Good food, good surrounds

OUT AND ABOUT

We were warned that we needed to book for lunch at the Bistro – in a lovely garden shaded by old trees on Borrowdale Road corner of Kingsmead — and when I phoned in the morning (they only open at 10am) secured a perfect spot in one of their outside gazebos. The restaurant was indeed packed — I doubt there was a spare table. Our waiter gave us a very useful tip — advising us to get our food order in fast before a table of 30 on the verandah!
Even on a very hot October day it was airy under the shady gazebo — and with an ice bucket delivered quickly to the table along with a frosty litre bottle of borehole water, it was easy to keep cool and refreshed while we made our food choices. We brought our own wine and although corkage was US$3 a bottle, still a much less expensive than buying even the cheapest restaurant white — listed on the blackboard at US$18.  I do find prices charged for wines in local restaurants outrageous and look forward to a Cape holiday and sampling different wines at reasonable cost! Recently at Rainbow Towers I was charged a shocking US$35 for a Nederburg. Nice enough but…!

Menu is reassuringly simple but interesting, and I believe, changes often. Salad of choice and pronounced very good, was the toasted croissant with smoked chicken, horseradish and pepperdew sprinkled with a pretty mixture of toasted seeds and nuts, (US$12). On a previous occasion one friend had tried the green leaf salad with grilled chicken thighs, pancetta and kefalotiri and which she found tasty but overpowered with too much cheese. I dithered between toasted bell peppers on bruschetta with onion marmalade and feta (also US$12) and prawn tail curry (US$17), but settled for pan fried tilapia in parsley and lemon butter (US$15). Chips were very good, slim French cut and definitely fried in fresh oil without the lingering taste of other meals — common in less classy establishments. Fish was nicely cooked — much better I thought than at high end Emmanuels — but still not a patch on the Shop Café’s lemon butter bream.

Calamari and prawntail combo in a spicy tomato prego (US$16) was very tender and came served with a nice veg selection — carrots, cauliflower, courgettes. Other mains included chilli chicken thigh burger (US$11), pork neck steaks with mushrooms and whole grain mustard (US$13) or pork schnitzels (US$11).
All food is light and fresh, prettily presented and well-flavoured.

We went to town on the desserts — sampling all five between us. Well it was a birthday lunch! First prize went to the frozen pecan nut brittle cream and meringue mousse (US$7). Light airy and rich, it was the perfect summer day dessert — served with praline wafers and an elegant swirl of honey chocolate sauce. Crème brulee was indeed classic — vanilla flavoured with a wonderful crunchy caramel coating.  Brandy and date tipsy tart (US$6) would have been better as a winter warmer but the luscious sounding Kahlua scented chocolate truffle filo basket (US$7) didn’t quite deliver.  Although nicely flavoured we found the texture too soft and gooey, sticking to the palate. Apple and pear crumble (US$6) was a nice one — but felt too homely compared to its glamorous companions.

Although restaurant stops serving lunch at 2pm — we lingered on well into the afternoon — enjoying the breeze and each other’s company (for those of us who didn’t have to get back to work!). Very laid back and relaxing ambience — with lovely food and excellent service even on a busy day.
Easy to see why it’s so popular and always packed. Bookings essential on 851231.
– g.jeke@yahoo.com