The Atlantic

Category: Fine Dining

I understand Fine Dining to demand a level of formality of dècor, service and food design and presentation which I find unnecessary and stifling. But personal bias will be put aside and the evening judged on its merits.

< p> It doesn’t start well. The front desk has no record of my reservation despite my having phoned two days after making the booking to check that everything was in order, and that my request for a window table would be met. But, luckily, it’s a quiet night and there is one available. The room is sophisticated and under-stated, if a little lacking in character, and we are impressed with the spotless linen tablecloth and the quality of the glassware and cutlery.

What we don’t like is the piano player. His repertoire is cheesy and he appears to have lost contact with the soft pedal. The result is that what might be acceptable as background music is sufficiently foreground to irritate.

Butter is brought to the table with great ceremony, but the bread on which it might be spread never makes an appearance…

There is a constant parade of people asking whether “everything is alright” and I make a note that the service is efficient, if a little over-solicitous and not quite up to the mark with menu knowledge.

The food, though, is what matters most. And here let me make the general point that everything we ate was faultless – cooked with consummate professionalism and plated with great panache. But most of it was, for my taste, too fussy, too complicated, with too many ingredients.

My reference dish for the year has been the lamb with white haricot beans I had at St. John in London in September. Two pink slices of the most lamb-y tasting lamb imaginable – no sauce, no gravy, no jus, no foam – just perfectly cooked lamb with haricot beans in a simple vinaigrette.

Contrast that with my lamb at The Atlantic. The menu read: Roasted Loin of Lamb with Dijon Mustard & Basil Bread Crust, Grilled Baby Zucchini, Wilted Spinach & Confit Tomato, Polenta Cake & Taste of Braised Lamb Shank with Tapenade. The lamb rack was brilliant – perfectly cooked with the crust adding just the right level of piquancy to the meat. Almost everything else was a distraction from the glory of the main item.

The things we enjoyed most from the evening were the simplest, like the pea and lemongrass, and smoked chilli and coriander soups served as an amuse bouche, and the passion fruit and green apple sorbets served between courses.

Of course, this is about personal preference and I must re-emphasise that everything we ate was of the highest quality. But it is surely no accident that most of the restaurant’s clientele are hotel guests. It’s not about price – there are restaurants, equally if not more expensive, which are consistently full with locals. It must be that the style of the restaurant and of the food is out of line with local tastes.

The winelist is extensive (and expensive), but disappointing. There is a lot of innovation that’s been ignored by its compilers. And surely an establishment with the resources this one has could stretch to making many more wines on the list available by the glass? Although, to be fair, when I raised this point with Bongani Ngwenya, the excellent sommelier, he immediately offered to serve a glass of whatever wine I wanted.

Average cost of three-course meal without wine: R250.

By John Maytham

Address: The Atlantic, Table Bay Hotel, Quay 6,
V & A Waterfront.
Tel 021 406 5000.
Food:
Wine list
Ambience:
Service:
Value: