One
of our visiting friends was celebrating his 75th birthday here and he invited us to
lunch at Jordan. Such a treat to spend a birthday on the terrace eating
marvellous food and enjoying the views. But first, we took them to De Morgenzon
next door to taste some wine
The vineyards at De Morgenzon do face the rising
sun in the East. And Baroque music is played to the vines to encourage growth
and health
We did a lovely tasting of the wines on their
terrace and bought several before departing. Nebraska, their fantastic office manager was so helpful
It is very special to go to a winery and be able
to taste their reserve wines. Those are the wines that we bought to put in our
cellar. And some of the excellent dry rosé, the marvellous Maestro white blend
and Sauvignon Blanc to drink this, or even better, next summer
Their gardens are magnificent, mostly indigenous
and they obviously employ good gardeners
Inside the cool tasting room
The wines we bought. We love their packaging
We do have a drought - sign on the tasting room window at Jordan
Shane gave Peter, Lynne and John a superb tasting, which included older and new vintages of the premium Nine Yards Chardonnay and Cobbler's Hill red blend
The Bakery tables on the deck
in the midday sunshine. A great place for a casual lunch if you have not booked for a meal at Jardine
The menu
The superb view. the dams are emptying fast in the
hot weather. We need rain
Between us we covered the starter menu. A starter
of Hot smoked Springbok loin with grilled figs, celeriac puree, grain mustard
and a walnut salad
Stuffed baby aubergines with semi dried Rosa
tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, olives and basil and a pea purée
A warm salad of salt and pepper calamari on endive
leaves, chorizo flakes, with a Caesar dressing, topped with pea shoots
Soft and gentle minute cured Fisantekraal trout on
a rather bitter charred leek and what tasted like aubergine purée, topped with
great fried leek strands, tiny air dried shimeji mushrooms, a fruity orange gel
and pea shoots
Carpaccio of fillet steak with aged gruyere
cheese, capers, rocket red onion and truffle dressing
The chefs plating up duck and one other main on
the pass
The most popular main at our table was the oh-so-tender and well seasoned seared breast of duck with a confit leg on braised
cabbage, baby carrots, more pea shoots, served with a superb jus, a swipe of
smooth carrot purée and a potato fondant. As we ordered buckets of the famous
Hand cut chips for the table they were rather unnecessary, but good
This restaurant is very popular, book well in
advance in order not to be disappointed
Our friendly waitress, Agatha
The aged Chalmar Sirloin with soft herb crust,
perfectly cooked to medium rare, came with stuffed onion, sauce Bourguignon and porcini
purée. Plates were scraped clean as usual. We drank Jordan’s Inspector
Peringuey Chenin blanc and Prospector Shiraz; both met with enthusiastic
approval
The duck with those hand cut chips and the Outlier
Shiraz
Well-behaved children can be accommodated
None of us thought we could manage dessert, but
somehow we all did. This is the Valrhona chocolate mousse, orange and vanilla
glazed pear (very tender) with yoghurt ice cream
A selection of five cheeses and figs from the
cheese room for one of us
The piece de no résistance: A classic plum tart
fine with melt in the mouth crisp pastry, lovely sour plum purée, sweet Bourbon
vanilla crème pâtissière, vanilla ice cream and a candied hazelnut tuile
A wonderful meal. The charges are very simple: 2
courses R325, 3 courses R375. Bread baked fresh in the kitchen and served with
(today) watercress pesto, sun dried tomato chutney and garlic aioli come
included. These can vary. The hand cut chips and a salad come extra at R25
each. And coffee is extra too, but we always end with it. Thank you Peter for
spoiling us on your special birthday
©
John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus
