The menu was presented on a blackboard, a selection of five starters including springbok carpaccio (R65) and “crayfish tail” (R75); while the mains were meat and grills-driven and included beef fillet (R128), lamb shoulder (R135) and pork neck (R105). There was also a “vegetable dish” on request. A (poor) sun-dried tomato bread slice arrived with both butter and hummus; shortly followed by a small piece of smoked beef, introduced thus by the waiter: “We call this an amuse bush”.

As my starter, the generous portion of roast tomato soup was good, and if overly liberally peppered, it did have a welcome sweet tomato flavour, and was reasonable value at R45. There followed a lemon sorbet which was OK but with a gummy texture. My main course, the rib-eye steak (R125) was served to the table under a cloche, a touch that matched the white gloves but seemed out of place in what is essentially a bistro.

The steak was cooked to order, and served with a peppadew foam, another out-of-place touch. The sweet flavours of the mousse-like foam did nothing for the savoury meat either. All was plated on turned potato balls (by turn soft, then undercooked, so an indication of a less than diligent kitchen), with a light application of wild mushrooms plus a few herbs – all in quantity more like garnish, which asked questions to the value of the plate.

The dessert was a trio of South African specialities (R48), but all were very poorly rendered: an anaemic melktert, a pale malva with no chewy richness and an oddly bouffant (meringue-like) hertzoggie that lacked any of the jammy stickiness these tartlets are known for. The coffee was adequate, ending a meal that, in balance, was workable but made little impression.

For: Good service and plenty of space, ideal for groups.
Against: Rather anodyne and not great value.

The dining room is undeniably stylish, if in an exuberantly eclectic vein. Nautical blues, stripes, shells and sailboats – fused to “boudoir” textures of rich drapes, patterned walls, oversized mirrors and heavy carpets. It’s almost overwhelmingly aquamarine but also very cluttered and rather dark and certainly not to everyone’s taste, although the (blue-tiled) deck with amazing sea views certainly charms all comers. At least it is a departure from the anodyne – though the dreary “muzak” throughout the hotel mitigates this sense of individualism.

The menu is currently divided into two sections, the first the creations of the chef, Henrico Grobbelaar; the second those of the owner, Bea Tollman (though, to be sure, he and his team would be cooking both!). On his page, lightly grilled baby squid and its ink with a rocket sauce (R75); hers crayfish and prawn cocktail “with fresh lettuce, rocket, avocado and lime segments, dressed with a piquant Marie rose sauce” at R170. On his a main of “Ménage à trois” of duck (pan-seared breast and braised duck leg in a pancake with foie gras mousse, vanilla parsnip purée, port soaked prunes and its sauce, R165) – hers pot roasted sole (with flavours of white wine, vermouth, wild garlic and shallots, R165) or prawn pasta at R110.

Our starters (from his menu) were: seared tuna with corn salad, mushroom mousseline and a cider gastrique at R95 and a smoked oyster and cucumber soup at R75. While the tuna was clearly from frozen and arranged with its corn and (overly crunchy) assemblage without much panache it was acceptable. The soup, however, was a joke – a few smoked oysters in dilute cream adding the only hint of complexity. The portion, too, was silly (not that I wanted more cream). I was tempted to ask for them to keep it as a side sauce for my steak.

Which steak, fillet, was cooked in their Josper oven (one of two in the country, the other at their sister hotel, The Oyster Box in Umhlanga). This coal-burning oven cooks at very high heat, the result, the waiter explained to me, would be a steak of great succulence as well as good crust. I liked the sound of this and ordered it rare, to enhance the succulence, which was just as well, as it came cooked medium. The flavour was good, served with a lentil ragout, pistachio purée, parmesan crumbs and a sweet soy sauce the whole was good, if not quite superb for R160, and certainly no better than a steakhouse offering. My friend’s duo of quail (R160) was literally laughable in portion size next to my steak. It was served with arbitrary sides like puffed wheat and pickled currants.

It has to the said that the service was very good indeed and the colonial Leopard Room bar upstairs is a fine place for a drink, but the restaurant still has work to do to distinguish itself.

For: Eccentric spaces, awesome setting and good service

Against: Ordinary food at high prices.

Some foods evoke strong argument, nevertheless, over which is the best example thereof. I think burgers are one – and people love to argue over the best sushi. Pizza is another. So a group of us decided to put three of the Cape’s well-known and well-loved pizza-making restaurants to the test in a pizza taste-off. Our group of six included three Italians in order to seek a more authentic view.

We ate at all three pizzerias on the same night and we ordered the same pizzas at each. That is to say, we ordered a Margherita, a prosciutto and rocket and one more that was “establishment’s choice” – something that they wanted to serve as a signature. The Margherita was chosen as a classic and the backbone of any pizzeria. It also one of the “official” pizzas as decreed by the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana. The prosciutto and rocket was chosen as one that would show the quality of the ham that the place used.

We looked carefully at the essence of the pizza – the base – and certainly had a preference for bases that were proper bread instead of the wafer that is passed off as “thin-base” at many places. The latter taste more like a biscuit and dry out instantly, they also tend to collapse under the weight of all the (often bad) cheese that is piled on.

As for the cheese, another vital element to judge, we were looking at both the quality (no yellow, rubbery “mozzarella”) and the use thereof: not smothering the pizza. We also looked at the quality and taste of the tomato sauce (the passata) and the toppings used.

The three places we tried were: Magica Roma; Massimo’s and Burrata.

At Magica Roma, the style is certainly more towards thin-based, and our scores for this were not too high, on the other hand the quality and flavour of the toppings used was very good and there was great balance in the flavour. These were also pizzas that you could easily eat a whole one of and not feel like you needed to lie down.

Massimo’s, it seems to me, has gradually made their bases thinner and less “bread-like” (probably to suit the local market), while the pizzas have always featured fresh and lovely ingredients. He often makes his bianco – with no tomato – to show the other toppings off. On this night, ironically, the passata was really the problem, it tasted over-reduced and acrid, a taste that affected the whole and meant lower scores.

It was at the new kid, Burrata, were we finally found the real Neapolitan-style base we were looking for: scorched but pliable, chewy with real bread flavour and ready to carry its ingredients. The only demerit was the too-salty flavour, a problem that I have found on previous visits too. Another observation was that the passata was very thin – so as not really to add flavour; though the rest of the ingredients certainly did.

So the night’s winner was Burrata. With a base that was superior and quality throughout, this is a very satisfying meal. In second place Magica Roma; and Massimo’s third. It should be noted that all three are superior places to eat pizza – and the dreaded sea of oily cheese with bits floating like pollution was never in sight!

It’s worth noting that La Colombe at 82 in 2011 was a drop from being an incredible 12th in 2010… How can an establishment fall so far so fast? Simply, this competition rewards chefs more than restaurants. Luke Dale-Roberts was at the helm in 2010 and it is his The Test Kitchen that has this year been rewarded far above a still very consistently good La Colombe.

Both are great restaurants – the point is that La Colombe still is a great restaurant – but the judges have moved on in their statement of fashion and chef-focussed interest. Another example is Rust en Vrede. Still a great restaurant, it was likely it would never place again once celebrated chef David Higgs left.

So, as ever, caveat emptor. There is a lesson in this for restaurants who want to do well at competitions though: spend on your marketing around your chef and make him or her famous!

The second review to win this week is Tassin’s of Burrata, one of the restaurants that was recently part of the pizza taste-off – and run by Rust en Vrede’s previous manager and sommelier, the urbane Neil Grant.

But they are different restaurants in a number of respects. In mood, Test Kitchen is tranquil by comparison to the vibrant noisiness of Pot Luck with its hard surfaces and closely-ranged tables. There is a constant bustle of waiters moving from the (open) kitchen to the tables, as the menu is made up of small plate meals that are designed to share, meaning quite a bit of service interaction. Diners are also seated at counters along the wall and facing the kitchen, a great place to soak in the frenetic action (but not easily converse). Bold, large-format artworks adorn the walls and metal room dividers are also vibrantly decorative.

While The Test Kitchen is a place for the conventional three (or more) course meal, Pot Luck encourages a meal that is as long as your appetite and attention allows. It’s possible to make multiple orders and eat in stages – and if you like a dish you can quickly order another of the same or switch constantly between what may interchangeably be considered “starters” or “mains”. Orders are also delivered in no particular sequence (and on this occasion some also went missing).

The name of the restaurant is a little misleading, as plates are not pot luck – you know what you’re getting as they’re listed for your choice (though they’re in little particular order). As a table of five, some clarification from the waiter was also needed to understand which plates would offer all of us a morsel and which would require a double order. This is an area that needs some fine tuning, since quite a few of the dishes are plated much more like an individual order and are therefore difficult to divide.

These hitches aside, the food is very good indeed, with exciting flavours and ideas that are global and modern but stay clear of cheffy trickery. Hand-made plates and bowls are used for a lovely tactile impression and options range from the simplicity of edamame beans (with toasted garlic salt, mind you, R35) and olives with red pepper pesto with “artisan bread” (R30); to Chinese-style pork rib with a dark beer and doenjang (Korean soybean paste) glaze, R60; or smoked beef fillet with a black pepper and truffle “café au lait” sauce, R80. Stand-outs on the night were “Claus’ Coconut and Calamari Salad” (R60) and pork belly with Luke’s XO (spicy Asian seafood sauce) dressing, at R45.

For: A very lively, modern space with exciting food for reasonable prices

Against: Noisy, plates are not all ready to be shared as intended