Friday, December 10, 2021

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 19. Robertson - Marbrin Olives

Our visit in Robertson had been so kindly and efficiently organised for us by Rene at Robertson Tourism
even though she was about to go on leave. We are very thankful to her indeed

Marbrin Olive Farm is in the Klaasvoogds area. It was on our list to visit and it happened to be the first place we found
on our way to check in to our overnight accommodation
It is down a rather bumpy farm road, but the main building is set in a lovely verdant garden

Inside, we met Briony Coetsee, who owns Marbrin with her partner, Clive Heymans. She told us that they worked in London previously, at some of the top restaurants, before returning to South Africa. He was a chef and Briony told us that she is a sommelier. She took us through a tasting of their olives, oils and other products, then had to leave to collect her child from school. We explained that we had both done olive oil courses with Linda Costa, had participated in many industry tastings on olive farms and had sold only SA Olive products in our shop, so we did not need her to explain the process of making the olives and the oil. The oils were good, lots of purity of flavour and you could taste the different characteristics and age. We realised that we already know the infused oils; we use the Fennel flavoured olive oil, which we bought at Woolworths. They are worth trying. The Dill would be great with fish, gravadlax, peas & broad beans, The Coriander seed oil with boerewors and Asian food. The Fennel is great on pork, tomatoes and fish. They have a flavoured Truffle oil. The Chilli oil has a slow burn. The bottled Mission olives are big, salty and juicy, with a bite of expected olive bitterness. The two pestos were good

Some of the range for tasting

The price list

Extra Virgin Olive oil for tasting. These are two different pressings, one early, one later in the season

They have won several awards

which are displayed on the wall behind the tasting desk

A grumpy Clive Heymans came to take over, but we found his attitude rather off-putting, especially when he discovered that we were doing a story about Marbrin. In fact, he was downright rude, so we tasted just two pestos and then left. He said that, usually when he spends his time with “Bloggers”, they only write one line about them! Believe us, we were tempted. Not the best way to get publicity for your products. We know, we used to sell things like this in our shop, where we also won awards, but we welcomed everyone

Beautiful views of the mountains in the distance looking over the olive groves

With just harvested cornfields in the middle distance

So, off to lunch and a tasting with Johann de Wet at De Wetshof (Click Here)

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Posted by MENU at 6:16 pm 2 comments

MENU visits the Karoo and the Garden Route 17. Belvidere Manor, Knysna

If there is a place where one can slow down, destress and enjoy the beautiful scenery, it has to be Knysna
We had not been for seven years, so it was a definite stop on our journey
And what a treat to stay for two nights at beautiful Belvidere Manor Hotel, hosted by our friends Sue and Mike Mills

It is a really special resort at the inland end of the Knysna Lagoon, with superb views

and the view across the lawn and the swimming pool is of the whole Knysna Lagoon;
you can see right down to the Knysna Heads

Our lovely cottage is splendid, so comfortable, spacious and well designed, it has two large bedrooms, two bathrooms, a huge sitting room, kitchen and an outside veranda with table and chairs. The perfect place for a long stay. The cottages are serviced. There are several cottages on either side of the vast lawn with the main house at the top, which is where you have breakfast. Some are privately owned and available for rent when the owners are not there. One or two are permanently occupied. We would love to live somewhere like this, if we weren’t happy in our Sea Point home

They had left us some welcoming treats to enjoy. Those brownies are A–ma-zing!

A lovely welcoming note too

The fully equipped kitchen

The very comfortable lounge

A fire, Satellite TV and a table and chairs for meals or computers!

A large and very comfortable bedroom with a huge bed. The linen and towels are of high quality

and the other bedroom has single beds. Each has its own bathroom

The view from the stoep

The main building, where you go for breakfast; in good weather it is served on the terrace

There are also apartments at the back of the main building, and some can cater for larger groups

Our kind hosts Sue and Mike Mills had invited us to join them for supper in the Bell, their pub restaurant
next to the Manor and we had a suitably libacious evening with very good food

This is the menu where they list the Covid protocols

and the food

The thirsty 'lads' began with some draught Devil's Peak IPA, served in a Mitchell’s glass

Souvenirs left by the many foreign visitors

Mike Mills and one of the wines we sampled that night, Rijk's Touch 2018 Pinotage from Tulbagh
- some from our cellar and some from Mike's

John enjoyed his usual choice of a huge Hamburger with very crisp chips,

Mike a Chicken and Mushroom pot pie



and Lynne ordered the Spiced Calamari with a salad, just right, she had been longing for some seafood and this really delivered, although she was tempted by the beer battered Hake and Chips. We were, after all, now back by the sea
We also had a Peter Bayly Sauvignon Blanc

Sue had the Mussels in cider with smoky bacon and crusty bread, which looked superb

Then at 11 we headed back to the cottage and bed
It was a very crisp night and we were thankful for the heater and the electric blanket
It was a very peaceful night and we slept very well; it must be the sea air and the very comfortable bed
Oh, that view

Next morning, we walked up to the main building for breakfast on the terrace

We were given a delicious plate of pawpaw, ruby grapefruit, green melon, ham,
brie, blue cheese and cheddar to begin with, and we ordered our coffee and green tea

There are some great choices on the menu. John had scrambled eggs, a very good pork sausage,
4 rashers of bacon and fried tomato
We were so impressed with the eggs, they were expertly seasoned
and they put a little cream into the mix when cooking them;
it does make such a difference

and Lynne had scrambled egg, topped with smoked salmon on a muffin

Toast and marmalade followed and then it was time to take a walk and explore the Belvidere grounds
before we went off to see some of Knysna

An indigenous watsonia

The gardens are beautifully planted

They have their own jetty where you can tie up your boat if you bring one. We walked down to see it
The wind was blowing quite a stiff breeze, good for sailing on the lagoon
We chatted to the fisherman seated there, and no, he hadn’t caught anything yet
Then back through the lovely Belvidere gardens

Some rowing boats waiting to rise with the incoming tide

The town of Knysna seems to have grown and become much busier, but still has the same good atmosphere
It was nearly spring tide, so the lagoon was filling up nicely

In the evening, we stayed in the cottage as we had to repack the car for the next leg of the journey. We had to be up early the next morning for the drive to Robertson, where we had a mid-morning appointment. We had a quiet and early night in and didn’t need supper as we find two meals a day now are perfectly adequate. The kitchen had generously provided us with some sandwiches and fruit to eat in the morning, as we were leaving before they began to serve breakfast. We were sad to leave this lovely place, where we feel so at home





Posted by MENU at 5:51 pm 0 comments

Thursday, December 09, 2021

Birthday Lunch at Cheyne's, Hout Bay

John's birthday on the 27th of November started on the hill behind and above Hout Bay, where we visited a family friend
She was holding a memorial for one of her sons who, tragically, succumbed to Covid this year
The view from her house is spectacular

Lynne had booked a table at Cheyne's in Hout Bay for 1 pm
Chef Cheyne Morrisby is renowned for his Asian inspired food and we are great fans of good Asian food,
so we wanted to sample it; this was a good time to do so

The same building also houses Lucky Bao, serving Bao, Ramen and Burgers
and the Superette where you can buy ingredients for home cooking. Chef Cheyne Morrisby runs both

Inside, it is rather atmospheric with lots of cherry blossom,
but we chose to eat on the back verandah, as it was a lovely day

Under the awning with our polite and attentive waiter, Tatenda, opening our wine
He was very interested in what we were drinking, so we gave him some to taste. They charge R50 corkage
It was a wine from our cellar that was given to us on John's birthday a few years ago
We wanted to taste it with Asian food; it went so well with all the food

This is Cheyne's Yum Cha menu. We made four choices each, so eight dishes to share
The current special is a 4 dish tasting experience for R340 per head

The drinks menu. Well-chosen wines, many available by the glass

and the Lucky Bao menu

The wine we brought - Die Kluisenaar 2016 was made and given to us by Johan Malan, cellarmaster at Simonsig,
who is the Kluisenaar, (translation: The Grapesmith). It is a blend of  Rhône varietals Roussanne and Marsanne
A limited release. Aromas of lime blossoms, citrus, peach, baked apple, and a caramel wood note
It is rich and ripe with a good mouth feel; full of layers of golden fruit, some minerality and length. Perfect with food

Food began to arrive, two or three dishes at a time. This is the Sea Bass Sashimi which came with a supplement of R60
The menu said that the accompaniments were house ponzu, jalapeno, picked ginger and toasted sesame
Not a very generous portion, sadly, but we did enjoy it
 There were also dots of salty caviar and some crisps and red onion slices

This was by far the best dish of them all. Wonderful aubergine tempura
The aubergine inside the fabulous crisp pastry was so soft and gooey, with great flavour
The umami sauce was Unagi (fresh water eel) and a salted caramel lime Aioli with a dusting of chilli flakes

Good deep fried Chilli salt baby squid; tender and cooked to perfection and there were crisp tentacles as well,
with a sesame mayo and a green chilli caramel. There was also wakame seaweed beneath the squid

Baby shrimp tempura was correctly described, as the portion and the shrimps were small. A bit over cooked, so rather dry
The garlic truffle mayo was gentle and seemed to have a chilli sprinkle
We think the purple blob was beetroot kimchi or could it have been seaweed?

The Mumbai Chilli beef came swathed in herbs, onion rings, carrot and coconut flakes
Beneath was glistening strands of hard beef, coated in a good teriyaki sticky sauce, and sesame seeds
 Reminiscent of biltong, done in an Asian style

Roasted and pulled lamb-filled, very rich and briefly steamed Gyoza dumplings,
on pickled cucumber slices and topped with fresh mint
 On the side, what tasted like a good oyster sauce and wasabi yoghurt

Another good dish was the Duck lime leaf and miso croquettes, very rich and moreish on a sriracha mayo,
and another sticky sweet sauce with flaked coconut
 We did question why such a meaty, rich dish had salty caviar on top; it didn’t work with the duck, for us

Our eighth and final dish was the Grilled beef fillet Kushiyaki - skewered and grilled on a Hibachi,
with a cardamom, ginger and chilli dipping sauce. Sadly, the picture did not appear
It has a supplement of R40
Our bill with service, supplements and corkage was R915
The 8 courses were filling and we did take a small doggie bag home with a duck croquette and Mumbai Chilli beef
In front of us were four young people, who looked like students and they were tucking in to the Lucky Bao menu
Burgers, Bowls - Poke and Ramen, The loaded chips did look very good

There are some interesting plaques embedded in the wall

and bamboo in the back garden enhances the atmosphere

Lots of softly rustling old Poplar trees that must have been planted when we were young, they are so big

watched by a red-winged starling, just waiting for a chance to pinch something off our plates. No chance!

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Posted by MENU at 6:49 pm 0 comments
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