Great sushi in Cape Town and Durban

By JPR | Published: January 28, 2010

Cape Town

Nobu, One&Only, V&A Waterfront. 021 431 5111. Dinner nightly. Price: Expensive.

Nobuyuki Matsuhisa now has 22 restaurants around the world, making his famous “Nobu” line one of the most upmarket chains on the planet. Relative ubiquity notwithstanding, the arrival of the first African Nobu irrevocably changed the South African sushi landscape – this is the place to experience it at its best. Whether you order à la carte or choose a set menu like the omakase (“from the heart”) chef’s selection, the fish is of the highest grade and the presentation true to the precise aesthetic of Japanese culture – every plate beautiful (no coloured plastic here). A South African omakase menu features only local seafoods, while the other menus showcase local and global delicacies. But most importantly, Hideki Maeda, head chef, is a master of the sushi-meshi, the rice – the discernibly individual, firm-to-the-bite grains held together by a delicate magnetism, never bluntly compressed, a mark of the finest. Wines: Sake is the preferred drink, and the choice is intriguing, from the dry Hokusetsu “devil killer” to the “aged music book” – or choose wine from a carefully selected list gleaned from the hotel’s immense cellar. You can of course ask for the maze sommelier to bring his biblical list over.

… continue reading

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Hermanos, Hermanus

By JPR | Published: January 25, 2010

One of the basic rules of keeping a restaurant is keeping your locals happy. On the coast, and in city hotspots, there is plenty of temptation to cater to the du jour masses who’re here now, but when they’re gone, it’s your local and you. The brothers behind Hermanos, a relatively new spot in Hermanus, seem to get it. They’ve created a place that looks relatively upmarket, but in fact serves very reassuring food, the kind that the Hermanus local, a generally conservative eater, prefers. They aren’t aiming too high, and they’re pretty much on target.

Hermanos is set in a lovely house with an irresistible courtyard with decorative fireplace, the interior is light toned on warm tiles, walls adorned by simple “Picasso style” line drawings on natural paper. White clothed tables and sunflowers, the waiters all in neat uniform. The standout on this visit was the professional manner of the service staff: in the delivery of menu and the execution of duties all very good. Overall, the restaurant has a very elegant feeling, calming. The wine list is mainly local and well priced, while the menu is tight: five starters and seven main courses, four desserts. The choices err on the simple side, and for a place of these lines, their signature turns out to be… ribeye steak with rosemary wedges.

Starters include – tiger prawn and avocado stack; Thai fish koftas; risotto of asparagus and parma. Mains like – beef fillet served on hot rock; rack of lamb with polenta; fillet of pork with sage butter, horseradish mash and cranberry sauce; crespelle of vegetables; creme brulee, Signature chocolate tart. Prices are very reasonable at around R40 for starters and R70-100 for mains – another canny move.

So, a lovely space and excellent service. It’s all up to the food… which is ordinary – generally safe, but verging to being off the mark. Perhaps it was best to order a hot rock fillet or a ribeye steak, since our choices were not memorable, leaving us feeling fed, but not necessarily nourished. The risotto was passable but over-cooked (probably cooked to the SA palate?), the fish koftas good but served with sweet chili sauce that could have come from a bottle. The vegetable crespelle was not such, more a moist veg bake, underseasoned. Pork fillet was perfectly cooked and tender, but also lacking in seasoning (no discernible sage) and the “horseradish” mash was neutral. Even the cranberry was mute. To finish, the chocolate tart, promised by the waiter to be for serious chocolate lovers only, being so dark, was mild and fatty, served with vanilla ice cream that only accentuated its fattiness. Coffee poor.

All in all, its a neighbourhood regular, dressed up. Which could actually be a very good concept, just the menu needs to be careful not to over-extend, which some courses seem to. I’ll try the steak next time – the hot rocks were sizzling out the kitchen all night.

028 313 1916.

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Between the Buns – Searching for a great burger

By JPR | Published: January 22, 2010

You’ve got to love the Americans. Sure they gave us canned laughter, actor-politicians and atomic bombs but they also gave us the Model T, blue jeans – and hamburgers. The burger makes up for a lot of grief. Forget sliced bread, this is the 20th century’s greatest food invention. Other foods come in and out of fashion, but the burger has reigned supreme for over a century and shows no sign of stopping. It’s easily a contender for the most consumed meal in history, the whole globe’s comfort food.

America in your hand, the burger is democracy in food form. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, and I will give them a hamburger.” And just as the American way swept across the globe, so did the burger. Its part and parcel of the States’ cultural colonisation, those double arches striding continents without the need for any shock or awe. Even in the current bearish environment, Macdonald’s is planning to open 1000 stores in 2010. And so it will be recorded that the world was conquered by minced meat, soft white bread, fries, and the soundtrack of mastication.

The result is that many of you hate the burger. … continue reading

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L’Aperitivo, Cape Town

By JPR | Published: January 21, 2010

South African restaurants tend to fall into two broad categories – the self-consciously “special” place (even if the food is plain, it believes it’s special) and the franchise for dining at moderate prices. There are very few true neighbourhood restaurants where eating goes hand in hand with some conversation or a glass of wine; and the meal could be long or short, casual or more formal. Less structured, in other words, where the waiters don’t push you along the drinks-starters-mains-etc track with a relentless eye on the bill. The popularity of SA Italian and Portuguese restaurants is, I think, a function of the fact that people like the less mannered places.

This preamble introduces L’Aperitivo, a new place that certainly falls into the elegant-casual, come-anytime style of European eateries. It’s set on a city corner with lots of passing parade, alongside an art gallery and below a nightclub. Not a big place: bold block colours on the walls, screeded floors, dark brown bistro tables, a prominent bar counter. Streetside tables certainly add to the European feel, and as it happens the owners are Swiss and Italian with clear experience in operating a restaurant, plus they’re on hand and running the show.

The wines are listed on a blackboard, a good selection and most by the glass, good beers too. Similarly, the blackboard menu offers the choices – notable for having no pastas on the day I was there. Instead you can make up a sandwich, or have a caprese (good); seared tuna with roast veg (ok, though the cut of tuna too thin to make seared sing); veal saltimbocca (robust flavours, veal touch dry); or chicken parmigiana; fritatta; etc. Fresh pastries daily, and the almond tart we tried was very good, as were the coffees.

Other notable features are their good cocktails and the cocktail hour from 5-7pm when snacks are served. Prices range from R55 for a salad or snack to R85-95 for a main, so mid-range, but with hearty flavours and very good service this spot is a great addition to the inner city. (Wi-fi also available).

70 Loop Str. Mon to Sat 9 to late. 021 426 1001

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The Sidewalk Café, Vredehoek

By JPR | Published: January 19, 2010

On a busy corner of a residential suburb, this café is well positioned to be a neighbourhood regular – and happily it delivers. It’s a tiny space (and noisy), the tables are cheek-by-jowl, the space eclectic – it reminded me of a gardener’s cottage mixed with a country kitchen. Think bric-a-brac and mix-matched furniture, domestic objects hanging – successful in its “considered casual” ambience. There are also a few sidewalk tables, and counter seating with a superb view over the bay and Signal Hill. For portable professionals, wi-fi.

The cramped kitchen has been overhauled since this place last traded as a restaurant, thankfully, and now a small paper menu is the result, with casual comfort food where the emphasis is on bold flavour. Standards like Patagonian calamari, chilli and garlic but with a twist of rosemary; mussels in wine; chicken caesar; springbok shank; pastas – but also ideas like a nectarine, nut and feta salad with rocket and Spanish onion; a chicken, prawn, pea and chilli risotto; and asparagus and ricotta ravioli with anchovy cream, pinenuts, parmesan.

Value is excellent, with very few dishes over R100 and most between 40 and 75; breakfast also served, with a “Really Cheap Breakfast” at R20. Then there are sandwiches for between times or whenever people eat sandwiches post school days. And there’s a chicken burger or fish and chips at R65.

Tried a variety of the dishes, calamari was very good, the juices most moppable (the bread good). Linefish was well prepared, risotto (as above) was also well cooked, just crunchy, the chilli was a little exuberant, but ok if you’re ok with it. Ravioli of ricotta and asparagus was on the bland side, the anchovy bite missing, it could have saved the day. Desserts were a mixed bag, a bread and butter pudding was good, in itself, but too dry; while the chocolate brownie was poor – lacking in dark density and oily. Coffee was good. Wine list ordinary and tiny but the wine selection drinkable, prices fair.

In sum: I’d be very happy if this were my regular, and it certainly whips the others in the street. It’s worth a drive too.

33 Derry Street. 021 461 2839. I think it’s open every day, but let me know. Get’s busy, so book.

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Camil’s, Green Point

By JPR | Published: January 15, 2010

The single-word description for Camil’s, the new restaurant brought to you by the Bouillabaisse team, is eclectic. To this you could add “fun”. It’s in the space that briefly was Geisha, after it moved from Mouille Point, and one hopes this spot will now stay, because we certainly need some playfulness and experimentation in the South African restaurant universe. Not that the food here is experimental in a “too cheffy” way – rather it is unusual through fresh combinations and a choice of dishes that is refreshingly different to the everyday “pasta-steak-salad” menu.

It’s also quite a place to ingest on one visit, there’s so much going on. Firstly, it’s two restaurants in one – the more formal one on the left and a more casual “creperie” on the right. Both are attractive and vibrantly colourful, plus there are lovely courtyard seats. The sections merge into one another and ordering across menus is no problem – and there’s a bewildering selection of menus. Two wine lists, a cocktail list with tapas (replicated on the wall whiteboards), a lunch menu, a bar menu and a dinner menu. You can eat the food in small, medium or large portions. You need to be alert.

Camil and Ingrid Haas are of course well known for their seafood-oriented dishes with an Asian twist, and Camil’s still showcases this category, with a page dedicated, for example, to ways with oyster. You can also try an oysters’ compendium, like “three ways” (incongruously called “Three Musketeers”) which is with three dressings. Alongside there’s a good (though small) selection of champagne, adding yet another arrow to the quiver: the champagne and oyster bar.

The food here is a flurry of creative flavours and ideas. Here are some excerpts: … continue reading

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Klipkantien, Kalk Bay

By JPR | Published: January 13, 2010

A place that features and supports live music is always to be supported, in my view. There are so few venues left for musicians to play in, especially venues that are conducive to listening. And, being a jazz fan, a venue like Klipkantien that showcases young jazzers is even more of a gem.

Such a pity then that the food is so ordinary. If it’s edible, it’s only because the music is so distracting. Again such a shame, because the young European guys who own the spot are really full of hospitality, and the space is attractive: inside a big wooden bar counter and bistro tables, outside a lovely enclosed courtyard. It’s all part of the Majestic Village, one of Kalk Bay’s inner city re-developments and sits pleasantly just off the main drag. They offer breakfast, lunch and dinner, with music most nights. But you can also just come for the tunes, and have a drink or two.

021 788 2848. www.klipkantien.co.za

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Olympia Café, Kalk Bay

By JPR | Published: January 11, 2010

There’s a sign outside this legendary Kalk Bay spot that reads: “This ain’t Sandton doll” and suggests that all who enter here need to chill and get into the rhythm, name on the whiteboard waiting list (no reservations taken) and any bad attitude left at the door. Coming back here for lunch (and a breakfast the next day) really again impressed us how thoroughly scrappy, grimy & scruffy the place is. I mean truly messy, verging on alarming.

But it’s charms and popularity are undimmed. For its disheveled state seems to be in step with its character, and for all its grime it still has a vibrancy, in the food and in the staff, that so many neat-and-tidy restos completely lack.  The waiters are upbeat and generally on on ball, though they can be notably arrogant and even rude. It’s a bit of a signature. Ours (we had the same one for lunch and next day’s breakfast) was a certain grump. She also forgot my wine order, which is a pretty fire-able offence. Another note of warning: it’s very loud inside.

The bread here is very good, baked around the corner. It’s worth remembering, these years later, that Olympia was one of the first proper bakeries in the Cape. The pastries are no longer on par with newer bakeries, but the bread is good, especially the soft ones. To the food, what a pity that my mussel broth was terribly over-salted, because the mussels were good – while the seafood linguine was really excellent. The roast butternut and goats cheese salad, a very generous portion, was super. Very good espresso too, and good flat whites the next day, along with tasty scrambled eggs and a fine fruit salad.

Open 7 to 9 daily. 021 788 63 96

Posted in Restaurants Cape | 18 Comments

Harbour House, Kalk Bay

By JPR | Published: January 7, 2010

Harbour House has a setting that is nonpareil… A glass-walled building overlooking a scenic harbour, the sea lapping the rocks below – it’s simply outrageously pretty. And what this invariably means is that the establishment does not have to try too hard. Witness the difficulty in getting a reservation in season.

At Harbour House, they do try half-way. A scrum to check on reservations at the door took far too long to resolve, then we eased to the bar, since our table was still occupied by an early dinner reservation. The casual lounge/bar area is a newer addition, and very attractive in its views, but the tables were littered with glasses and cans and there were no waiters to take orders, so off you go to the service bar. When main courses sidle up to R150 and above you wouldn’t mind a few more waiters to serve you a drink. In general there’s a “just coping” feel about the place which does little for feelings of secure and caring hospitality. Instead there’s a constant worry about the certainty of the next step in the formula of the restaurant dance.

Then, saved. A Congolese gent appeared as our designated waiter and though he took our order without a notebook it turned out we were in the hands of a pro. So while the general state is one of under-staffing, this individual waiters sure was good. Harbour House now has a sushi menu (average), while the rest of the menu is small, enhanced by blackboard specials, many SQ. A tian of prawn starter was very attractively presented (R85) and fine, while the salads are also pretty, but the first was sodden with oil. Mains continued the oily theme with the calamari (R85) and the linefish. I had recently eaten lovely yellowtail at Brass Bell so knew there was very fresh stock around. Here at Harbour House they chose to embellish it with a herb and mushroom crust (when last did mushrooms form a crust?) as well as gremolata and a fennel cream cheese – all draped over oily fried potatoes. It was not inedible, but skirted with disaster.

I got the curious feeling that this is a restaurant at the sea where you’re better off ordering the meat dishes.

021 788 4133. Lunch and dinner daily.

Posted in Restaurants Cape | 4 Comments

Brass Bell, Kalk Bay

By JPR | Published: January 4, 2010

It often helps to know what you expect from a place. If you’re clear and pretty reasonable about this, the restaurant has a better chance of fitting the bill. Take the Brass Bell. If you think of it as a bar, with food, it does a fair enough job. If you add the  setting (right on the sea, in the heart of a harbour) and you factor in its incomparable character (it’s been around since the 1960s) – then it is a pretty amazing spot.

Over the years, the Bell has jazzed itself up, starting with the introduction of the “Main” restaurant upstairs, which suggested that they wanted to become a more serious food destination. They never really pulled it off, but the food is fair. Now there is also the “Bikini” deck, the “Pavilion” and gazebo, the “Cabin” (original bar) and bistro. A sushi bar has also made its inevitable appearance, a few years after the pizza menu. So in the encouraging words of Roy Orbison:  “anything you want, you got it”.

On summery day, sitting in the Bikini section (overlooking the tidal pool) we ate calamari (decent enough, R79) and fish (a piece of yellowtail that was seared as requested, and very good, though not cheap at R110). The harbour is a skiff trip away, so fresh fish right from its fishermen is a great treat. Chips were good, and service happy and brisk, making this a very fine “wooden bench at the seaside” lunch. You could just as well get much cheaper fish and chips and sit on the harbour wall, but who’s going to serve you some cold Thelema Sauvignon Blanc?

Daily lunch and dinner. 021 788 5456

Posted in Restaurants Cape | 7 Comments

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