Rockpool - Sydney

We ventured east to Australia for a two week holiday/conference and were looking forward to trying out the culinary delights on offer. Not knowing much about the Aussie restaurant scene I did some research and we booked restaurants with help from friends who live there and internet ratings and Rockpool was our destination on the first night we arrived.

From the start this looked like it was going to be something a little different and it certainly proved to be. We did not know what to expect and it was like being ambushed in a very good way. From the first drink poured by the Japanese sommelier trained in France to the most unbelievable tasting menu we have ever had, it was a thrill from the start to the very end.

Just starting with the amuse bouche of Sterling caviar with prawn toast, it really lit up all our senses. Our comments after this were if they could back that up it was going to be an exceptional evening, and it certainly was. Normally we find that tasting menus are a bit of a roller coaster ride, but this menu was different, each course was sensational in its own right and we were going through twists and turns rather than ups and downs. It simply has to be our best meal out ever, and believe me, we have eaten more than a couple.

To highlight individual courses in this menu that is so well rounded was always going to be difficult and I think that it falls on some of the items that we had not eaten often before, that tended to be the ones we singled out for discussion later. I am not a rabbit fan, but their signature rabbit and sweetbread pie was out of this world and if rabbit was served this way I would eat a lot more.

The standout dish in everyone’s mind though had to be the wagyu sirloin with the hot and numbing oyster sauce. It simply was phenomenal, best steak we have ever had. The flavours were simply sensational with the richness of the steak being offset by the hot sauce, simply a symphony.

We chose to do the international wine pairings with our meal and they were simply superb and wonderfully matched. One wine that literally fizzed our socks off was a Deseado late harvest sparkling wine from Argentina. It was paired with a grape fruit and pine nut tartlet and was a showstopper for the effervescence the fizz and sherbet flavour brought to the pairing.

I could go on for hours, but in conclusion, if you are ever in Sydney, break the bank and go to Rockpool for their tasting menu it simply is the best meal out we have ever had and that says something. I wish that more of our tasting menus here in SA would offer this consistent quality throughout the meal and at about R2300 per head, I would still pay for it. On second thoughts if you are ever in Australia, get there, it is that good.

Rust en Vrede

What a wonderful sight on arrival. The last time I visited this estate was about 20 years ago and it looked nothing like this.

It really looks a picture and we duly sat outside and enjoyed a wonderful glass of chilled Creation vigonier (Platter does not rate this wine, but we enjoy it) on a warm summers evening. Looking at the wine list, it really offers something for all with an obvious bent to the Rust en Vrede wines, but an excellent selection all round.

On being seated in the restaurant we received a friendly hello and smile from David and his team in their open kitchen, which is always a good start to the evening, but we would expect no less from the number one restaurant in the country. The Service was to prove really top class for the rest of the evening with the waitress being knowledgeable about the food, the sommelier being superb and very engaging allowing for some good hearted banter. The sommelier really did add something special when announcing the next course and its wine pairing - it wasn't just his knowledge of the wines, but the manner in which he delivers it. It felt as if the dining experience was a very personal one with David stopping by as well. No wonder they won the top service award in the country as well!

We decided on the six course tasting menu with pairings, with very high expectations. We were not disappointed as the food was very good. Each course was very tasty, but what stood out for all of us was the pairing of the wines which we thought was exceptional. We have found that in other top notch restaurants the pairings are fair to average due to various factors, cost being amongst the foremost of them, but at Rust en Vrede they have it spot on. My favourite dish of the evening was the fillet of beef with all its accompaniments (see photo above) while my wife enjoyed her desert the most (see photo below).

As an overall impression we thought the restaurant was very very good and certainly worth the money spent. If I had one complaint it may be that I would have liked bigger portions of food as I am not sure that most men will feel full after completing the six courses. Rust en Vrede carries a "highly rated must visit" recommendation and certainly makes it into our top ten!

Maze - Cape Town

A friend and I recently went to Maze and were not very impressed at all. Firstly, after sitting down outside on the deck, his chair broke with him landing up on his backside. To say that other diners were mortified is an understatement. They duly fetched another chair, but did not make much of a fuss about the matter. He also confessed that he thought their response was perhaps not adequate and being the type of person who can afford to frequent the hotel and the restaurant I don't think he will be frequenting either in the future.

Anyway, moving onto the food, which I have to say was average at best. Sure, you are paying for the view and being in the waterfront, but at least put some really quality food on the plate. We both opted for steak and chips and I just thought to myself, surely you can get better than this. We were in Franschhoek a couple of weeks later at The French Connection and again dined on steak and chips which as he remarked, was far better. He also remarked that the chair did not break and he felt the service was better. Pretty unbelievable when you have something which is so hyped up, yet fails to deliver. It seems to becoming a trait with Gordon and Maze if comments on their gala dinner recently are anything to go by. So for us, save your pennies and go elsewhere, get a better view and pay less for better quality food.

Terrior - Stellenbosch

Well, off to another top 20 restaurant to try their wares and this time it is the much talked about Terroir in Stellenbosch. We had booked dinner and arrived in the dark to what seems to be a lovely setting by day, but was wonderfully rustic and cosy by night.

Obviously high expectations abounded all round and when the menu arrived, on a large chalk board, we had to spend a considerable amount of time in deciding what we were going to eat. In the end the four of us decided to order six starters as this would allow us to taste the dishes that caught our fancy. Needless to say we required something wet to accompany the food and after having a thorough look through the wine list, we decided on the Kleine Zalze sauvignon blanc, double gold no less and a very enjoyable wine at that.

After deciding on the starters we all went for different main courses that included venison, lamb, fish and pork, their signature dish. The starters arrived and most received rave reviews, but the two that did not, were the white asparagus with ceps and the seafood ragout. We had one of the main courses, mushroom risotto, as a starter and it was fantastic.

So on to the mains and again most of them were very good and enjoyed by all. I however felt that the signature dish of the pork, which had been cooked for eons through various techniques did not live up to my expectations. It was very good, but comparing it to the pork belly I have had elsewhere, it just seemed to lack the oomph to give it the real wow factor and set it apart from others.

The desserts come on a smaller chalk board, but are equally tempting as the other courses. We thoroughly enjoyed the apple pie and burnt lemon cheesecake, but the white chocolate with mascarpone (just added to the menu earlier in the day), was the clear winner and should remain on the menu for quite some time!

On reflection, this is a very good restaurant. However, as we have been working our way through various restaurants in the top 20 we are seeing a clear trend of a few that stand out above the rest and are the top tier and a second tier of very accomplished restaurants, but whom lack that special wow factor in either the food or venue or both. We feel that Terroir is for us in the second tier, but yes, it is a very good restaurant to visit and you will certainly enjoy your meal and outing there without a doubt!

I would like to mention that our waitress was absolutely fantastic! In fact we wish all of them were like her as restaurants would sell far more with her attitude and manner.

Hartford House - KZN

We were in KZN for a wedding and decided to make use of the opportunity to spend some time at one of KZN's top getaways and culinary destinations. It is not a long drive from Durban and if you are living in Gauteng it is pretty easy to get there, but coming from the Cape, it takes a bit more planning and travel. The effort to get there however is certainly worth it, idyllic living in the middle of a very impressive stud farm with horses and other animals surrounding you. We arrived in the afternoon and were given a refreshing cocktail before retiring to our room for a well deserved nap after the previous evening's wedding festivities. We awoke, all ready for the dinner that evening and joined the rest of the guests for pre-dinner drinks in the main house.

We had had a glimpse of the five course menu and were really excited to see what was to be produced. We enjoyed a glass or two of bubbly with some canapes which wet our appetites for the main attraction. The wine list is excellent with a host of fantastic wines to choose from at what must be the best pricing I have seen in quite a while. They really allow you to enjoy your food with very reasonably priced wines. To illustrate this point we enjoyed a bottle of Chocolate Block on the Friday night and Meerlust Rubicon on the Saturday night without getting a call from the bank manager. I am surprised though that a wine pairing was not offered with the dinners as this would certainly elevate the experience even higher than its current lofty heights.

Mick Goss, the owner, took us through a brief history of Hartford House and then left us in the extremely capable hands of Jacqui Cameron. What a feast, it was exceptional. The caramelised onion soup was fantastic, so was the salmon main course, the dessert and the cheeses, but the standout dish for me on the Friday night was the spicy lamb bunny chow which had a wonderful richness and depth in flavour that left me thinking that I would certainly like a main portion of that. A wonderful elegant interpretation of what is a favourite dish in SA.

This left us very excited about the Saturday evening meal as it would be a completely new menu. Before dinner Mick Goss, with his wonderful story telling ability, gave us a history of the area including the many wars that have been fought there and we were then treated to some Zulu war dancing by the local youngsters, very very impressive indeed. Jacqui had a lot to live up to and did not disappoint, we thought she even outdid her efforts of the Friday night.

Again, all courses were delicious, but the one that stood out for us and was probably the best dish of the weekend was the fillet with shitake butter, truffle infused potato creme with a fantastic truffle sauce. This dish really set itself apart from the others with its wonderful textures and stunning flavours. In fact, the truffle sauce was so good that we requested some bread to mop up what was left on the plate. Hey, if the Europeans can do it then so can we!

Not only does Jacqui provide fantastic dinners, she also provides the most different, in a good sense, breakfast menu I think we have ever seen. It really is very funky and we spent some time deciding on what to eat. Luckily we had two days of breakfasts so that we had a number of goes at trying out different dishes from her menu. They were all very good and we really enjoyed the banana smoothie, jungle oats with whisky, cream and sugar, the omelet and the traditional English breakfast. To top the main breakfast off we enjoyed the desserts, particularly the bucks fizz as it was cold and refreshing on a hot spring morning.

Hartford House really is a fantastic venue and is highly, highly recommended if you have the chance to visit. The setting, surroundings and best of all, the food are fantastic. This fact is borne out by it screaming into our top 10 destinations and restaurants. A very special destination indeed!

Ile Maurice - Durban

This much vaunted Durban restaurant was a disappointment to say the least! We managed to get a table for two about an hour before opening, never a good sign really, although when chatting later to one of their managers he stated that they had turned people away because they were fully booked. Stretching the truth a bit or were we just incredibly lucky?

Upon arrival we were shown to our table and found that we were sitting next to the distinct smell of fresh paint - obviously dolling up the place before the season starts! The waiter eventually arrived and we managed to order a bottle of water, although this took some time to arrive and was kindly placed on the table so that we could pour the water ourselves. Unfortunately this was a portent of things to come. It was not that the waiters were not trying, it is just that they were clueless about their role! They simply had no idea about the menu and what was on it. We enquired three times as to what was on their Madame Mauvis platter and eventually got a garbled reply which still did not define exactly what was on the platter.

We were informed that they had the best langoustines ever and this was the house special, at R375 for 4 very large ones. We mulled over the menu and eventually decided that we would have a three course meal with starters, the langoustine dish to share and a main course. The wine menu has a large variety to choose from with some very good wines available, some of them a bit more expensive than at other restaurants though.

We decided as it was raining and cold that we would have the De Toren Z, a wine well known to us and much enjoyed. When the wine arrived and we tasted it though, something was not right. We called the manager, Francois, over and he proceeded to tell us that the wine was fine and that he knows De Toren well and went through its virtues, pity he was talking about the Fusion wines and not the Z. He however stated that if we were not happy with the wine he would replace it with something else. I take my hat off to him as many restaurants would not offer you this option. He did however admit later that the wine was indeed not quite right. We then drank the very pleasant Morkel Bellevue Tumara blend.

Francois then kept us entertained throughout the evening with some of his wine stories, pity the rest of his crew were not as good. The starters (my wife had a choux pastry filled with spinach, cheese and salmon and I had the garlic snails) arrived and were mediocre at best. We waited for the langoustines and "very large" is certainly in the eye of the restaurateur instead of the diner. They were however perfectly done with a great garlic and peri peri sauces as accompaniments. We certainly didn't feel that we got value for money on this dish though.

The main courses arrived and were not great: the duck my wife ordered was smothered in a cherry (instead of orange) sweet sauce which soon made the crispy skin soggy and my pepper fillet was ordinary. The frites (thin potato chips) were the highlight of the main and were really good. We decided to skip dessert and head off home rather than tempt fate gain. All round not very good and would not recommend that you go there for seafood unless you have loads of cash and are looking to impress. I believe you can find the same quality seafood elsewhere at a better price.

Salushi - Claremont

I am not a great lover of sushi, but my wife certainly is. Out on a shopping expedition to Cavendish she suggested that we try one of the nice looking restaurants around the corner from our shopping destination. Off we went and the first restaurant we looked at did not have an appetising menu. The next one was Salushi and we decided to try it.

Well what a find. I do not know a lot about sushi, but what they delivered was fantastic. The salmon was fresh and beautiful and certainly was the star of the show. We ordered their 21 piece platter and absolutely wolfed it down. We then decided to order a number of other dishes off the menu to try them and each was as good. The chicken spring rolls, chicken noodle in cape curry, the banana and chocolate spring rolls and creme brulee with wasabi were simply fantastic.

It was a beautiful day and I am sure this added to our bonhomie and the feel good factor, but the food was good enough for us to order another 21 piece platter to enjoy parts of and still take some home to enjoy for supper that evening. As I said before, I do not know much about sushi, but if that is the quality that can be delivered regularly, then I am sold. Again the common thread with good food in restaurants was the freshness of the produce and the beauty of its preparation. Something to add to the all over feel good factor of the meal was that the sushi was half price as it was part of their winter special. Certainly a winner all round.