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All content © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Sushi lunch at Empire Asian restaurant, Sea Point

Since our favourite Chinese restaurant, Dynasty, closed and another which has no attraction for us opened in its place, we have been trying out different restaurants for our essential monthly dose of sushi. This restaurant is at the beginning of Main Road, Sea Point and its name seems to be the large signage above its door. But, if you look at the menu and the small sign on the left, it is called the Empire Asian Restaurant

We took along a bottle of wine which we thought might go well with sushi - and it did

Made by Roger Burton at Constantia Royale, it is their 2018 Sauvignon blanc, which also contains 17% Semillon. Corkage is R30

The menu consists mostly of special platters at very good prices

These looked worth trying as well

It was rather difficult to make up our mind and not get too many duplicates

This is the Salmon special H for R129. The sushi is freshly made, with good rice that separates

And the tuna and salmon seemed very fresh, as were the prawns on the sashimi

And to try three of the Chef's Specials, we also, greedily, ordered Special No.4 at R109. It was a lot of sushi but, over an hour and a half, we did manage to do it justice. Two of the chef's specials - the Crunch Roll (in the middle) and the Tiger roll on the left, have a core of salmon which has been battered and then deep fried. Interesting. We liked the texture but not sure we would repeat the experiment again with the Crunch roll. The dark sauce on the Hot Smoked is a sweet soy. The Tiger roll, topped with tempura prawns, is a definite for a reappearance; it’s doused in a sweet chilli mayo and is delicious. So modern and so not traditional. But we liked it

The restaurant interior is white and clean and reminds us of the way Dynasty used to look

And our waitress looked after us very well. We shall return

Launch of the 2020 (40th Anniversary) edition of the Platter South African Wine Guide

All content © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

Friday, November 22, 2019

This Week’s MENU. Platter 2020 launch; Tintswalo; He Sheng Chinese; UK Adventure, Falmouth and Fowey to London; Artichoke chicken; Perdeberg Malbec

Friendly, inquisitive heifers on a Cornish farm near Mevagissey

You should see the other guy! Actually, he’s OK, he is made of concrete. Very late last night, as I was closing my office and going to bed, I tripped over the long aluminium pole of the pool cleaning net (I know, it shouldn’t have been there) and went a.. over tip. So anyone who sees me in the next week or two can expect to see a magnificent shiner. Tomorrow, we will be at a grand black tie event and, in my case, it will be a black eye and tie event. Enjoy the weekend and our stories

John

The 40th Anniversary edition of the 2020 John Platter South African Wine Guide has been published and you can get your copy from good booksellers and wine shops. This year it is a fetching shade of Midnight Sky, a deep navy blue. We were invited to attend the launch and the 5 star wine awards last week, held at the Table Bay hotel in the V&A Waterfront…

Lunch at Tintswalo Atlantic - Out of the ashes a second time

The first time we visited Tintswalo Atlantic, a small, exclusive boutique Beach Lodge in Hout Bay, Lynne did not want to leave; it was so beautiful and so calm. To get there, you go along Chapman's Peak Drive, almost to the toll booth, and then take a right turn. It is almost impossible to see it from the road. It is a place where mermaids come to enchant you. Tintswalo is down a vertiginous road, almost on the beach. Luckily, there is a good secure parking place at the top and guests are fetched by car or golf cart. It has quite a sad history, in that Tintswalo Atlantic has been destroyed three times in its short life. First, by a huge wave during a storm. They recovered and rebuilt…

Chinese supper at He Sheng, Sea Point

We are not the only ones in our family who like Asian food so, when John's brother visited us last week, we went to our local authentic Chinese, He Sheng on Main Road, Three Anchor Bay. How can you tell if a restaurant is authentic? When more than half of the customers are Chinese and you can see Mama cooking in the kitchen, banging her pots and pans…

MENU's UK Adventure 16. Falmouth and more Rick Stein; Fowey, then off to London

Nearing the end of our week in Cornwall we decided to push the boat out a bit and visit another Rick Stein restaurant, this time in nearby Falmouth. It seems the last time we visited we didn’t go far enough into the town. And the sun was sparkling on the sea. It was the weekend, so many people were attract to this pretty port. England has always been a seagoing nation and, judging by the number of boats, they still like going on the water...

On the MENU this Week. Italian Chicken and Artichoke bake

Another easy one pot dish, using lots of vegetables and some left over roast chicken. John loves artichokes and we buy him a large tin of artichoke hearts from an Italian supplier once a year. They do freeze but while the tin is open Lynne tries to use as many as she can. Fresh artichokes are in season so you could use those as well. Or leave them out and substitute them with tenderstem broccoli or even asparagus. If you leave out the chicken, and use a good vegetable stock, you have a good vegetarian meal. We used mixed grains instead of rice, which gave the dish some good texture...

MENU’s Wine of the Week is The Vineyard Collection Malbec 2015 from Perdeberg

This wine is a real find, It bowled us over. Soy Umami at first on the nose with hints of rose and gentle spice, then cherry and chocolate with some smoke. Soft sweet cherry fruit on the palate, very well balanced and seductive with dark chocolate and a pinch of salt. The fruit remains for a long time with fine minerality and wood on the end. This is a great wine to pair with food. Rich meat dishes, rich classic sauces and definitely with good cheese. R85 from the cellar

22nd November 2019

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

Postal address: 60 Arthurs Rd, Sea Point 8005

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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 our website and ancillary works are © John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus. Our restaurant reviews are often 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

MENU’s Wine of the Week is The Vineyard Collection Malbec 2015 from Perdeberg

This wine is a real find, It bowled us over

Soy Umami at first on the nose with hints of rose and gentle spice, then cherry and chocolate with some smoke. Soft sweet cherry fruit on the palate, very well balanced and seductive with dark chocolate and a pinch of salt. The fruit remains for a long time with fine minerality and wood on the end. This is a great wine to pair with food. Rich meat dishes, rich classic sauces and definitely with good cheese. A real bargain at R85 from the cellar

On the MENU this Week. Italian Chicken and Artichoke bake

Another easy one pot dish, using lots of vegetables and some left over roast chicken. John loves artichokes and we buy him a large tin of artichoke hearts from an Italian supplier once a year. They do freeze but, while the tin is open, Lynne tries to use as many as she can. Fresh artichokes are in season, so you could use those as well. Or leave them out and substitute them with tender stem broccoli or even asparagus. If you leave out the chicken, and use a good vegetable stock, you have a good vegetarian meal. We used mixed grains instead of rice, which gave the dish some good texture

1 T olive oil – 1 small onion, finely chopped - 2 cloves of garlic, chopped – 2 T finely sliced red pepper – 1 t fresh thyme – 1 t oregano– ½ cup chicken stock - 3 courgettes, thinly sliced into strips - 1 cup tomato passata - ¼ cup cream - 2 cups cooked, sliced chicken – 4 tinned artichoke hearts, quartered – 2 cups cooked rice or mixed grains – salt and freshly ground black pepper – half a ball of mozzarella, cubed

Fry the onion in the oil and a little salt until transparent; add the garlic and peppers and fry for a minute or two to soften, add the herbs and pour on the chicken stock. Add the courgettes. Let this simmer for 5 or 6 minutes. Add the tomato passata, cook for another 5 minutes, then stir in the cream. Taste and adjust the seasoning. In an ovenproof casserole with a lid, add the rice and the chicken and the artichokes. Pour over the sauce and stir until all the ingredients are combined. Top with the mozzarella and cover with the lid. Heat the oven to 170°C and bake for 20 minutes until the cheese has melted and the dish is heated through

Serve with a good dry Sauvignon Blanc or Viognier