Restaurant
Week has evolved into Restaurant Month as so many good restaurants join. When
Lynne checked out the Cape Town entries, she was excited to see Fyn on the
list. Opened in 2018 by Chef Peter Tempelhoff - you might know him from the
Cellars Hohenort in Constantia - it has garnered many good reviews and recently
an international award. We have been keen to go, so she immediately made a
booking. They were running a very good special. We arrived on a blustery day
and, as John drove into the car park across the way, the concierge Albert told Lynne
that they can arrange free parking for guests there. He then chased John’s car
and arranged everything. What service. We knew then that this was going to be a
special day
The almost
disguised entrance in Parliament Street reminded Lynne very much of finding Joe
Allen's in London, a restaurant in the 70's/80's, totally anonymous, it had no
signage at all and you had to be in the loop to find it and book. Used by
actors, director, producers and advertising people it served great American
food and had a marvellous atmosphere. Fyn does have signage outside, but it
does have that air of exclusivity and mystery. This is the door to the
restaurant on the building’s top floor
Inside the
restaurant, the design is very modern and slightly industrial. They built it on
the top of an existing building and the glass windows give lots of light and
views of the city. We really liked the new booths that safely separate you from
others, but you still get the feel of the restaurant design. The long bench
seats in front of the windows are separated by good square bolsters
There is a very good bar
We had booked for 12.30 and the restaurant slowly filled up
for lunch
The kitchen is open and they have a fantastic selection of
different crockery on display
A table for six
There is a small mezzanine area
And you can dine at the counter, which we saw another wine
writer do. His review added to our decision to come
Those amazing rustic plates and bowls
Masked chefs doing the prep
And the fabulous mobile of hanging wood disks and lights
which fills the void of the huge ceiling space so well
While we
took in the atmosphere, we studied the special Restaurant Week menu, which is
very good value and has very good choices. We were told it may change half way
through the month. We were asked if we wanted two or three courses and we
replied, "could we please decide later?". However, if you want the
cheese soufflé, you have to decide at the start, so we chose the three courses.
Please note: You do have to pay a deposit on Dineplan when you book, to secure
the booking. More and more fine dining restaurants are doing this to discourage
the habit of people booking three or four restaurants, choosing one at the last
minute and just not arriving at the others. Despicable behaviour
If you are
ordering from the main menu, you use your phone to scan the menu
A good Covid
precaution. Our paper menu was ours to keep
You can scan the menu from this photograph
Simple and
clean table decoration, a bonsai spekboom, chopsticks on metal branches, a
stone place card holder and hand sanitiser. Cutlery, if needed for the dish, is
provided fresh for each course. The assistant restaurant manager Lester Riffel recognised us and we were kindly given complimentary glasses of Bon Courage
Jacques Bruére Cuvée Rosé Brut, which just won a Michelangelo Trophy. Full of raspberries
and cream, with lovely crisp and zingy freshness and some maturity. A great
start. And finding old friends from the wine and restaurant industry seated at
the next table, was another bonus
And the fabulous mobile of hanging wood disks and lights which fills the void of the huge ceiling space so well
The second
snack is the bread course. Both came warm. A spelt roll, a little dense and
dry, might have gone well with the soup. And, for us, a too tiny, moist cheese
and corn muffin which we would like to encourage Chef to copyright, enlarge and
sell in large numbers. If not, Lynne would love the recipe. This could become
something diners demand in future, it is so good. Accompanied by a rocher of
allium chive butter
We have to confess that John is not a fan of tofu in any
form
The next 'snack' was a small bowl of Blonde Miso soup that changed his
mind
The home
made tofu was like small pieces of savoury pannacotta, soft and melting in the
warm soup. The bowl has three kinds of salty seaweed including green sea
lettuce, wakame, and kombu, tiny white enoki mushrooms in Lynne’s - left out of
John's because of his allergy - spring onion and elderflowers
The blonde
miso soup is then poured at the table and has a lovely comforting aroma and taste;
it was also slightly smoky which added another good dimension to this excellent
dish. We asked what it was and it is Katsuyobushi, dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna
flakes. It seems that Chef Peter's trip to Japan has added a further influence
to his excellent cooking. We could eat this regularly and Lynne is now looking
for blonde miso, we have the red already. Miso soup is part of our diet
The tofu begins to dissolve
A feast in a bowl
We both
chose the same starter and again it is Japanese. No complaints from us, we love
this style of food. A game fish Tataki which this time was seared yellowtail,
topped with a sprout, on a bed of Ishikawa rice, resting on a sheet of nori. Between
the fish and the rice was some chopped Cape wild rock oyster and on the side an
Ulva (sea lettuce seaweed) emulsion and essence of Shoyu, Japanese soy sauce.
The rice held together on the chopsticks and was nicely flavoured. The fish sea
fresh. We loved this dish
Lynne’s main
course choice was the charred Iberico pork with crisp caramelised edges, and an
aroma that wafted off the dish and took us back to Spain. Served with a sticky
Tonkotsu, almost barbecue sauce with lots of umami notes, nicely complex. Ponzu
braised onion, not enough of the glorious celeriac miso purée, topped with
squares of celeriac, a twirl of deep fried pork crackling and presented on a
bed of wilted bok choy. John loves pork, but this would have been too fatty for
him. It is a very good fusion dish
John chose
the Crispy Hake Sando which is slices of very soft hake, sandwiched between
crisp slices of compressed and toasted brioche, so it rather resembles an ice
cream sandwich! On the separate plate are a seared scallop, steamed and raw new
season broad beans, artichoke, and samphire in a sake mussel sauce. Very good
flavours and textures to counterpoint the soft fish, which came with a slice of
seared lemon
You get a
glass of wine with the menu and a choice of a Sauvignon Blanc from Neil Ellis,
a typical warm country Sauvignon with a floral, slightly reductive nose,
classic green gooseberry and greengage plum flavours, good acidity and a little
fizz on the end. The red is a Neil Ellis Grenache with real wildness and
marzipan and dark black cherry berry fruits, dark wood and length on the end.
Age will calm this wine a bit
After a
rest, it was time to tackle the dessert end of the meal
John had the warm twice
baked soufflé made with Gruyère and Huguenot cheeses and Lynne suffered lots of
envy. Next time
Soft and light as air and very full of flavour They add a barley & parmesan sauce and top with grated parmesan
We were so switching roles this time. Lynne eats cake about
twice a year but felt we had to try this dessert and she was not at all
disappointed. Layers of set coconut cream jelly, very light chocolate sponge,
soft ganache and a base of crisp chocolate cracknel feuilletine. Light as air,
very rich and unctuous chocolate and not too much of a challenge for she who
dose not have much of a sweet tooth. Accompanied by pear cubes, pear gel,
blueberries and crème coconut. It does come with a coffee pouring sauce but she loathes anything made with coffee, other than coffee, so passed on that. She did
taste a smidgen on a spoonful of cake but it is not for me. You will love it;
customers do love the sauce. Just her quirk. Someone else always gets the coffee
chocolates in the box
