Monday 16 January 2012

Sunday Lunch @ De Kloof

0730928562
http://www.dekloofrestaurant.co.za/
Address: Waterkloof Golf Estate, John Rissik drive, Waterkloof, Pretoria.
Cuisine : Contemporary, French, South African
Operating Hours: Monday: Lunch on request for groups of 12 people or more, dinner from 18h00
                           Tuesdays - Saturdays: Brunch 10h00 - 12h00
                                                                   Lunch 12h00 - 15h00
                                                                  Dinner 18h00 - 22h00
                                                 Sundays: Brunch 10h00 - 12h00
                                                                  Lunch 12h00 - 15h00




 
 What an experience I mean from the second that we walked in the service was excellent, friendly staff greeting us with the dark wooden tables and chandeliers hanging from the roof in the background, as we make our way to the outside where I requested a table on the "stoep" (as they call it), I sat down with big expectations thinking will this place be any different from all the other restaurants I`ve been to?

I can easily claim this as a Jem of a restaurant, which could easily become one of my favourite eating spots, they boost an impressive Wine list with local and international Wines, from Stellenbosch to France and even Spain is listed here, the front runners being the two Bordeaux blends, Chateau D`Armaillhac 2001 Pauillac AC and the Chateaux Palmer 1995 Margaux AC, they also have a special array of  Dessert Wines which compliments the desserts in an unforgettable way.

Each dish on the menu can be paired with a glass of wine if you wish, I order a bottle of Boekenhoutskloof Semillon 2006 seeing that its a hot summery day we can sip away a nice well balanced white, unfortunate the vintage on the menu said 2006 and the bottle we received was a 2009 but nevertheless we still had it anyway.

After having a look at the menu we ordered our starters and mains, I decided on a Pan-grilled Squid, Squid Ink Spaghetti, Mango Red Onion & Chive salsa, we were surprised with a trio of olive, basil and sun dried tomato butter and amazing freshly baked breads to nibble on before our starters arrived, taking in the beautiful view of the Groenkloof Nature reserve hills in front of us and  the most perfect place to have some sun downers on hot day!Our starters arrived and I can`t wait to start eating this well presented very colourful dish, it was truly amazing, the freshness of my squid was simply fantastic all the flavours merging together to where my mouth probably thought its Christmas again.

We order mains and my brother and I decide on the Coffee- Crusted Loin of Springbok accompanied by glazed Parsnips, Melange of Baby Vegetables and a Port & Chocolate Jus and my Mother for the Pan-grilled Lemon & Rosemary Marinated Lamb of Loin Cutlets, served with Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables, Crisp Potato Wedges, Red Wine and Rosemary Jus, the dishes were amazing my springbok cooked to perfection and my Mothers Lamb was packed with flavour!



We ordered some desserts and dessert wines to go with that and even that didn't disappoint!We finished the day with some coffee and a drive through Fort Klapperkop before we head back home, and my way back I realised that everything was either perfect or very close to perfect, we had a fantastic lunch at De Kloof and to be honest I cant wait to go back!

Thursday 12 January 2012

The Leopard Parkhurst

Call 011 447 6012
Physical Address: Corner of 4th Ave and 12th Street, Parkhurst, Johannesburg
Cuisine: International
Ambiance: Comfy, Casual & Happening
Opening Hours: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat from 10:00am - 17:00pm (Lunch)
                           Wed , Fri - 10:00am - Close (Lunch & Dinner)



I walk into this small establishment seeing the whole room painted in white,with not much decor, the lamp shades table and chairs are all different from each other and I think well this should be interesting, the Leopard is situated in the hustle & bustle of 4th avenue in Parkhurst with tables right on the sidewalk just a meter away from the street and man let me tell you this is the perfect place to sit and relax and just take in the Jo`burg vibe!


Service began with a shaky start with me having to go get my own menu, other than that everything went super smooth.After sitting for a while I realized that this is what they are going for, a nice chilled out vibe!


I ordered an  Iced Rooibos and Ginger Tea (Which is homemade of course) seeing that they are not licensed but you are more than welcome to bring your own, everything on the menu is organic from grain fed beef to organic chicken and eggs and they also buy their dairy from smaller producers who do not use growth hormones or antibiotics, and all fish and seafood are on the SASSI green list so I will just claim that as winning!

My service ambassador comes closer to take my order I decide on a Plata platter which 
includes a Taro leaf & Marsala  roll-up with apple-atchar & Tzaziki sauce and what a treat it was, my roll-up was a little dry but still very tasty, the Tzaziki sauce was just the right consistency and the Apple-atchar complimented the meal beautifully in a whole.


After Starters my ambassador returns to take my Main Course order where by I gave him the decision what to order for me, he ended up surprising me with an old classic, a mouth watering Chicken Prego Roll "with lots of tomato and caramalised onion sauce" served between two slices of soft, fresh Ciabatta  bread, it was absolutely delicious definitely a Prego I would come back for!



This restaurant is definitely worth the effort even if its just for a quick lunch!

Keep up the good work guys!