It is bolshy, opening a place that only serves salad, sirloin and frites (with some fries) – but it does make for an easy lunch, since the only choice you have to make is which wine and how you’d like the steak cooked. Mention must be made of the great bar area with its cocktail list (with smoking lounge and outside courtyard), while the dining space is simply and functionally elegant. My second steak here was good, though not as good as the first time (which was a charm). Desserts are still ordinary, today I tried the chocolate tart, whose jellied texture was far from the dense chocolate I had hoped for. Be interesting to see what HQ is like on a full night…
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Popped into HQ last night for an early dinner and in a very carnivorous mood. HQ absolutely nailed it – salad was nice (there is no other word for it), although not spectacular, and my medium-rare steak was spot on. I was delighted by the generous portion and gorgeous flavours. I literally wanted to lick the plate of leftover Cafe de Paris butter!
Am definitely planning a repeat visit – yum!
The service here is shocking, and also at Caveau, where are all the old staff gone, Caveau used to be my favourite restaurant.
I agree Gina; service at Caveau is not what it was and on my last visit frankly very poor. I have not been back! Try La Boheme in Sea Point instead!
The service at Caveau at the Mill (Newlands) is still top notch with lots of the old staff still remaining. They have also glassed in half of the outside area so there is much more indoor space. The addition of a fire place is also a real bonus!
I agree, what is going on at Caveau ? standards have slipped dramatically here in the last year.
On another note, a colleague of mine ate at the new Italian restaurant at the old showroom in Greenpoint, v nice by all accounts, prices supposed to be reasonable, what I want to know more about is apparently they are selling off all the showrooms wines cheaply in the restaurant, my boss had a bottle of Warrick Trilogy for R200 ! does anyone know anything about this, how long is it running for ?? Can’t find a number for them, help !
Regarding the wine at Portofino (ex. Showroom location), the deal is apparently that they are selling off all of the old Showroom stock at reduced prices, to make space for their winelist. So it’s running for as long as the Showroom wines last!
Hi,
We are open now for lunch and dinner at Portofino (old Showroom) and are selling off the wine cellar so its a great opportunity to drink some amazing wines at nice prices, the menu is below and also our number, we only opened yesterday so we won’t get everything right straight away but we will do our best.
Antipasti
Bruschetta x 3 – fresh tomato and basil, griddled courgettes and mint, chicken livers R55
Antipasti plate (for 2) – chilli salt squid, marinated vegetable rolls, Parma ham, salami, olives R85
Beef carpaccio – watercress, parmesan shavings, olive oil and lemon R 60
Melanzane all parmigiana – layers of griddled aubergine, mozzarella tomato, basil R45
Tuscan minestrone soup R45
Orange, almond, parmesan and goats cheese salad with lemon dressing R 45
Seasonal salad R 40
Pumpkin, goats cheese and pumpkin seeds salad with honey mustard dressing R 45
Pasta
Risotto of the day R75
Warm risone with pancetta, peas, asparagus, porcini mushrooms with truffle infusion R70
Fresh gnocchi of the day R60
Lasagna alla Bolognese R70
Spaghetti Carbonara R65
Broccoli and anchovy pasta R65
Penne Arrabbiata – fresh tomato and chilli R60
Butternut and ricotta ravioli with pine nut butter R55
Tagliatelle with fresh mussels R85
Mains
Veal parcel filled with pesto and buffalo mozzarella and ricotta and butternut stuffed ravioli R 105
Grilled fish of the day R105
Honey and mustard pork fillet – pumpkin and potato mash, green beans R 90
Lamb cutlets with rosemary jus – cannellini bean puree, vegetables R 105
Grilled baby chicken marinated in olive oil, garlic and chilli with baby pesto potatoes R 105
Desserts
Pistachio and almond cake with yoghurt and honey sorbet and mint pannacotta
Homemade lemon tart with lemon ice cream
Ricotta and honey tart
Lindt Nemesis cake with honeycomb ice cream
Portofino Tiramisu
Selection of ice creams or sorbets
R40
tel : 021 418 4500
fax : 021 418 0700
info@portofinoct.co.za
Tried Portofino last night, brilliant ! What a change from the Showroom, they have revamped it somewhat, small changes but they make a difference, they have curtained the windows between the car showroom and the restaurant space which cuts out the harsh white light you used to get at the Showroom, it also dampens down the sound in the room which was a big problem previously. Bar counter is now wood rather than glass.
The menu is very reasonably priced, not sure if this is just until they built a crowd or not but the prices are lower than other comparable places and the food is better, go figure.
We tried the beef carpaccio and a gnocchi to start, both excellent, the carpaccio melted away in your mouth as it should and the subtle flavours in the gnocchi were divine.
Mains, were veal parcel and the lamb cultlets, again both very good, meat cooked perfectly, subtle flavours seem to be the order of the day.
Talk about saving the best for last, the desserts were superb, we were pretty full and didn’t order any but the owner arrived with a taster plate of some of the desserts, the chocolate cake was the best I have ever tasted anywhere, unbelievable ! pannacotta was also good as were some home made ice creams.
Service was a bit unsure, waitress had to get the barman to open the wine and it took them a while to get the credit card machine working, but the food was excellent and the waitress was so sweet I would have opened the bottle myself. The wine is indeed priced very well, we had a bottle of Glen Carlou chardonay for 150 Rand which was delicious.
I will be back very soon.
After many Caveau meals in the cortyard I finally gave in and tried the sirloin /salad combo – salad was good and very well dressed – steak was tender and full of flavour – cafe de paris butter less succesfull – overpowered by dried herbs – chips from frozen ?
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