This is a small 15 room boutique hotel in Port Owen, owned by Russell Foster, a British restaurateur from Durham in Sutherland in England where he and his son-in-law own and run 12 restaurants. He told us he had come here to retire, found this place on auction, saw the potential, bought it and opened just 16 months ago. It has been a success. We had recommendations from people we know in Cape Town long before we decided to come up to this area for a holiday, so when Carmen Lerm of West Coast Way asked if we would like to visit it and write a review, we were very keen to oblige
The entrance. Finding Russell's is not difficult,
there are signs pointing the way from the centre of Velddrif, which is on the
mouth of the Berg River. You cross over the causeway past the salt pans and
Cerebos sea salt plant and then as you enter Velddrif, turn left and follow the
signs If you get lost just head for the Marina, the hotel is alongside it
The enclosed terrace restaurant
And the outer terrace restaurant where they seated
us. The views are lovely. The umbrellas are very necessary as it was a
gloriously hot day. One very clever adaptation that we have not seen before and
we are surprised it hasn't caught on: all the umbrellas were on wheels, so they could
be trundled about by the staff with ease as the sun moved across its arc
Lots of yachts moored nearby. There are plans to
make an hotel jetty right in front of these steps so they will have direct
access
The 4 star hotel is probably the same age as our 3
bed house in Sea Point which was (solidly) built in 1924. We have the same
pillars, balustrades and arches but in a very
much smaller scale. Lynne calls the style Early Cape Tuscan! They have
recently acquired the second house down on the right and it is now a nine suite
Guest lodge
The starter menu has lots of temptations and a
good vegan option. The Head chef is Charl Coetzee who was previously at Spier
wine farm and the Alphen hotel in Constantia. He is very into local and
sustainable food where possible, and does forage for samphire on the local
beaches and estuary. The restaurant can seat 90 people
The main course menu also presented us with
difficult choices! We both chose the same course then realised we do need to
write about different courses so we happily changed our order
They serve pizzas and, at the moment, are serving
Sangria at the weekends
And the final temptations
We have heard that the breakfasts/brunch are also
worth going for so we asked to photograph the menu, in case you are tempted
"Mine Host" Russell Foster joined us for
a chat and told us about how he bought the hotel and some of his plans for
the future. His son-in-law will be opening a craft brewery (they have one in
the UK) and they will have a riverboat where they can take guests on trips up
the river while enjoying a gourmet meal. He sings and while we were having
lunch they played a tape of his music, a customer having requested it. They do
have regular musical evenings at the hotel with different artists
Lynne's starter of Seared Norwegian Salmon was
perfectly cooked. Crisp caramelisation on one side and yet still pink and moist
and flaky inside. seasoned simply with Japanese Ponzu sauce - soy flavoured
with a crisp Japanese lime like citrus and sesame. Salmon this fresh and good
does not need gilding. On sliced avocado and green leaves with coriander
sprouts and sesame seeds, it was dotted with paprika mayonnaise. The small
fried cube in front was very clever. It is plain sushi rice, cubed and deep
fried. A novel and really good addition of a small amount of carbohydrate
John ordered the Salt and Pepper squid, which
Lynne did covet a bit. Beautifully cooked and well flavoured tempura coated baby squid
tentacles and polpetti, crisp on the outside and tender within, it was dressed
with black ink aioli, paprika mayonnaise, lemon, tomatoes and pea shoots
Lynne's salmon with its dressing and the inside
opened to show how pink and moist it was
We had a bottle of one of our favourite West Coast
wines from Groote Post, their Chenin Blanc 2017 Fresh, zesty, full of classic
Chenin flavours with a tropical hint of guava and pineapple. It seems that the
Pentz family (who own Groote Post) also like Russell's on the Port. It paired so well with the food
Lynne's main course was a large piece of well
glazed Pork Belly, served on good creamy mashed potato, with seared onions, pak
choy and an onion broth. The cracking was world class - the best for a long
time, the pork tender and falling apart, if a tad too fatty for her. It needed
a bit more seasoning and the vegetables were a little superannuated and undercooked
John chose the Moroccan Spiced Yellowtail, one of
his preferred fishes, served with Israeli cous cous, an aubergine cream,
olives, tomato, basil and some homemade labneh (fresh cheese) flavoured with
herbs. It was also perfectly cooked - they know how to treat fish - moist and
not at all dry as it is sometimes served in restaurants, which is why Lynne
doesn't order it
A lazy afternoon on the terrace
We had a friendly visitor to our table, this small
wagtail looking for scraps, he seems to be a regular
"Who is that handsome bird I can see?"
Oh, they tempted us into having desserts. Joneve
was our friendly waitress.
Lynne risked the dairy allergy and went for
Affogato (drowned in Italian) . It is an ice cream drowned in espresso coffee. It
had grated chocolate on top of the ice cream, and in the base caramel chocolate
and nuts. Wicked beyond belief and worth the suffering
It was accompanied by two banana beignet's. Crisp
on the outside, but rather raw on the inside
John's Chocolate Brownie Sundae with pecan ice
cream, a cherry, nuts and crumbs. He managed to wolf it down without blinking,
so much did he enjoy it
The hotel under manager, Enver, then asked us if we would like to see some of the
rooms in the Guest lodge so, always curious, off we went
This is a lovely suite with its own terrace facing
the marina. Prices per night for two people are in the region of R1,650 to
R1899. http://russellsontheport.co.za/
Another front suite ...
... which has its own balcony and direct pool
access
The private pool
We had a really good lunch and will definitely
return when next in the area. It is nice to see restaurants of this quality
opening in this area, which has long been rather lacking in quality dining. Now someone just has
to open something good in Britannia Bay. Thank you Russell, Chef and all the
staff who were so helpful
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2018
2
garlic cloves – 1 kg ripe tomatoes (Roma or jam work well) – 5 tablespoons of
olive oil - 100g white bread, no crusts, lightly crumbled - 1 or 2 tablespoons
good quality sweet red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar – a pinch of caster sugar
(optional) – sea salt and black pepper
