Balducci
restaurant in the V & A Waterfront now has a Vegan menu, in addition to
their normal menu, and we were invited to sample some of it at a media
event last week. It seems that there is a growing demand for vegetarian and
vegan food in the Cape and, when they introduced it after many requests, they
were very encouraged by the uptake. We are not vegetarian or vegan, but we have
friends who are and we do enjoy eating this sort of food if it is well made. We
are a little anti vegan food masquerading as meat. Be true to yourself, if you
crave it, eat it. We met three of the owners of the Slick restaurant group, who joined us for
dinner. They also own Balducci Asian Noodle and Sushi Bar, Balthazar, Gibson’s
and Walters Grill
We
began with three juices: L to R: a very refreshing and satisfying Carrot, ginger, apple and lemon juice; a Sherbet lemonade which has zingy pineapple,
apple, lemon, and hint of ginger with a lovely fresh mint finish; and an earthy, raw Beetroot with apple, mint, lemon and cucumber
Fresh
bread on the table with a vegan spread - which tasted just like oily margarine. We
also found good olive oil and balsamic on the table which always goes well with
bread
Slick
Group Beverage Manager André Naude pours the first wine. We were served the Elgin Ridge 282
2016 Sauvignon Blanc, which is certified organic and
biodynamic. It’s a classic, crisp Elgin cool country Sauvignon Blanc, some
sesame and herbal notes on the nose, with pineapple and lean limes on the
palate, with a long finish
Their
philosophy
This
was on our table and we liked the taste, we thought it was Dukkah. It actually
is vegan "parmesan cheese" - non dairy of course.
We
had a long table with many guests, some media, others committed vegans and some
were both
Our
first course, a salad, came in a jar
Beautiful
roses and bottles of water
The jar was emptied. It contained a selection of tomato,
cucumber, avocado,
peppers, olives, sprouts carrots and leaves. It came with a
dressing
The
second starter was a rather good falafel with a creamy Tahini
- lots of
texture, good flavours. No pita bread was served
We found that the
"parmesan" went well with this,
but then we did think it was Dukkah
The third
starter was a Trader Joe Pizza, with vegan, dairy free "cheese",
which we believe is made from nuts, and topped with mixed peppers,
raw red
onion and a vegan pesto. The base was thin and crisp
It was interesting and
enjoyable
The
red wine was a 2016 Estate Pinot Noir from Paul Cluver, also an Elgin Wine.
Wines approved for drinking by vegans must contain no animal products, nor be
fined by egg white or any other non approved addition such as isinglass.
Neither of the wines we had was made with the use of any animal products. The
Paul Cluver Pinot Noir is deservedly a four and a half star John Platter wine;
it has soft red fruit, a good support from delicate use of oak and lovely long
flavours of raspberries and other red berries. It is elegant and built to last
The
first main course was a penne pasta with smoked mushrooms, marinated tofu and a
rather thick cashew nut 'cream' sauce. We found it a bit heavy, but the vegan
next to Lynne absolutely loved it and had two or three helpings
A
Vegan Red Thai Curry was served next, nice and hot and spicy, it had tofu,
bamboo shoots, cauliflower, mushrooms and broccoli and was served with basmati
rice. Probably the best dish of the evening. John was not able to eat both of
these main courses because of the mushrooms, so the restaurant specially made
him some of the pasta without mushrooms
The
third main was Smoky Amaranth Black bean sliders. This needs a bit of work, as
we found the rather thin bean burgers very dry and it needed a sauce or binder of
some sort. It was dressed with pickled cucumber, and lettuce slaw. Bean
burgers, we think, need more texture. But we must point out that many of the
vegans present liked these. The supporting dish of crisp, sweet potato fries was
a winner, loved by all those who appreciate good sweet potatoes.
Two
desserts. Described as a Chia Parfait Glass, the coconut milk
"yoghurt" had, for us, a rather sour fermented taste - more like a
Kefir than a creamy yogurt - fresh strawberries and was sprinkled with chia
seeds. Again, our tastes differ; the vegan next to Lynne absolutely loved this
dish. The fermentation did rather continue overnight for both of us. The second
dessert, the tiny heart of "Cheesecake", made from more cashew nuts and
blueberries, had good flavour and was dense and rich. It was on a seed base,
rather like the Banting biscuits. Vegans use a lot of nuts and seeds. An
interesting meal. If you are vegetarian or vegan, you definitely need to go and
sample these dishes. Do let us know how you found it
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2018
