Dramatic dining at Benguela on Main

The restaurant is winner of the World Luxury Restaurants Awards, so expectations were suitably high. Tastefully decorated with touches of unique artworks and luxurious elements, a nighttime visit is impossibly romantic with soft dim lighting and mood setting music.

We both settled on sampling the much raved about Chef’s Tasting Menu by executive chef Jean Delport, mine paired with wine and my partner’s with Appletiser (somebody had to be DD). The Tasting Menu includes seven courses plus a few extras in between, so make sure you go hungry. Though honestly, even if I had been snacking the whole day I would make a point of sampling each and every one of those dishes.

Honouring the vegetable

First item to be presented to us was a generous portion of oozy cheese croquettes, fish pate, confit duck, salted and spiced peanut butter popcorn and crisp bread, and this wasn’t even one of the seven courses! Next up, and first course on the menu, was the Sichuan Pear with parmesan custard and bitter leaf. The pear was Sous-vide, so remained crisp and firm, and was paired with the creamy 2014 Clive Torr Viognier. I raise my glass to Benguela’s sommelier. The pairings were beautifully complementary to the food and I especially enjoyed the whites.

Next on to quite possibly my favourite dish of the night; Seasons of Pumpkin. Very on foodie trend, this course utilised the entire vegetable in various ways; thinly sliced pumpkin, pumpkin puree, pumpkin gnocchi (the best gnocchi I have ever eaten), pumpkin fondant and toasted pumpkin seeds. Plus a little ice cream cone filled with pumpkin goodness. Classy comfort food at its best. This was paired with the fruity 2013 Middelburg Chenin Blanc. This dish was also given some drama by a light spritz of pine needle scent by our waiter as the plates were presented to us.

The Chef’s Tasting Menu has drama deluxe and the next dish the Marron Tank with mussel bubbles, black garlic and fennel was a great example. Served in a glass tumbler, the dish is topped with a wafer thin nori disk which you crack into the creamy seafood broth below. The broth is beautifully subtle with delicious oyster and marron flavours, however, I felt the sweet nori and sweet back garlic somewhat dominated the seafood flavours and could have been used a bit more sparingly.

Meaty proceedings

Next we move to the middle and meaty proceedings of the menu with the Beef and Parsnip. This is served as two dishes; Act 1 and Act 2. The first consisting of a salt rib with hazelnut and the second of fillet, tongue and beurre noisette (a warm butter sauce). I have to say that I get a bit squeamish with the thought of eating tongue - the texture, you know. However this one is so beautifully prepared it would be a shame to pass on it. This was paired with the 2015 Eenzaamheid Cinsault.

The beef dishes are both quite rich, so the following course, The Moscow Mule Palate Cleanser, was very welcome. It’s quite odd to single out and praise a palate cleanser on a seven course menu, however, that course really was one of my favourites. Like all the dishes of the night, it was presented in a beautiful and unique way: in an almost test tube like structure. Utilising the classic Moscow Mule flavours, ginger beer, lime and vodka, this was a zingy and fresh sorbet-like mouthful.

Dessert segway

This is followed by a segway into dessert, a dish that straddles that savoury and sweet balance. The Pepe Charlot Chevre Frais, which consisted of rich goat’s cheese, dates, dukkah and potato was beautifully complemented by the sweet 2014 Iona One Man Band.

Phew, on to the last and final course, a homage to that compatible marriage of chocolate and orange. The “Chocolate Orange” consisted of bitter manjari chocolate spheres with a tangy orange mousse-like filling, and a truly wonderful spiced yoghurt. Utterly delectable. This was paired with the 2010 Villiera Inspiration.

Last course completed, however, not the last mouthful, as my partner’s cappuccino was served with what was just introduced as ‘a dish full of calories’. This included blocks of fudge, lemon tart squares and more little morsels all interestingly displayed on a wire bonsai baobab.

Benguela on Main is not just an excellent dining experience, it’s a full on theatrical food journey, perfect for those special occasions. The Chef’s Tasting Menu is R660 per person without wine and R850 with wine.

Benguela on Main also offers cheese, chocolate and shortbread tastings at their tasting room above the restaurant: The Taster. For more info or to make a booking go to www.bengueladining.com .

Ruth Cooper was a guest at Benguela on Main.