Signal restaurant at Cape Grace
HOTEL restaurants have a real challenge at securing non-residential business. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, but chief among them is that restaurant patrons typically need to walk through the hotel to reach their table.
Signal, the new restaurant at Cape Grace, will soon have direct access from the roadside. The location has always been fabulous. With panoramic views of Signal Hill (from whence the name comes) and harbour life, the outlook is spectacular.
Now, after a renovation (they called it a “refashioning” but I think it much more than that) and divine interior by designer Kathi Weixelbaumer, it is a premier dining venue. The interior is a mix of Cape Dutch meets Pierre Cronje with witty touches like lace-up chairs that makes me think of pirates and bodice rippers.
By contrast, there are modern and contemporary pieces such as the famous Philippe Starck “ghost” chairs. The chandeliers are especially amusing. I think them a highlight.
Although long overdue for guests paying top dollar, The Cape Grace now offers its entire menu throughout the hotel – be it at the pool, in the library, in the bedroom or served in the restaurant.
The style of food, created by a culinary team led by Executive Chef, Malika van Reenen, is described as notably Cape with international flair. I very much like that despite this being a sought-after five-star property, there are many menu items under R100. One could just enjoy a pasta or sandwich over lunch or extend to a degustation menu.
When we visited, there was hardly an open table in the restaurant. Had we not had the benefit of delicious canapés prior to dinner, we would have been ravenous as the food took long, too long, to arrive.
There was once an advertising slogan that suggested if you asked the price you probably couldn’t afford it. This, of course, is nonsense but becomes the underbelly for a annoying restaurant trend where waiters sing off a list of specials without providing their prices. The fact that two wines-by-the-glass each cost more than our main courses as recommended by the sommelier irked me. I had already mentioned a wine that I had in mind which would have indicated what I had planned to spend.
Some of the food was fabulous. By far the most delicious, scrambled eggs with asparagus and truffle oil (R90), is about the most decadent thing to
eat on a budget. Grilled calamari and pancetta a la plancha (grilled on a metal plate) (R90) looked delicious but while the chilled avocado cream with marinated vegetables (R70) kept its promise of being light, it was ethereal to the point of being unsatisfying. As main courses, the Saldanha Bay mussels (R120) (served in a deep bowl in a Cape Malay curry) was fragrant and deliciously filling.
It needed a finger bowl or, at the very least, moist towels. There were rave reviews about the beef fillet encrusted with Parma ham, grilled porcini mushrooms and truffle sauce (R195) but it is a very heavy dish and its imbiber didn’t sleep at all well. I thoroughly enjoyed the quince and tamarind jus with the polenta and coconut “quenelles” but not the Springbok (R160) which I found overcooked despite asking that it be cooked to the chef’s liking. There is an interesting and varied selection of side dishes to accompany main courses or for R20 per additional portion.
The curried butternut in a coconut sauce with coriander was delicious, a happy dish beaming colour and it was exciting to see soba noodles with summer vegetables on a non-Asian menu.
021 410-7100.
www.CapeGrace.com
[12-Mar-09]
Brian Berkman
Add your comment: |
|