Tasting Room at LQF, The

Tasting Room at LQF, The Le Quartier Français, Huguenot St, Franschhoek, Winelands

Tel | 021 876 2151

Hours | Dinner daily

Style | Sophisticated

Features :

Good wine list

Indulgence

Guests

Cuisine :

Website | www.lequartier.co.za

Email |

Owner/manager? Update details, add pics and more here.

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Reader Reviews

Tasting Room at LQF, The Franschhoek, Winelands

Clean flavours, a real treat | By Rosie | Monday, 02 May 2011

Special occasion time: the Tasting Room. I have become disillusioned by the 'fine dining' scene in Cape Town, but decided that we should give The Tasting Room a try before giving up hope completely (36th in the world and all)..
We started with a glass of bubbly at the Common Room – a lovely space. Friendly service, warm, casual. We then moved to the Tasting Room, my first impression being that it was underwhelming, but this changed through the meal (I noticed the subtle tree branch art on the wall, and the semi-porno 70's arches, and liked them). Dinner: exceptional. We were both blown away (all the more so based on previously mentioned preconceptions on this style of food). The lesson from this is that good food can take any form - small and expertly plated or bistro style or home cooked. It's about the perfectly planned combinations, excellent timing, and sourcing the best produce. We went for the five course tasting menu without wine pairing, and the sommelier assisted us in choosing a suitable wine. She was very helpful, bubbly, and unpretentious (her voice seemed to boom across the restaurant) and we settled on the Rupert & Rothschild blend, perfect for the cold evening and our chosen meat-based menu, and kind to the wallet. First course of consommé was exceptional. My partner was ready to march into the kitchen and propose to Margot Janse from the second spoonful. I won’t bore you with the whole tasting menu (you can see a vague replica on their website), but another superb dish was the kingklip with garlic pureé – I spent half the meal trying to figure out how they got the garlic to have that perfect ‘roasted but not’ flavour. (As an aside, it’s the first time I have eaten SASSI orange listed fish for a long time, and I felt bad about it). The duck and pea pureé paired extremely well, probably my best dish of the meal. The desserts were the only let-down – not nearly as good as the savoury dishes, with a mix of flavours and execution that just didn’t work. Service was polite, well-trained and friendly (I appreciated that the waiters engaged with us, were relaxed, and seemed genuinely interested in the food). I was surprised that we didn’t have one waiter serving the whole night, but instead a mix of whoever was in the vicinity/happened to pick up our plates, which was a bit odd but also nice to always have attentive staff on hand. The 5-course menu took us 3 ½ hours to get through, and it was overall a fantastic experience on all levels. Harmonious, clean dishes, well executed, with very good service. A real treat.

Overall Rating: 4.5

Food:

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Yes, I would return!

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