Test Kitchen, Tasting Room, The Greenhouse, Terroir , La Motte - final instalment on South African Restaurants by Bruce Palling

Chef Luke Dale-Roberts

Test Kitchen

Woodstock

Cape Town

www.thetestkitchen.co.za

Test Kitchen, along with its kid brother The Pot Luck Club, plus neighbouring Burrata, is inside the Biscuit Factory in Woodstock. This is my kind of neighbourhood – slightly wayward, edgy (in fact hip friends said they were buying property there but were going to rent it out for a couple of years until it became a tad safer late at night). I was blown away by the menu at Test Kitchen and the complete self-assurance of a professional chef like Luke Dale-Roberts. I could finally see why people raved about food in South Africa. Amongst the best meals I have had anywhere in recent times. Luke understands the need to integrate the ingredients on the plate so that they create a symphony rather than an ill-assorted collection of competing sonatas. Test Kitchen also offered the best wine pairing I had on my visit. It was rightly chosen by us as EAT OUT's best restaurant of the year.

Here was a chef that wasn’t merely piling ingredients onto a plate to impress, but doing it for a purpose.

Salmon Sashimi, red cabbage three ways, apple dressing with horseradish emulsion.

Lightly cooked Franschoek trout, aubergine netsuke, tamarind dressing, lime pureé . There had been a problem with over sweet dishes at previous restaurants but this never arose here – everything was perfectly balanced, especially this dish.

Rare cooked fillet of beef, blue cheese catalan, pear and peacans, liver and apple glacage.

Crayfish scottati, Luke’s XO dressing, crayfish braised rice

At this point there was a charmingly refreshing sorbet served inside an orange.

Slow cooked organic sweet potatoes, shortrib and maple braising liquor, roasted bone marrow and compressed eringi mushroom.

Wild mushroom and duck liver chawanmushi, morel glazed sweetbreads, variety of onions, burnt thyme soubise. These were perfectly cooked – not an easy task as if slightly overdone they become disgustingly rubbery.

Slow clam extraction, green tea pasta, oysters

Fricasse of langoustine and smoked quail, corn and miso velouté

Pan seared local duck, sake steamed foie gras, kumquats, turnip pureé, jasmine consommé, herbs. These duck pieces were perfection.

Pan fried springbok loin, butter roasted carrot, foie gras catalan, black pudding and Jerusalem artichoke stuffed sprouts with proper game jus. Again, this was the Springbok that renewed my faith in the beast. Perfect almost rare flesh.

Lemon chawanmushi and apple foam, meringues, almond and lemon powder

Butternut and orange semifreddo

I suspect that if this restaurant was in London, it would quickly have two Michelin stars. Bravo!

The Tasting Room

http://www.lqf.co.za

Franschhoek

This is a Southern African institution, so I approached it slightly trepidaciously. To be honest, I was slightly put off by the hotel name of Le Quartier Francaise, as it makes you think you will subject to some sort of Ersatz French experience on the other side of the planet, especially as it is a part of the Relais et Chateaux family. As a destination, Franschhoek (which translates as French Corner) is also too immaculate - it reminded me of one of those pluperfect Californian towns like Carmel, Santa Barbara or Petaluma - everything oh so tasteful and elegant.

How moronic of me – the Tasting Room is outstanding. On arrival, it looks a bit too Sixties pastel with a hint of African colours, but once we got over that initial impression, it worked quite well. I also approved of the lack of linen tablecloths to simplify the tables – lighting was good and not too much noise from the other diners.

Both menu offerings of chef Margot Janse were of the Menu Surprise type – 5 or 8 courses so we both opted for the 5 courses each, which they managed to do while including all of the dishes from the 8 course option, meaning sometimes we had different dishes but not a problem because we simply shared. That said, the composition was superb and the seasonality also exceptional – these were some of the best dishes I have had anywhere in recent months. The food presentation, too, was done with real flair.

Sweetcorn bread, baked in a sardine tin with home made caramelised butter from Tasting Room’s adopted cow Daisy.

The opening dish of a Winter Walk was extraordinary and easily as good as any equivalent dish at Noma with a very powerful underlying jus to hold it all together.

Beetroot ball is filled with an onion and spinach puree, on buttermilk labne with cucumber and dill granita, dusted with buchu, (indigenous herb). I was amazed at the skill shown in this meal – the only reservation I had was with the Beetroot dish, which to my taste was a little on the understated side though later when I spoke to the chef, she said this was because South Africans are not very keen on beetroot, so she tones it down.

Nettle, Jerusalem Artichoke, granadilla. The nettle soup is poured over different textures of jerusalem artichoke (royale, sauteed, thin chip and finely diced raw) with a lick of passionfruit and nettle dust. The nettle soup dish was also exceptional in being so austere without a hint of oversweetness, which has plagued many of the meals I have had in South Africa.

Curry Dusted skate wing, yellow dahl, kale, braised spices, confit tomato. The skate was wonderful and was a gesture to Cape Cuisine

while Farmer Angus Lamb cheek and tongue, aubergine, black garlic, amaranth. The lamb cheek and tongue had an earthiness which I very much approved of.

Quail going back to its roots....

Paradyskloof Quail - cooked sous vide in a brine made from buttermilk, salt and sugar. Then lacquered with a gastrique of caramelised lactose and home made red wine vinegar. With sweetcorn custard, savoury granola (puffed wild rice, parsnip crumbs, hazelnuts, lentils and oats) pickled and charred onions and brussels sprouts. The poached quail egg is dusted with pea powder. Light sherry jus. The quail was perfectly cooked and had a slightly smoky texture.

Dalewood lanquedoc custard, vinegar flings, leeks

Seared large Big Bay oyster, aerated oyster vichyssoise, roasted cos, seedloaf crumble and the pure seeds of the indigenous sour fig. The oyster dish was also stunning – the broth was remarkable but the thing about the oyster, which was from the western seaboard, was very creamy and wonderfully meaty and succulent. The wilted greens (cos?) had a superb texture and the broth coated everything and bound it all together. Why doesn’t she have more international acclaim?

List of dishes eaten at the table

This isn’t cheap, but still worth every penny. As for the wine, couldn’t face the full wine tasting option, which would have been a total of R500 even for the lesser number of dishes option so had a bottle of Waterford Cabernet 2010 instead which delivered and was not too alcoholic either.

The service was slightly over-enthusiastic for us though it seemed to be well received by most people in the room. They brought the coffee early and forgot the petit fours and my wife’s coat ended up being left behind because we forgot to pick it up. Still, a life-enhancing experience.

The Greenhouse

The Cellars-Hohenhort

Cape Town

www.collectionmcgrath.com/cellars/the-greenhouse/

This was an extremely well thought out menu by Peter Tempelhoff, with four choices for every course if you didn’t opt for either of the two tasting menus. The fur choices were further broken down into four categories - Lightly Chilled, Somewhat cooked, Medium to rare nd Somthing Sweet, which was a pleasant enough artifice. Also liked the addition of the glossary of South African food terms opposite the tasting menu. The wine list was short, simple and reasonably priced. The entire menu reeked of seasonality too. However, it was a bit of a bumpy ride – there were several first-rate dishes, while others failed to hit the spot, either through over-sweetness or simply not enough oompfh behind their appearance.

This canape has simplified elements of Heston Blumenthal dish...

and the eggs stuffed with lobster on a bed of straw, superficially similar to a Noma dish I had a few weeks back but sufficiently different not to raise eyebrows. (Though I preferred this one - the lobster stuffing was superb)

Blackened Yellowtail & Saldanha Bay Oyster. Apple-wasabi panna cotta, chilled soba noodles, avocado, tempura enoki, crispy seaweed.

Pressed Winelands Ham Hock, Guava. Foie gras mousse, macadamia praline, pickled onion vinaigrette. The ham hock had very little punch and the pig ears were a mystery to me too as they tasted of nothing, but looked superb!

Ostrich Tortellini & Consommé. Hay-smoked sweet potato, celery leaf tempura.

Perlemoen (A mollusc, also known as abalone) & Smoked Snoek (A member of the baracuda family) Broth. tartare of tuna, Bokbaaivygie (leaves of a succulent wild fig plant indigenous to the Western Cape) crispy rice, jalapeno. Likewise, the wrapped cold tartar of tuna within the snoek broth was a let down, as it was merely soggy and tepid, through immersion in the broth.

Cape Malay Kabeljou (An estuary fish found along the entire East Coast also known as Duski Kob). Lobster dahl, aubergine ragout, coconut jelly, crispy onions, Cape Malay spiced bisque.

Varieties of Cabbage and Local Duck. Roast breast, confit leg, seared waterblommetjies (pond weed), langoustine. The actual duck was pretty good (though not a patch on Test Kitchen’s duck dish), but I failed to see how the cabbage elements were supposed to work with the rest of the dish (though the confit leg rolls were great).

Don’t want to take anything away from his technique though, which was first-rate in its precision and detail

as was the simple sorbet served before

Banana Cake and Honeybush Tea (Citrus caramel, honeybush lime jelly, rosemary ice cream) which was playful and delightful in its deconstruction.

On the wine front, they really rose to the occasion when my wife declined to drink the bottle of Raats Cabernet Franc (too alcoholic for her sensitive palate). They immediately brought out two alternative less spirity options for her to have by the glass.

The service couldn’t have been better – not too much explaining which is a bit of a burden in most of the places I have eaten at – can’t see the point in merely repeating every item on the menu and particularly dislike people boasting about how this wine goes perfectly with that dish for whatever reason.

The ambience was only just OK, but the table we were given at the extreme end of the room only had a view from one chair. The other one, which I sat in, simply looked straight out into a darkened window, with no glimpse whatsoever of the restaurant. Also, thought the lighting was far too dark – couldn’t actually read what was on the menu without dragging over a candle and squinting. I am afraid that this experience put me into a gloom for the remainder of the meal, so I am probably being unfair.

Overall, I found the flavours not intense enough and presentation far too fiddly with too many things going on, even though I can see Peter Tempelhoff is technically, a highly competent chef.

If there are any errors in the juxtaposition of the pictures with the dishes concerned, I am afraid you will have to take it up with Mr. Tempelhof. I had a copy of the menu plus my notes, but I sent him some of the pictures several days ago just to make sure they were the correct ones - no reply for a few days, so I asked again. Back came this response from Grand Chef Tempelhof, who refused to be of any asistance:

Unfortunately, I am not comfortable with you blogging about your meal with us- which took place 6 months ago. (actually it was five, but why quibble over a month?)

I feel that if you were going to blog about the dinner you should have asked for the menu, or perhaps taken notes during it.

I just don’t think it will be an accurate account of your meal with us.

Terroir Restaurant

Stellenbosch

www.kleinezalze.com/terroir.html

Very attractive inside, though not great view outside. Blackboard menu, which I assume changes frequently – indications of seasonal awareness from chef Michel Broughton – and an attractive range of choices. All the food was well presented, especially the starters.

This was real food – the olive pureé that came with the bread (Sourdough rolls, aubergine focaccia ) was first rate and the first two starters were superb.

Caramel and ginger tempura squid, tomato jam, yuzu mayonnaise

A very attractive dish. Oxtail tortellini, pea puree, home cured bacon and truffle. Thought the bacon wasn't quite strong enough to carry through its flavour – almost required smoked pancetta or perhaps Serrano. Leaving the pea stems in was a good move to enhance the flavour and I could taste the oxtail within the pasta.

Prawn risotto, sauce Americaine

Loin of Karoo lamb, mustard baby beans, pink fir potatoes, confit tomato, basil jus. This was the only dish that didn't quite work. The loin of lamb, which was almost gray rather than the pink I requested and had a slightly crude gamey verging on abbattoiry taste, which I would normally go for, but not in this instance.

The pudding of tarte tatin (Tarte fine of Granny Smith apple, salted Calvados caramel, vanilla glace) was excellent and sticky.

Overall, a satisfying meal with great, cosy atmosphere. Had a lovely bottle of Vriesenhof Pinot 08. Service was excellent, perfectly friendly and well informed, though had the full lecture treatment of each and every dish read out, until I said it was unnecessary.

Terroir felt warm and amiable and would happily return.

La Motte

http://la-motte.com

Franschhoek Valley

An extraordinarily OTT restaurant in reasonably good taste, but it just reeks of huge expenditure as there is a serious winery attached, which is owned by the Ruperts. This was a disappointing dinner – Chris Erasmus, the chef had left that very morning for a stage at Noma, but that is not really an excuse. (Don’t ask me why I wasn’t sent there earlier as I have no idea.) The problem here was that the attempt to do classic traditional South African recipes did not have enough innovation in the dishes, so there was a sense of disappointment at the results. They ended up being like copies of the real thing without any gesture towards contemporary cuisine, so for me they were therefore rather dull and unimaginative. I would like to reserve judgement until I have tasted what the regular chef can do as this meal was a let down.

Lamb Tripe with a sweet corn cake on the side – not bad – one of the more interesting dishes.

La Motte spring tomatoes – tomato and baby spinach terrine, roasted cherry tomatoes, crystallised hazelnuts, honey, balsamic and rose vinaigrette. Nothing seemed to go together on this dish, which was too complicated and bitty.

Oxtail consommé with pear and tongue dumpling. For the life of me, I can’t remember what the pear part was supposed to be doing in relation to the consommé, which was the best part of this dish.

Venison Pappardelle red hartebest pate de champagne, green bean and almond ragout. The pappardelle was as thick as leather and rather chewy which made the whole dish unbalanced and unpleasant.

Grilled Panga - shitake, almond, chorizo and sultana ragout, mussel cream, white anchovy beignets, curried onion puree. The foam was completely unnecessary, but it was overcooked, not very interesting to eat and very boring to look at because of the beige colouring of all the ingredients.