Delaire Graff Restaurant - Helshoogte

Well, there we have it! The perfect example of how to take something with potential and realise it! This is a superlative venue and for me is not far off being on par with the Restaurant Mosaic as the top dining experience destination. I remember the old Delaire and everyone whom I chatted to about this estate felt the same in that it had loads of potential. Pity that none of us had the capital or vision to do something about it.

That fact on the other hand may be a good thing as what the Graff's have done is do justice to that potential, simply magnificent, not sure I would have achieved it even if I had the capital. Your arrival at the restaurant is very impressive and the expansion of the old wine tasting area and restaurant is way beyond what I had envisioned. Gone is the old wine farm feel which has now been replaced by something chic, with a definitive style that shouts "I am the future and I am damn good, even if I say so myself".

I just think that this venue provides you with all the best things you want to see when going to eat out at a wine estate: fantastic views, beautiful furniture and art, see through glass walls in to the cellar and barrel maturation area, which are rounded off by beautiful marble and massive fireplaces everywhere. Where Restaurant Mosaic presents rich colours and tapestries, this venue presents cool colours and clean lines, each at their own end of the spectrum, but both exceptional at what they are.

In addition we understand that a hotel and spa will be added in the near future and it will certainly be interesting to see what that looks like. Based on the present evidence I have no doubt that it will be stunning. Anyway, on arrival we were shown through to the lounge for an aperitif. This gave us a chance to have a good look at the menu, which is small, but will provide for most tastes as there is a good variety of dishes available.

The wine list is very impressive with a wide variety from a number of local and international estates. The estate's own wines make for really good drinking while there is a good measure of reasonably priced wines with some expensive ones and a couple which are in the stratosphere and whose prices look like the year they were made in. This however means that they cater for all types of patrons that will dine at this venue. To me this is a perfect example of how an estate with its own wine should present itself. The reality being that, as we did, most people will select your estate wine to try it in any case. If they however prefer something else, then there is a wonderful selection to choose from.

Well, as they say, the tasting is in the eating and so we did. The food is very impressive and as it is a three course restaurant, the portions are generous which is always good to see. We tried the tuna and the salmon starters, delicious, we would certainly recommend the salmon if forced to choose. For mains we tried the recommendations, being crayfish lasagna and the roast duck cassoulet. Both dishes were fantastic, but the duck for us was the better dish. The crayfish lasagna was very very good, but the duck was beautifully done with the best sausage cassoulet we have ever eaten. The duck is a powerful dish, but absolutely smashing and delivers loads of flavour. My mouth waters just thinking about it. The desserts were good as well, but the star of the evening for us was still the duck.

So where does this leave us? For me the restaurant experience is fantastic (I forgot to mention the very friendly and efficient staff) and South Africa could certainly do with more of these types of venues as they are magnificent to frequent and really make life enjoyable. On the restaurant side, it certainly goes straight into our top ten as the food was simply fantastic. In closing, if you find yourself in Cape Town and are looking for something special, then this restaurant is certainly the venue for you, particularly on a warm summers evening with something cold to drink, fantastic food to eat and magnificent views. It doesn't get much better than this!

The Tasting Room - Le Quartier Francais

You certainly expect a lot when going to the number one restaurant in South Africa. We have waited for this day for some time now and it was with much eager anticipation that we entered the refurbished Tasting Room. They certainly are a well drilled machine and very welcoming. The decor, some will like and others won't, but I think there is meant to be a horizon with trees on it on the one wall but you can't really see it when sitting on that side of the room. Well, did they deliver, in one part yes, on another, not really.

On the food side the restaurant was fantastic and they really do delight the palet with some deft touches in the dishes and some delightful interpretations. Eight courses is a long time to keep people interested and they certainly achieve this by giving you a wonderful array of tastes and food to keep you waiting to see what is next. All of this starts with their bread which is fantastic and really sets you off on a delightful journey ending with the best petite fours I think I've ever eaten. We have attached the menu so that you can see for yourself what we had and again I would like to say that the food is top class.

It's part of the wine side that I have a problem with. One would expect that being at the top restaurant in SA that they would pair the food with the best possible wines without making the price outrageous. What I did notice as a matter of interest is that less than half the wines accompanying the tasting menu were on the wine list. I understand that these will however be on the wine list in the near future. The wine list I might add is fantastic and includes a section detailing wines being matured for future consumption that you may enjoy when coming to the restaurant again.

So many neat touches and some lovely pairings, but the one that got to us was the pairing of the Vergelegen vin de Florence with the most sensational dish on the menu, the sous vide quail breast. This dish really is the star of the show and I must admit that I am sure that there is a better South African wine that can be paired with this. It really did not complement the food and we felt a bit let down by this. The sweet wines with the last dish was okay, but again nothing special, how about Vin de Constance or something else instead, this is after all South Africa's premier dining experience?

Our overall feeling was that the meal was absolutely fantastic, but some of the wine pairings could have been better and when I compare this experience with that of Restaurant Mosaic, The Tasting Room would match the food delivered by Chantel, but not the wine pairings which just did not deliver that something special to round off a fantastic meal.

Spur

This may seem like a peculiar restaurant to have on this sight and indeed this post is not about the food, but the pricing. I happened to be at Durban airport recently and decided to take a seat at the Spur and do some work. Looking at the menu, I was surprised to see the pricing.

A fillet steak (270g) was no less than R104.95 excluding sauce, but including chips and onion rings. I found this astonishing in that many people think that they are unable to afford to go to the likes of Reubens, Ici (Le Quartier Francais), French Connection and many more upmarket restaurants because the meals are not affordable. The pricing at the Spur however proves this wrong as for R120 you can have a steak, with chips and sauce at Reubens, Ici and many others.

People often ask us where we go and tend to look starry eyed at some of the places mentioned, but in reality the pricing is not that far off from your common Spur. So the next time you sit eating that steak at Spur consider that you could also be at one of the top restaurants eating a better meal for the same pricing. The accompaniments such as the wine may be more expensive, but the basic food does not seem to be far off.

Overture

It's a cold rainy Cape winters day and having properly celebrated Bastille Day in Franschhoek the previous day we went off to Overture to celebrate a friend's birthday. I must admit that it may not be the easiest restaurant to find, but it is certainly worth the trip. It truly is in a hidden valley and the venue and surrounds are magnificent. Clearly no money has been spared in setting up the cellar and the restaurant and it is always a pleasure to see something built with passion rather than just purpose. Unfortunately we did not have the best of views, but got glimpses of how magnificent it must be on a clear day.

Our friend had been kind enough to provide us with a four course selection and this meant that each could choose a number of delights to pleasure the taste buds. The menu is small, but comprehensive enough to provide for most tastes and we sat pondering on how to make the best use of our four choices.

I found the wine list to be disappointing as there are only a few wines, mostly from the estate, on offer. I just find that although restaurants look to offer something unique when based on an estate and offer their wines, they tend to limit themselves and the patrons to what may be an enhanced experience if other wines were available. I also feel that they limit themselves in terms of the spending opportunities they offer the patrons as if you do not enjoy that particular estate's wine you are not likely to order another bottle. Each to their own though.

However, getting to the good stuff. Their top ten rating and platinum status hangs proudly on the wall as it should. This establishment really makes fantastic food and there were only praises flowing from all the members of the party. This taking into account that there were 15 people and not one negative peep. Between my wife, her mother and I we tried all but one of the starters, all but one of the main courses, the cheese and both desserts and I have to say that we would have happily had any of those dishes and almost each one was as good as the next. It really is great to see the consistency of the food quality across the board.

As good as the food was all round, there was one dish for me that stood out a little above the rest and that was the braised blesbok. It really seemed to have a little something extra, besides the fact that it is an antelope that is not often offered on menus. It's great to try something else other than kudu or springbok.

This restaurant certainly will require further visits, particularly when you are able to see all the way across to Cape Point on a beautiful day with something cold in your hand. On top of this all, the costs of the various menu choices were very reasonable taking into account the restaurant's status and rating.