Sabayon Brasserie & Vodka Bar
Published: 01 Jul 07
Category: Contemporary
r hosting some of the city's best eateries.
So it's good news that an establishment has opened on the Fourth Avenue strip that isn't part of a franchise and which is bravely exploring new culinary ideas and combinations.
Sabayon is situated in an old Melville house but the rooms with their pressed ceilings and wooden floorboards live happily with minimalist furniture and soothing brown walls with a hint of red.
There's also a popular Vodka Bar, which sells more than just vodka, but boasts some impressive vodka's from around the world - France's Grey Goose, Dazka from Denmark as well as a host of Russian and Polish brands. There's a fashionable cocktail list, though beware the Bloody Mary as the barman can be rather heavy-handed when it comes to the use of his fiery Tabasco bottle.
Sabayon is one of those lekker places where the menu sounds so good that you battle to decide just what to eat.
Perhaps that's why the owners decided to limit customers' carb intake and make them save themselves for the food to come. The ridiculous slivers of bread offered were consumed in a gulp and, like Oliver, we were forced to ask for more.
Foie gras may not be politically correct but it has made a gastronomic comeback at a number of Joburg's fine-dining restaurants and Sabayon served it on the night we visited, pan-seared with veal marrow on a herb brioche with a delicate apricot and thyme Hollandaise with tobacco onions. Decadent but also sublime.
We also devoured one of the restaurant's signature dishes - prawn lollipops, flavoured with lemongrass, coconut and chilli and served with fresh avocado salsa and cilantro sauce.
The last starter sampled was an excellent twice-baked mushroom served with brie and onion jam and a sabayon sauce.
For mains we chose the slow-cooked lamb shank, which is deboned and then wrapped in Savoy cabbage and served on a parsnip, spring onion and herb rösti with a carrot jus and mint and lime reduction. The Creole and chorizo-stuffed chicken breast, and the roasted ostrich fillet on a polenta cake with goat's cheese and onion marmalade, were also good choices.
The disappointing main was the scallops and prawns on a wild mushroom risotto cake served with orange-scented oyster mushrooms and a pecan nut butter purée. The scallops were just too fishy and the risotto cake dry and hard.
The desserts sounded just as tantalising. We forgave the measly bread offering and decided to forge ahead.
The fresh plum and vanilla tarte tatin with coconut and ginger sorbet and a Cointreau ginger broth was a treat as was the Espresso panacotta with a naartjie and mint compote.
The food at Sabayon is bold and adventurous with plenty of thought given to detail.
The restaurant has a small but good winelist. The wine-by-the-glass is Fairview Sauvignon Blanc at R28 and Hartenberg Cab/Shiraz at R30. We settled for a bottle of Plaisir de Merle Merlot at R195.
Average price of a three-course meal (without wine): R160.
Address: Sabayon Brasserie & Vodka Bar, Melville, Johannesburg, 66 Fourth Avenue, Melville. Open Wed-Sat for lunch, Tues-Sun for dinner. BYO R30. Tel: 011 482 4309
Food:
Wine list
Ambience:
Service:
Value:
In recent years it's lost some of its glitz and glamour as some old favourites have closed down and people moved on to other suburbs that were gaining a reputation fo
So it's good news that an establishment has opened on the Fourth Avenue strip that isn't part of a franchise and which is bravely exploring new culinary ideas and combinations.
Sabayon is situated in an old Melville house but the rooms with their pressed ceilings and wooden floorboards live happily with minimalist furniture and soothing brown walls with a hint of red.
There's also a popular Vodka Bar, which sells more than just vodka, but boasts some impressive vodka's from around the world - France's Grey Goose, Dazka from Denmark as well as a host of Russian and Polish brands. There's a fashionable cocktail list, though beware the Bloody Mary as the barman can be rather heavy-handed when it comes to the use of his fiery Tabasco bottle.
Sabayon is one of those lekker places where the menu sounds so good that you battle to decide just what to eat.
Perhaps that's why the owners decided to limit customers' carb intake and make them save themselves for the food to come. The ridiculous slivers of bread offered were consumed in a gulp and, like Oliver, we were forced to ask for more.
Foie gras may not be politically correct but it has made a gastronomic comeback at a number of Joburg's fine-dining restaurants and Sabayon served it on the night we visited, pan-seared with veal marrow on a herb brioche with a delicate apricot and thyme Hollandaise with tobacco onions. Decadent but also sublime.
We also devoured one of the restaurant's signature dishes - prawn lollipops, flavoured with lemongrass, coconut and chilli and served with fresh avocado salsa and cilantro sauce.
The last starter sampled was an excellent twice-baked mushroom served with brie and onion jam and a sabayon sauce.
For mains we chose the slow-cooked lamb shank, which is deboned and then wrapped in Savoy cabbage and served on a parsnip, spring onion and herb rösti with a carrot jus and mint and lime reduction. The Creole and chorizo-stuffed chicken breast, and the roasted ostrich fillet on a polenta cake with goat's cheese and onion marmalade, were also good choices.
The disappointing main was the scallops and prawns on a wild mushroom risotto cake served with orange-scented oyster mushrooms and a pecan nut butter purée. The scallops were just too fishy and the risotto cake dry and hard.
The desserts sounded just as tantalising. We forgave the measly bread offering and decided to forge ahead.
The fresh plum and vanilla tarte tatin with coconut and ginger sorbet and a Cointreau ginger broth was a treat as was the Espresso panacotta with a naartjie and mint compote.
The food at Sabayon is bold and adventurous with plenty of thought given to detail.
The restaurant has a small but good winelist. The wine-by-the-glass is Fairview Sauvignon Blanc at R28 and Hartenberg Cab/Shiraz at R30. We settled for a bottle of Plaisir de Merle Merlot at R195.
Average price of a three-course meal (without wine): R160.
By Janine Walker
Address: Sabayon Brasserie & Vodka Bar, Melville, Johannesburg, 66 Fourth Avenue, Melville. Open Wed-Sat for lunch, Tues-Sun for dinner. BYO R30. Tel: 011 482 4309
Food:
Wine list
Ambience:
Service:
Value:
