The independent, authentic guide to the restaurants of South Africa

Dining at Sage is an experience of comfortable luxury – the kind of place that invites reveries of  nobility, that particularly nonchalant kind of nobility, where money has lost its lustre through just being around too much. Once you’re past the gate’s guard (who, for some reason did not know that Sage was the Hunter’s House restaurant), the winding road takes you through the expansive grounds of the estate to the country house, its much like travelling back in time and arriving at a lodge in the nineteenth century.

The team are studied in relaxed but very attentive care, leading you for a pre-dinner drink to the “summer house” which is now more a boma post a fire, or to the very cosy lounge. On the evening we dined, our table was in a private room (simply for intimacy, as the main area was less than full) with a fireplace and fine furnishings. A thoughtful and charming touch, and with the arrival of drinks, then food, to the private room, you certainly feel regal.

It’s been a while since I’ve eaten at Hunters, they used to occupy a position as one of the “go-to” places for fine dining on the Garden Route, but time and chef changes eroded much. It’s one of those destination restaurants that is also easy to forgo for a more accessible place in Plett or Knysna – unless its top of mind for great food.

The wine list is formidable, the menu playful. Four courses cost R325. First is a daily soup; second, dishes like “cheese and tomato” – a goat’s cheese tortellini, smoked tomato fondue, semi-dried tomatoes and basil foam. Or terrine of rabbit, or hake ceviche with citrus caviar and pimento confetti. The main courses feature acts like “Fish pie, only not” and “Bangers and Mash” – playful re-creations that sit alongside more mainstream options like prawn curry, or rack of lamb. Beef fillet is, however, crusted “three ways” – so it’s a menu full of inventiveness and certainly a far shout from the same old. Reading the menu in an email a week before was actually the reason I again took the detour.

In the end, while the meal was most enjoyable, the menu read better than it ate. The technical quality on the plate did not, regrettably, match the excitement of the descriptions. Highlights were the hake ceviche with the citrus and pimento confetti, bright bursts of flavour; and the Mozambican prawn curry. A passion fruit soufflé had good flavour but was rough in texture. “Bangers and mash” – which was re-dreamt as a duck confit mousseline with a gem squash mash – was a great concept but the duck was dry and uninspired. Hot smoked baby chicken was tender, but the smoke flavour was acrid (on a bed of lovely mushroom barley risotto though). In the end, I would have preferred less playfulness and more precision, which is a pity to have to write because a kitchen with such verve is to be celebrated.

Sage has potential, and this destination venue could well once more be a food lover’s must-stop. It is a lovely experience, and with more attention to the primary flavours and textures, the menu and the creativity could find a happy medium.

Hunter’s Country House, 10km west of Plett on N2. Dinner nightly. 044 5328222