Wednesday, March 02, 2016

Sushi at Dynasty Chinese restaurant in Sea Point

We have often written about Dynasty, our favourite local Chinese restaurant. They have moved from Nedbank Centre (above our old shop) into new premises on Main Road in Sea Point. Mr Chan was there previously. You may not know that Chef Alex Xu is a sushi master and we go there to enjoy his wonderful sushi as often as our girth allows us. Now temptation is even stronger as, at lunch times, the sushi is half price.
You can't miss the signage. It’s on the block just before Woolworths or the Sea Point Protea Hotel, on the Hotel side of the road
A new one for us, Salmon lovers with avocado and cream cheese
The Tempura prawn rolls are exquisite
Hot kisses come with togarashi spicy chilli sprinkled on top
and, finally, a plate of Salmon Fashion sandwiches, Prawn Fashion sandwiches and Salmon California rolls to finish
Chef/owner Alex Xu making sushi
The light and spacious restaurant
His wife and restaurant manager Shirley, who is very friendly and welcoming. They do very good Chinese food as well, with an emphasis on dishes from Shanghai and Szechuan. Try the whole Peking Duck. Or some dumplings?
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

Lunch at The Table Bay's Camissa with SASSI green list fish prepared by Exec Chef Jocelyn Myers-Adams and superb wines

Executive Chef Jocelyn Myers-Adams is a committed sustainable fish chef and she produced a superb lunch showing how beautifully our local fish on the SASSI Green list can be prepared. This was served with an outstanding selection of some of South Africa's really great wines. We were indeed indulged, cosseted and fulfilled
Yes please, I would love some Paul Cluver Chardonnay
The bread selection, it did go a bit untouched as we are all watching our carbs
Or you can have the La Motte Sauvignon Blanc
The exciting menu. We could taste portions of everything on the menu. The dishes were served for us to share
The very fresh Yellowtail ceviche in a cucumber and melon salsa with locally foraged seaweed, Yuzu pearls and a sesame soy vinaigrette was a perfect summer starter
The other starter was Tempura Angelfish with beautifully crisp batter on a slice of pickled apple topped with a small salad and a fynbos aioli. Apple and fish is a good combination if the apple is tart, which this was
Starter portion
Topping up Leah van Deventer's glass. She works at Good Housekeeping
Wines for the next course were both outstanding. David Nieuwoudt's refined, crisp and lean Ghost Corner Semillon and Paul Cluver's elegant, dark and moody black cherry Seven Flags Pinot Noir; both were outstanding accompaniments to the fish dishes
Such crisp baby calamari served with a tomato vierge, hand cut chips (that could have been a bit more crispy) and a deep rich Fynbos aioli was a huge favourite on the table
Grilled fillets of Angelfish in a lemon fennel bouillabaisse with wild garlic croutons could have made a lovely summer lunch on its own and went perfectly with the Semillon
The best piece of Yellowtail Lynne has ever had. Not her favourite fish as it is usually overcooked and dry, but these large thick slices really showed off the fish to perfection, it was moist, juicy and full of flavour. Served on wild garlic rice and tomato relish with confit agave shoots, another first for us. The skin was crisp and much favoured by some at the table
And a final unexpected reward was the iconic Vin de Constance from Klein Constantia to accompany dessert
which was another tour de force. An Amarula liqueur and Coffee square cake - a different play on tiramisu
Fresh summer Berries with an MCC sabayon and small lavender meringues
The absolute piece de resistance from their talented pastry chef Bobby Kumar. A Passion Fruit and Pistachio torte, which was incredible and captivated even Lynne, who is not a dessert person. Not only did most of us enjoy a slice, but another went home with us for a treat with supper the following day. The cake was soaked in passion fruit sorbet, sandwiched together with lemon curd and covered in a green pistachio 'marzipan', then topped with fruit. You should go and try this for yourself; it is so wonderful and they serve it with the Afternoon tea, R260 per person. We just wish that this standard of baking would become normal in South Africa. Well done Chef Kumar
Executive Chef Jocelyn Myers-Adams who produced this wonderful meal did join us for lunch. She has a huge commitment to serving SASSI approved fish. She told us about her rooftop garden at the hotel and how she is becoming very interested in foraging for local South African herbs and other edibles and she is learning about them. She wants to incorporate them in her menus. She picks the agave buds and pickles them. We had them on the Yellowtail and they are different from anything else we have tasted before. They come from the giant Agave sisalana that you see growing along our coastline, the huge stems with bracket flowers , the whole plant dies once it has flowered
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

Tuesday, March 01, 2016

2016 Wine Label Design Awards

Held this year at the AVA Gallery in Church Street, where we had a chance to see all the 20 labels that reached the final, see the awards and then taste the winning label wines
A glass of Graham Beck Blanc de blancs MCC is always a good welcome
Penny Verburg of Luddite wines and Anelle van Tonder of Babylonstoren with Journalist Melvin Minnaar
The awards
Wicus Maritz of the awards’ sponsor Rotolabel gave the opening speech and had us trying to imagine what wine bottles and their labels would be like in 40 years’ time. Digitalisation is the future
Niels Verburg of Luddite, who received one of the two top gold awards; the other went to Simonsig for the Garland
Designer John Pace acted as MC again
Christian Eedes of WineMag.co.za, organiser of the awards and head judge, announces the awards
The judges: Rebecca Constable of Woolworths, designers Sean Harrison of Whitespace Creative and Carla Kreuser of The Jupiter Drawing Room, chef Liam Tomlin and Christian Eedes. They felt that the overall standard of the 50 entries was satisfactory rather than inspired. There were 20 finalists of which 4 were runners up
Healthy canapés came from Plant
A bemused but delighted Penny and Niels Verburg with their Saboteur labels
Christian pours a taste for Rebecca Constable
Winemaker Wim Braak and viticulturist Charl du Plessis of Piekenierskloof with their winning range of labels that tell an interesting story
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus

Sunset sail with Waterfront Charters and supper at The Greek Fisherman

We receive many invitations to do great things in our own city and we waited for the perfect day to take this sunset Cruise. We were bidden to arrive at the Waterfront Charters office at 6 and we sailed on the Serenity One at 6.15, on a calm sea with little wind and a lovely sunset. This was followed on our return to the Waterfront at 8 pm by a lovely Meze dinner at The Greek Fisherman. And all of the flavours of Greece were in those mezes. The Cruise and Dine package with Waterfront Charters costs R570 per person for the cruise and dinner. https://waterfrontcharters.co.za/shop24/special-cruises
The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront dockside, from where all the bay and sunset cruise boats leave
We have the safety drill as we leave the harbour
The research vessel SA Agulhas 2, recently returned from her annual trip to provision the SANAE base in Antarctica
Our skipper at the helm of catamaran Serenity One
We had dolphins in our wake as we left the harbour
It is a "Champagne" cruise but the semi sweet rosé sparkling wine they serve does little to recommend SA wines to our tourists. Although it flows copiously, we think a little less of a better wine would do wonders
Young seals taking a nap on one of the harbour entrance buoys
Most of the boats leave at the same time to see the sunset
A wonderful view of the city nestling beneath Table Mountain, Lion's Head and Signal Hill
A view of Sea Point from the sea. That huge crane is above our house, where another block of flats is being built up against the hill
Waterfront Charters flag on the mast. We did sail briefly exiting Table Bay, just using the genoa
The inside cabin and bar. Most chose to sit on the deck above the bows
A yacht at anchor in the bay
Sailing towards the setting sun. The sea had the texture and colour of oily petroleum
The sun dipping below the horizon
Heading back to harbour
The light turns opal colours and you get a lovely view of the far Simonsberg mountain near Stellenbosch
Passing Mouille Point lighthouse and the World Cup Stadium behind it
Looking back to Bantry Bay and the 12 Apostles mountains
The afterglow and another cruise boat
"Pink sky at night, "shepherds delight" means good weather tomorrow
Looking over the breakwater to the Table Bay Hotel, the big wheel and the V&A Waterfront, with Signal Hill, Lion's Head and Table Mountain in the background
Another view of the Cape Town Stadium, which some, not always fondly, call the salad bowl
The procession back to the dock
City light reflected in the water
SA Agulhas 2, lit up like a Christmas tree
Heading for our moorings
A view of the restaurant where we were to have dinner, The Greek Fisherman is upstairs in the second sloping roofed building from the right
The old Port Captain's building now houses shops and a museum
Lovely reflections
Looking up at The Greek Fisherman on the first floor
And the view from our table looking back down at the harbour
On a balmy night such as this, most people chose to eat on the terrace
Our dinner, a choice of mezes, arrives. They have a large selection to chose from. Great tasting and very tender baby calamari in garlic and lemon
Biftekia, small beef meatballs with oregano and feta cheese have lots of flavour. Served with lemon and huge chips
Perfect crisp Spanakopita (filo pastry wrapped cheese & spinach pies) with the right flavours of dill and mint, just like we had them in Greece, served hot
This is a very traditional meze, fried kefalotyri cheese (can be made from sheep or goat’s milk) still bubbling, which is topped with honey, lemon and sesame seeds. It is fantastic, but needs to be eaten hot as, when it gets cold it becomes very chewy. We last had this on a terrace in Mycenae last May
The perfect Greek Village Salad: ripe tomatoes, black olives, cucumber, spring onions dressed with oregano and olive oil and topped with a huge slice of Feta cheese

A dish of Souvla lamb from the spit, with a baked tomato and lots more chips. We could not eat any more but perhaps you can? It is a meal to relish and keep returning for, especially if you have great memories of dining in Greece 
They have a range of Greek products for you to buy
  
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus