onewaterfront
Published: 01 Apr 07
Category: Contemporary Classic
But sometimes one walks out with a much vaguer feeling of disappointment, and puzzled at the feeling because so many of the "response card" boxes would hav
e been positively ticked. That's the experience I had sampling the summer
menu at onewaterfront. There was a lot about the evening that was very positive,
but I'm not inclined to rave about it. Why not?
The room is as comfortable and elegant as ever. It's never been high on my list of favourite food spaces in Cape Town. It doesn't look as if it was designed to be a restaurant, rather that the restaurant was placed, as an afterthought, into a space that was otherwise vacant - but it's certainly not an offensive or discomfiting space in any way. The service was top-notch - informed, faultlessly efficient and with just the right balance of reserve and cordiality. And executive chef Craig Paterson's menu hits all the right summery buttons with its innovation and sophistication, the most notable feature being the incorporation of Malay spicing into dishes like the duck bobotie, breyani and saffron seafood risotto, and coriander encrusted kingklip.
The winelist is extensive and fi lled with current and vintage examples of the crème de la crème of the winelands. The pricing does raise eyebrows for local, non-expense account diners - R135 for a standard size glass of Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir is a lot of money, as is R240 for a bottle of Backsberg Viognier, but this is a 5 Star hotel, and there are less expensive options available. Like R24 for a glass of Kanu Sauvignon Blanc, or R110 for a bottle of Pinehurst Cabernet Sauvignon.
So the evening had a lot going right - but still the feeling of disappointment. And it's always down to the food in the end. A stunning meal covers up for a lot of other sins, and this was not a stunning meal. It was a very, very good meal - citrus marinated tuna sashimi with beetroot and goat's cheese salad, and smoked duck and foie gras pizza with caramelised berries and mesculun salad as starters; followed by fish of the day (kabeljou) on sautéed pakchoi with vine tomatoes, buttered new potatoes and tomato vinaigrette, and wild mushroom cannelloni, sliced truffl e, asparagus and gruyere cheese shavings; and fi nished off with cookies and milk - an Oreo-topped crème caramel and milk chocolate ice cream. All the dishes were artfully and engagingly plated; there wasn't a less than deluxe ingredient anywhere in sight; everything had been cooked as ordered; and yet the comments on the taste and sensation of the food in the mouth were, while positive, only mutedly so. It was really only the milk and cookies - a Thomas Keller-like re-imagining of a childhood comfort favourite into a contemporary dish - that received unqualified approval. For the rest it was comments like "the tuna's pleasant, but the citrus doesn't come through enough onto the palate, so it's a bit bland".
I was told that Paterson wasn't in the kitchen the night we dined, and perhaps that explains why there was an almost formulaic quality to the food, as if it had been cooked from a recipe rather than from an inspiration. I signed a credit card slip for R700 for five courses and five glasses of wine, and for that amount of money I'm entitled to expect the wow-factor that was missing on the night. Average price of three-course meal without wine: R210
Address: ONEWATERFRONT, Cape Grace Hotel, West Quay Road, V&A Waterfront. Tel: 021 410 7100. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. Secure parking. No BYO.
Food:
Wine list
Ambience:
Service:
Value:
But sometimes one walks out with a much vaguer feeling of disappointment, and puzzled at the feeling because so many of the "response card" boxes would hav
The room is as comfortable and elegant as ever. It's never been high on my list of favourite food spaces in Cape Town. It doesn't look as if it was designed to be a restaurant, rather that the restaurant was placed, as an afterthought, into a space that was otherwise vacant - but it's certainly not an offensive or discomfiting space in any way. The service was top-notch - informed, faultlessly efficient and with just the right balance of reserve and cordiality. And executive chef Craig Paterson's menu hits all the right summery buttons with its innovation and sophistication, the most notable feature being the incorporation of Malay spicing into dishes like the duck bobotie, breyani and saffron seafood risotto, and coriander encrusted kingklip.
The winelist is extensive and fi lled with current and vintage examples of the crème de la crème of the winelands. The pricing does raise eyebrows for local, non-expense account diners - R135 for a standard size glass of Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir is a lot of money, as is R240 for a bottle of Backsberg Viognier, but this is a 5 Star hotel, and there are less expensive options available. Like R24 for a glass of Kanu Sauvignon Blanc, or R110 for a bottle of Pinehurst Cabernet Sauvignon.
So the evening had a lot going right - but still the feeling of disappointment. And it's always down to the food in the end. A stunning meal covers up for a lot of other sins, and this was not a stunning meal. It was a very, very good meal - citrus marinated tuna sashimi with beetroot and goat's cheese salad, and smoked duck and foie gras pizza with caramelised berries and mesculun salad as starters; followed by fish of the day (kabeljou) on sautéed pakchoi with vine tomatoes, buttered new potatoes and tomato vinaigrette, and wild mushroom cannelloni, sliced truffl e, asparagus and gruyere cheese shavings; and fi nished off with cookies and milk - an Oreo-topped crème caramel and milk chocolate ice cream. All the dishes were artfully and engagingly plated; there wasn't a less than deluxe ingredient anywhere in sight; everything had been cooked as ordered; and yet the comments on the taste and sensation of the food in the mouth were, while positive, only mutedly so. It was really only the milk and cookies - a Thomas Keller-like re-imagining of a childhood comfort favourite into a contemporary dish - that received unqualified approval. For the rest it was comments like "the tuna's pleasant, but the citrus doesn't come through enough onto the palate, so it's a bit bland".
I was told that Paterson wasn't in the kitchen the night we dined, and perhaps that explains why there was an almost formulaic quality to the food, as if it had been cooked from a recipe rather than from an inspiration. I signed a credit card slip for R700 for five courses and five glasses of wine, and for that amount of money I'm entitled to expect the wow-factor that was missing on the night. Average price of three-course meal without wine: R210
By John Maytham
Address: ONEWATERFRONT, Cape Grace Hotel, West Quay Road, V&A Waterfront. Tel: 021 410 7100. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. Secure parking. No BYO.
Food:
Wine list
Ambience:
Service:
Value:
