it was) a very good match with our Bento boxes.  Pictures here.

There is a lovely surprise when they arrive. The two long black lacquered boxes are double storeyed! So each Bento box gives you at least 7 different dishes and in the two boxes they do not duplicate any dish. We suggest you go and order one of each Bento box for two people and share as we did. The standard Bento box costs R275 and the Deluxe is R375. Both include dessert.

What is in the boxes? Salmon Sashimi salad with jalapeno sauce in one box and Seared Tuna salad with a mustard dressing in the other. Wonderfully fresh and crisp sautéed baby vegetables with a good dose of chilli. Two different fish Sushi rolls, prawn and tuna nigiri and sashimi fish plus our Nobu favourite, the tempura rock shrimp, which comes with its own dedicated Ponzu dipping sauce. You also get Nobu’s iconic jalapeño dip to go with the tempura white fish in the other box. Beef wing rib anti cucho, off the bone, is sliced and covered in a sauce which tasted of chilli, cumin and tomato; rolled white fish sashimi in a deliciously fragrant citrus and lemongrass sauce and another in the other box that tasted like thinly sliced scallop. The soft roasted aubergine, Nasu, in miso dusted with sesame was also very good. The teriyaki chicken was slightly dry. The rice in the sushi has absolutely perfect pearls of separate rice grains that stick together but are not at all mushy – made by experts.

There are two desserts to choose from. In another smaller bento box there is a warm squidgy and oozy rich chocolate fondant with a green tea ice cream which we (unwillingly!) shared. Or you can have the Suntory whisky cappuccino dessert, served in a cappuccino cup. You are instructed to be sure to scoop down to the bottom to get all the layers of coffee-flavoured Crème brûlée, whipped cream, whiskey and bits of roasted coffee beans, which we found rather too crunchy. Other than good black coffee, Lynne is not a fan of anything coffee flavoured, but that doesn’t mean this wasn’t a very good dessert indeed.

There is more than enough food for two, so it is good if you are feeling greedy. One of the highlights of the One and Only is they have free valet parking and there is the lovely lounge and cocktail bar where you can pop in for a drink or coffee to meet friends before you eat.

Howard Booysen wine tasting     We received an invitation to attend this tasting (see pictures), held at Van Hunks Restaurant in upper Kloof Street. Howard is the sommelier at Aubergine restaurant, but has made his own range of wines from bought in grapes for the last couple of years. On Tuesday, we were able to taste his lower priced range called Pegasus. His 2011 Riesling has lots of charm and is easy drinking with residual sugar of 5gm and 6% acidity with 13% alcohol, with the grapes sourced from Stellenbosch. There is a juicy and soft Cinsault, the rarely used southern Rhône grape, most often used here in blends. These grapes also come from Stellenbosch.

We then tasted his excellent 2010 Kabinette style Riesling with residual sugar at 21gm and good clean acids at 7% and only 12.5% alcohol, quite a feat in this country. This wine which is very Rhine in style was awarded 4.5 stars in Platter and it is well deserved. Howard has just released the 2011 which has an even better sugar to acid balance and is completely delicious. There are turpene hints on these wines but they are only hints; they are refreshing and deep with honey notes under great fruit and crisp acidity and they drink perfectly with food. Howard had laid on some snacks and these wines all highlighted the best in them. He is definitely someone to watch as we expect even more great things from this young man.

This week’s recipe is our recreation of one of the most popular dishes at the Taste of Cape Town on the Taj Hotel’s stand.

Crispy Chilli Squid Tempura

500g small squid rings and tentacles (Cut up larger rings into bite sized pieces) – 500 ml milk – 1 egg – 210 ml ice cold sparkling or soda water – 1/2 t salt – 25g corn flour – 75g flour – 4 ice cubes – 2t chilli flakes or 1 to 2 (depending on your taste)finely chopped fresh red chillies, seeds removed – approx 500 ml canola oil for frying – good sushi mayonnaise or Hellman’s diluted with a little milk to make it more runny.

Soak the squid in milk for at least an hour (this tenderises it), then drain and pat really dry. Heat the oil in a wok or a wide deep pan to 370 °C. Do not leave the oil alone. Mix the water with the egg and then stir in the flour, salt and chilli flakes and ice cubes. Quickly mix up the batter, it does not have to be smooth. Immediately toss the squid into the batter a spoonful at a time to coat well and then deep fry for just a couple of minutes until it is really crisp and beginning to turn golden. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm in the oven while you cook the rest. Then serve with the mayonnaise drizzled over it. You can also drizzle over a sweet chilli sauce.

Food and wine (and a few other) events for you to enjoy

There is a huge and rapidly growing variety of interesting things to occupy your leisure time here in the Western Cape. There are so many interesting things to do in our world of food and wine that we have made separate list for each month for which we have information. To help you choose an event to visit, click on our list. All the events are listed in date order and we already have exciting events to entertain you right through the year. Click here to access the list. You will need to be connected to the internet.

We have had a lot of enquiries from people who want to learn more about wine. Cathy Marston and The Cape Wine Academy both run courses, some very serious and others more geared to fun. You can see details here.

Some restaurants have responded to our request for an update of their special offers and we have, therefore, updated our list of restaurant special offers. Click here to access it. These Specials have been sent to us by the restaurants or their PR agencies. We have not personally tried all of them and their listing here should not always be taken as a recommendation from ourselves. If they don’t update us, we can’t be responsible for any inaccuracies in the list. When we have tried it, we’ve put in our observations. We have cut out the flowery adjectives etc. that so many have sent, to give you the essentials. Click on the name to access the relevant website. All communication should be with the individual restaurants.

Summer time is picnic time and several wine farms offer picnic facilities. We have put together a list of wine farms who can provide you with a picnic, We haven’t put in much detail, just where it is, phone number, email address and a link to the website. The latter is where you will find all the important information. Go and check it out.

26th April 2012

Remember - if you can’t find something, we’ll do our best to get it for you, and, if you’re in Cape Town or elsewhere in the country, we can send it to you! Check our product list for details and prices.

PS If a word or name is in bold type and underlined, click on it for more information

Phones: +27 21 439 3169 / 083 229 1172 / 083 656 4169

Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005

Our Adamastor & Bacchus© tailor-made Wine, Food and Photo tours take small groups (up to 6) to specialist wine producers who make the best of South Africa’s wines. Have fun while you learn more about wine and how it is made! Tours can be conducted in English, German, Norwegian or Dutch flavoured Afrikaans.

Recommendations of products and outside events are not solicited or charged for, and are made at the authors’ pleasure. All photographs, recipes and text used in these newsletters are ©John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus. Our restaurant reviews are usually unsolicited. We prefer to pay for our meals and not be paid in any way by anyone. Whether we are invited or go independently, we don’t feel bad if we say we didn’t like it. Honesty is indeed our best policy. While every effort is made to avoid mistakes, we are human and they do creep in occasionally, for which we apologise. Our Avast! ^® Anti-Virus software is updated at least daily and our system is scanned continually for viruses.

Recommendations of products and outside events are not solicited or charged for, and are made at the authors’ pleasure. All photographs, recipes and text used in these newsletters are ©John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus. Our restaurant reviews are usually unsolicited. We prefer to pay for our meals and not be paid in any way by anyone. Whether we are invited or go independently, we don’t feel bad if we say we didn’t like it. Honesty is indeed our best policy. While every effort is made to avoid mistakes, we are human and they do creep in occasionally, for which we apologise. Our Avast! ^® Anti-Virus software is updated at least daily and our system is scanned continually for viruses.

This electronic journal has been sent to you because you have personally subscribed to it or because someone you know has asked us to send it to you or forwarded it to you themselves. Addresses given to us will not be divulged to any person or organisation. We collect them only for our own promotional purposes and keep our mailing list strictly confidential. If you wish to be added to our mailing list, please click here to send us a message and if you wish to be removed from our mailing list, please click here to send us a message.

Review of Pot Luck at The Test Kitchen

Luke Dale-Roberts in the Pot Luck Kitchen

1 & 2.  We started with something you might not ever use at home except in soup. Crispy Curried Celery leaves. Here they are deep fried in a tempura batter, superbly and subtly flavoured and served crisp and not at all greasy, together with another dish: shaved crisp sweet parsnip with a Madagascan black pepper salt.

These are an absolute must for crisp crazies and snackers and we want MORE, often.

3. Called a fish taco, this is a ceviche of superbly fresh yellowtail in a soy and lime marinade.

Put between two layers of crisp samoosa pastry, the fish sits on a layer of adobo, avocado, red pimento peppers and tomato, is dressed perfectly in a sauce of refried beans & topped with fresh coriander leaves.

It is deceptively simple but fresh and delicious.

4.  Fried prawns with Tom Ka Gai (chicken, coconut and lemongrass) butter with roasted chopped peanuts. One of those dishes you shout: “ Why have I never had anything this amazing before?” 

The sweet prawns and delicious creamy spiced coconut sauce, crispy onions, thin chilli slices and roasted peanuts are placed in lettuce leaves for you to add a squeeze of lime, wrap up and pop into your mouth in one explosive taste bite. Lynne declared she might never want prawns any other way.

5. Adobo marinated Chicken leg is roasted in the oven, then served on a bed of soft chickpeas, tomatoes, olives, marinated jalapeno chillies which have a hell of a kick, chorizo and then drizzled with a minted cumin yogurt dressing.

Wonderfully Spanish/Mediterranean in influence with a fillip of Mexico in the Adobo and chilli heat.

6 & 7.  Chinese style pork rib with dark beer and doenjang glaze which is a Korean fermented soya bean paste. The slow cooked rib meat falls off jellied bones, all the fat has been rendered and the dark, sweet sticky meat is dusted with sesame seeds.

Served with a Kimchi salad of finely sliced cabbage, shaved radish, bean sprouts in an unusual sauce of rice porridge and plum cordial. Very fruity and fresh and a great contrast with the sticky rich meat.

8. We had intended to stop here and then we saw what our neighbours were eating, so we had to have some. Smoked Chalmar beef fillet with black pepper and truffled café au lait sauce. The beef is first marinated in thyme, garlic and rosemary, then cooked sous vide.

Just before serving, it is well seared in a very hot pan and topped with the amazing rich truffle and coffee cream sauce.  The beef is pink inside and meltingly tender; the sauce has a small bite of lime acid added to contrast the richness of the truffle.

9. What better to go with steak but chips? Well, what about halved, deep fried baby potatoes still in their skins, with a light dusting of smoked paprika and two mayonnaises – an aoli and a ponzu.

This dish could become one of our signature favourites, like the rock shrimp at Nobu. Poor Luke may not be allowed to take this off his menu.

10. Could we leave without dessert?  Nearly. On offer were two of John’s not so favourites, tapioca and rice pudding, but the third one was tempting. Perfect Churros with Tonka bean ganache – so like chocolate it fools you - and a good dollop of stem ginger ice-cream.  

Definitely the best we have had in Cape Town. YES!

The portions are small and we shared them all and left feeling very happy and quite full, but not bloated. We drank glasses of Springfield Life from Stone and Bruwer Raats Chenin blanc. They have a good wine list, with an interesting selection of wines by the glass. Our meal came to R655 with wine and service. You must book, it is very popular and now that more people have heard about it, we think it will be even busier during the next few months. Do take friends with you, so you can get to try more things on the menu. Friends who have been before say 6 is the perfect number.

Chef Nic Wilkinson

The wine list

All photographs in this blog are ©John Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus cc 2012

Expressions of Stellenbosch in Mint Restaurant at the Taj

May's programme in the Expressions of... series of food and wine pairing months was launched at the Taj Cape Town last week. For the whole of the merry month of May, the Mint restaurant at the Taj will feature dishes designed by Delaire chef Christiaan Campbell to match wines from the Greater Simonsberg, Stellenbosch Valley and Bottelary Hills wards

The starter was a Napoleon of confit Duck leg  topped with duck ham and slices sweet  green figs and was very rich and complicated. The word Napoleon is used to indicate that part of the dish has been layered between thin sheets of crisp pastry. 

Also on the plate was a puree of quince and toasted pumpkin seeds, crisply fried pieces of the duck ham and a jus. This was served with two wines, the Jordan The Real McCoy Riesling 2011 and the Meerlust Pinot Noir 2010. We thought the Jordan won by a short head but both wines helped to cut through the richness of the dish.

The second course was a piece of smoked and poached hake served on a millet Risotto, accompanied by a slow poached farmer Angus hen's egg, a pea puree and pancetta. The smoked fish and the pea elements in this dish  went well with the Bartinney Vanilla chardonnay. We found the very rich slow cooked egg to be a step too far on a dish that needed to be clean and light after the rather substantial starter.

The main course was Greenfields Beef, bone marrow and shin, cauliflower puree, beetroot pieces and puree and chocolate oil.

The bone marrow and rendered shin had been shaped into a round croquette. It would have been nice to have had something fresh and green on this plate with all the complicated sauces and purees and we felt that a little restraint would perhaps have helped this very meat oriented dish. The beef was pink and perfectly cooked and the Delaire Botmaskop 2008 went well but the perfect match was definitely Martin Meinert's 2007 Synchronicity, a  classic Cape blend of Cabertnet, Merlot and Pinotage.

Dessert, which nearly finished us off, was a Toffee ice-cream sandwiched between banana bread with marscarpone and coconut marshmallows on more chocolate toffee.

This was accompanied by the really wonderul Delaire Cape Vintage Port which John enjoyed a little of... but, talking with his hands as usual, he managed to splatter Lynne's all over her white top!

The dinner was preceded by a tasting, open to all comers, of wines from Simonsberg, Bottelary and Stellenbosch Hills

Kathy Jordan and Kyle Martin

Mari and Henry Vigar of La Mouette, Sea Point

with Mark McCarthy

Martin Meinert with his Synchronicity red blend

Anel Grobler (Spit or Swallow) loving the evening and the wine

F&B Director, Willem du Toit, introduced the dinner

with Delaire chef Christaan Campbell and James Borland

A glass for every wine

Rose Jordaan (Bartinney), Philip Engelen (Brooklands House) and Taj GM Michael Pownall

Christiaan Campbell and Rose Jordaan