My recent forays of dining out in Joburg hotels were a far cry from my childhood memories of old-fashioned, family-friendly hotel holidays. Each of the trio of experiences offered great food and came with an excellent selection of cocktails, mocktails, bubbly and wines from which to choose and superb, friendly service.
SANDTON SUN & TOWERS - Chef’s Table
A bird’s-eye view of the vast hospitality kitchen provides the opportunity to witness the chef brigade in action. In the Sandton Sun kitchen one area is dedicated to a five-star fine dining experience for just 24 people — and it’s open to the public to make a booking for a special occasion.
A bird’s-eye view of the vast hospitality kitchen provides the opportunity to witness the chef brigade in action. In the Sandton Sun kitchen one area is dedicated to a five-star fine dining experience for just 24 people — and it’s open to the public to make a booking for a special occasion.
Our introduction kicked off in the garden and pool area with a Mediterranean table of goodies and drinks before heading to the kitchen, where we met the chefs before embarking on a multi-course feast.
A starter of lobster and ricotta ravioli came in a light, buttery sherry sauce. Each of the dishes on the menu were partnered with a superb selection of different wines — even the martini with a coconut sorbet palate cleaner — all chosen by the inimitable Miguel Chan, the much-respected Southern Sun sommelier.
There was a confit of duck leg with a classic combo of black cherries followed by risotto — a tricky dish to prepare for a crowd, this one came with sea bass and prawns served with a well-chilled Banhoek chardonnay 2017.
The meat course of Wagyu beef reared in the Cape came perfectly medium rare, served with fondant potato, fresh asparagus and a bourbon sauce — and a good red, Seriously Old Dirt by Vilafonte. A winner.
Sadly the lamb loin with biryani rice mint and yoghurt felt out of place after the beef and didn’t get the attention it deserved, yet there’s always room for dessert, a creme caramel with vanilla mascarpone and salted caramel ice cream, which came with a bubbly Franschhoek Cap Classique Rose Brut.
PARK HYATT JOHANNESBURG
A beautiful sunny Gauteng winter’s day beckoned so, on cue, our dining adventure was set out on the large covered terrace overlooking a rectangular pool surrounded by greenery and the sound of birdsong. We were told this was manufactured — it can be changed to suit one’s mood, from the sound of whales calling to classical, pop or jazz.
ROOM 32
The dining experience has been curated by Debi van Flymen, the hotel’s director of Food & Beverage, together with talented duo of executive chef Karel Jacobs and pastry chef Chrizelle Venter at the kitchen helm.
A small group of enthusiastic media foodies lapped up the offerings of the establishment’s culinary destination Room 32. The dishes rolled out for all to tuck in and share in a feast of flavours, kicking off with a great selection of starters — a colourful smoked, puréed and pickled beetroot, a velvety smooth wild mushroom soup and a platter of prawns and calamari. The beef tartare came interestingly served with kataifi — finely cut strips of phyllo pastry with cured egg on the side.
For mains most journos don’t say not to meat — there was beef short rib and succulent Karoo lamb cutlets followed by springbok loin and a mighty Kalahari rib eye with a pepper cream served with fire-roasted veg and the yummiest triple fries, even chakalaka ones.
We were finally satiated by the desserts — from a decadently smooth cheese cake to apple panna cotta, milk tart millefeuille French style in pastry layers served with honeycomb ice cream, one of their range of delicious handmade ice creams.
PS. Try their Jacaranda mocktail: such a beautiful hue, and it tastes sublime too.
THE POT LUCK CLUB - The Peech Hotel, Melrose
Peech is a beautiful hotel, in the words of Goldilocks and the three bears, “not too big, nor too small, it’s just right.” Nestled on a beautiful suburban site, it has a courtyard brimming with peach trees, creating a feeling of tranquillity that makes it a great stayover with the opportunity to dabble in some fine food.
Award-winning Capetonian Chef Luke Dale Roberts has brought his gourmet take to Gauteng and opened at Peech earlier this year. If you have ever visited one of LDR group of restaurants in the Mother City this venue compared to his others is small and cosy.
Here they offer a Prix fixe loaded sharing menu for two @ R795 a head with wine pairing R750pp. We chose one of their interesting cocktails to accompany our meal.
It was crammed full of Asian flavours and interesting tastes, including a linefish ceviche black bean purée, charred corn salsa and avo taco served with grapefruit spring onion, herb avo, pickled ginger & dashi dressing starter. Refreshing and tasty.
The crispy squid served with their famed pot luck fish sliders was great finger food. For lovers of pork belly the LDR one comes with a with coconut & peanut broth, pickled red onion to break the richness and drizzled with coriander oil, not our fave dish of the day and a bit meaty before the next one, smoked beef fillet slices with black pepper and truffle cafe au lait served with their famous chickpea, goats cheese and Parmesan fries accompaniment. A real winner.
The sweet ending of peanut butter bomb dessert served with a banana mousse, honeycomb crunch and banana tuile was decadent, but we decided that perhaps something lighter and fruitier would take the cake?
This article was first published in TimesLive.
