Fine dining in South Africa
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South Africa Dining
Prudential Portfolio Managers rewarded the top 10 restaurants in South Africa for 2009 with its Prudential Eat Out Restaurant Awards. Seven out of the ten restaurants on the list are located in and around Cape Town, which tells us that either Western Cape chefs really know how to cook up a storm or the awards have a curious bias. Being based in the fair Cape, we prefer the former.
Eatout.co.za contains a full review of each restaurant, but here, for your very own edification, are the most pertinent details of the top 10 places to eat.
1) La Colombe: Constantia Uitsig Wine Estate, Cape Town.
Not content to rest on its Prudential 2009 laurels, La Colombe has earned 12th place in the San Pellegrino 50 Best Restaurants of the World Awards 2010, up 26 places from 2009. It has also won the Acqua Panna Best Restaurant in Africa and Middle East Award and has achieved a three-star rating (the highest rating possible) in the 2009 and 2010 issues of the Rossouw’s Restaurant guide. The food is a mix of Asian and classic and contemporary French cuisine cooked by award-winning chef Luke Dale-Roberts. Even the wine is award-winning.
2) Restaurant Mosaic: Orient Boutique Hotel, Hartebeespoort Dam, Pretoria.
The theme is Moroccan and is carried through to the hand-made Moroccan under plates and art works on the wall. A range of menus are available, including an a la carte menu, an exclusively vegetarian menu, a menu of recommended wine pairings and menus to tailored to suit each season of the year. Cuisine is contemporary with a strong oriental influence.
3) Rust en Vrede Restaurant: Rust en Vrede Estate, Stellenbosch.
Rust en Vrede has accumulated a host of awards, including a three-star rating in the Rossouw’s Restaurant awards for 2009 and 2010, the American Express Fine Dining Award 2009 and the Great Wine Capitals of the World Best Global Restaurant 2010. The cuisine is a self-described contemporary take on the classics with an emphasis on fresh, home grown ingredients. A six-course set-menu is available, as is a four-course a la carte menu.
4) Terroir: Kleine Zalze Wine Estate, Stellenbosch.
Picturesque settings, outstanding service and award-winning wines from the Kleine Zalze Wine Estate aside, Terroir’s claim to fame is multi-award-winning chef Michael Broughton and his “deceptively simple” approach to food. The cuisine is French and South African with an emphasis on seasonal, locally grown produce. Dishes are matched to specific Kleine Zalze wines, which include the award-winning chenin blanc and shiraz vintages.
5) The Roundhouse: Kloof Road, Camps Bay, Cape Town.
Three menus are available: the roundhouse menu, the rumbullion menu and the breakfast menu, each with its contemporary, playful approach to contemporary and French cuisine. There are four dining areas catering to a variety of needs and occasions. The private dining room allows for intimate affairs; the Somerset Room provides views of the 12 Apostles, Clifton and Camps Bay; the Oval Room is customisable for large parties and small groups; and the Rumbillion terraces beneath pomegranate trees offer exquisite views of the landscaped gardens.
6) The Restaurant at Grande Provence: Grand Provence Estate, Franschoek.
The Restaurant at Grande Provence provides fresh local cuisine with modern and classical global influences as prepared by Australian born chef Darren Roberts. Roberts took over the reins as head chef in 2010 from Jacques de Jager, under whose expertise The Restaurant earned its fair share of awards. Three-, four- and five-course menus are available with a three-course minimum. Each menu is served with a palate cleanser between courses.
7) The Greenhouse: Cellers-Hohenort Hotel, Constantia, Cape Town.
The Greenhouse is one of several restaurants gracing the Cellers-Hohenort Hotel but is the only one built around a giant 300-year-old oak tree. The restaurant is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is also a bistro option available for lunches only.
8) Roots: Forum Homini Boutique Hotel, Letamp Game Estate, Krugersdorp.
Cuisine is French, African and Asian and new menus are created daily for the six-course dinners and four-course lunches and breakfasts. Notable exceptions include five-course Saturday brunches and six-course Sunday lunches. Awards include Eat Out’s top ten restaurants in South Africa 2008 and 2009 and the American Express Platinum Award in 2007 and 2008.
9) 9th Avenue Bistro: Shop 2, Avonmore Centre, Morningside, Durban.
9th Avenue Bistro is the only Durban restaurant to make the list, but its place is well earned with a string of other awards behind its name, including Wine Magazine’s Dine Top 100 restaurants in SA from 2004 to 2008 and Eat Out’s top ten restaurants in SA from 2005 to 2009. Cuisine is Continental and the menu is constantly evolving. There is a six-course tasting menu and a regularly changing wine list which offers a range of lesser and well known boutique wines.
10) Overture: Hidden Valley Wine Estate, Stellenbosch.
Run by two chefs, Bertus Basson and Craig Cormack, Overture provides contemporary Mediterranean and South African cuisine accompanied by wines from the Hidden Valley. An a la carte menu is available, as are three-course and five-course options and an eight-course tasting menu. Bertus Basson’s credentials include representing SA in the prestigious Jeune Commis Rottisseurs, Culinary Olympics, Global Chefs Challenge and the 2007 Bocuse d’ Or competitions. Craig Cormack’s book The Junior Chefs Guide to Practical and Basic cookery is currently being used as a training manual by various cookery schools.
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