Tag Archives: Neil Ellis

Restaurant Review: Blowfish Restaurant will blow fishlovers away!

I rarely go to the Tableview and Blouberg area. When I received an invitation from Nikki Dumas to join her at Blowfish Restaurant for an early dinner, prior to seeing a preview of ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, it seemed an appropriate ‘starter’ to a must-see movie.  

Nikki is a wine consultant to Blowfish, and has won a coveted Diamond Award from Diner’s Club International for the winelist she has created for Blowfish for the past two years, as well as a Wine Spectator Award.   She is a passionate wine lover, and uses the word ‘swirl’ a lot.  She came to Cape Town to open Vilamoura in Camps Bay, and then joined the Slick restaurant group when Vilamoura closed down.  She worked at both Balducci and Belthazar, on the wine side, and became Deputy General Manager.   She has been a wine consultant for over a year now, her Winestyle consultancy offering waiter training, winetastings, and she compiles winelists.

Blowfish belongs to the Singer Group, which has a number of hospitality interests.  I recognised Oliver Wing, the Operations Manager, when I arrived.  He used to be a manager at Haiku and Bukhara, and was sent to London to open Haiku there.  The restaurant is located in the Dolphin Beach Hotel in Blouberg, and is a large space, seating about 180 guests.  The restaurant has a view onto the Atlantic Ocean, over the roofs of hotel rooms below.  It is a large open-plan room, with a sushi bar with conveyor belt, a bar, and upstairs there is a TV/smoking room, as well as the wine cellar, in which functions are hosted, including workshops on how to make sushi.    The chairs are Greek-style, all in white, and white is the dominant colour in terms of furniture and fittings, except for beige plastic table cloths.  

Blowfish uses a cute illustration of a blowfish on every page of its menu and on the winelist, creating good synergy between the two documents.  The pay-off line is ‘Seafood Sushi Sunset’, it being rare for a restaurant to have one.

There is a fish counter (as per Codfather in Camps Bay), from which one can order a selection of fish and shellfish, in the size of one’s choice, which is then weighed and charged.  The fish types on offer at Blowfish are angelfish, bluefish, butterfish, calamari, Cape salmon, Dorado, kingklip, monkfish, Norwegian Salmon, cob, sole, swordfish, tuna (yellowfin), yellowtail, sardines, Cape rock lobster, king prawns, langoustines, Tiger medium prawns, Tiger giant prawns and oysters.   I was impressed that the cost per gram was shown per fish type.  Soon a similar meat counter will be introduced. 

What impressed me tremendously was the depiction on the menu of each of the ‘green’ fishes on the SASSI list, which are those that are in good supply.  A whole page of the menu is dedicated to the restaurant’s “Green Values”, the first time I have seen this on a menu.  It states that the restaurant is a “SASSI Aware” participant, to “promote and offer you sustainable seafood choices from legal sources in an effort to help improve the conservation status of over-exploited seafood species.”   Contact details of the Southern African Sustainable Seafood Initiative are provided.   Near the fish counter a SASSI poster has been put up, showing the different green, orange and red fish and shellfish types.  I would have loved to see them show the orange symbols on the other fish dishes (e.g. prawns and kingklip) on the menu, to be absolutely correct, allowing their customers to choose whether they want to order ‘orange’ fish.  By implication, the non-marked fish dishes on the menu would be orange.

The Blowfish menu is very extensive in offering sushi, salads, soup, platters, combinations of meat and fish, and the fish ordered from the counter.  Starters range in price from R40 – R55, and include a bacon and seafood skewer, bushveld sushi made with crocodile, trio of salmon, Thai-style fishcakes, king calamari, Wok beef, and mussels.   The sushi choice is vast, covering two pages of the menu,  including Fresh rolls, Cooked rolls, Traditional Maki rolls, Inside Out rolls, platters (ranging from a 12-piece Nigiri at R125 to a 60-piece Chef’s Speciality platter at R550), sushi salads and hot sushi.  The cost for smaller portions of sushi depends on its ingredients, roughly ranging from R25 for three to R45 for four pieces.  The Chef’s Recommendation section has a selection of dishes, ranging from R 95 for the kingklip to SQ for the crayfish curry.  One can also order duck, Fillet Mignon, lamb rack, and the Chef’s signature dish, being Seafood Espetada.  Platters cost as little as R99, for the Blouberg platter (kingklip, calamari, and prawn skewer), up to R 220 for the Kite-Boarders platter (mussels, calamari, linefish and rock lobster).   A selection of stir-fry dishes is also available, from R65 upwards.

I love a prawn and avo handroll, and that at Blowfish was the best I’ve had, being more moist than recent ones I have tasted, with mayonnaise added, very reasonably priced at R40.   It was hard to choose what to order from the menu, and therefore I chose a piece of kingklip, some calamari and a tiger prawn from the fish counter, to be grilled and served with Basmati rice.  The selected fish and shellfish is prepared with the “fishmonger’s” seasoned ‘signature Blowfish spices’, and one has a choice of four sauces: lemon butter, garlic butter, sweet and sour, and peri peri. 

As the movie started at 8 pm, and I had to drive to the Waterfront to see it, I had to eat quickly when the main course arrived, to make it back to the city in time.   I could not finish all of the food, as it was far too large a serving.  It was excellent, the massive prawn being a highlight.  I missed out on the desserts, but could have ordered a Lindt chocolate brownie, Croque en Bouche, baked cheesecake, chocolate banana spring rolls and more, at a most reasonable cost of R25 – R 35.  A cheese platter is also available at R75. 

Nikki has created two winelists for Blowfish, one just focused on imported wines, and the other on local wines.  She is very proudly South African when it comes to her wine recommendations, and she has included about 140 local wines on the winelist.  She describes each variety, indicating the colour one should expect, and the flavours they should have.   The region of origin of each wine is indicated, and the wines are listed from lowest to highest price per variety, the perfect winelist!  The Sauvignon Blanc section is the largest, with 24 options, and the prices of all the brands are very reasonable, ranging from R 90 for Hazendal to R240 for Neil Ellis.  MCC’s start at R90 for Pieter Cruythoff Brut, which Nikki says comes from the Swartland, to R428 for Constantia Uitsig.  White wines sell better than red wines at Blowfish, but Nikki has a good selection of red wines too.  Ten Shiraz wines are offered, the Landskroon and Porcupine Ridge being most reasonably priced at R105, to R 260 for Grande Provence.  Corkage is the lowest I have seen, at R20 for the first two bottles, and increases to R50 per bottle thereafter.   The winelist also proudly records the awards it has won.

While Blowfish is too far for me to travel to from the Atlantic Seaboard, I know where to eat when I next go to that area.  I could see how popular the restaurant is amongst locals – from being the first to arrive at 18h00, the restaurant was close to full with locals, bringing their children and babies in prams, when I left two hours later.

Blowfish Restaurant, Dolphin Beach Hotel, 1 Marine Drive, Blouberg.   Tel (021) 556-5464 www.blowfishrestaurant.co.za  Twitter: @BlowfishCTN  Nikki Dumas’ website is www.winestyle.biz

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Restaurant Review: Pepper Club on the Beach spices up Camps Bay

The Pepper Club on the Beach was a safe refuge on a night that a black southeaster swept through Camps Bay, keeping potential restaurant patrons at home.   Whilst its name makes one think of summer specifically, its menu is suitable for all seasons, as it has one of the most extensive menus, challenging Tuscany Beach further down the road on number of menu items!

The Pepper Club on the Beach was called Summerville before it went into liquidation, and was taken over by the owners of The Promenade in Camps Bay.  The Solomon Brothers are not the favourite landlords in Cape Town, but they have money, and they invest heavily in the projects they take on.   When they built the Pepper Club Hotel in the center of town, on the corners of Pepper, Long, Loop and Bloem Streets, they came up with a novel idea of bringing their hotel guests to Camps Bay, by renaming Summerville as Pepper Club on the Beach, offering the Pepper Club hotel guests a free transfer to Camps Bay in the hotel’s Rolls Royce Phantom, and usage of deck chairs, beach towels and a shower facility, in the hope that they will eat at the Camps Bay restaurant.   The manager was honest in telling us that the Pepper Club Hotel guests are still slow in making the journey to the beach in Camps Bay, given the weather, and that the hotel only opened in April. 

As the owner of a guest house in Camps Bay, I received a voucher to try out the restaurant a few months ago.  Somehow I never got to go.   A call from the General Manager of Pepper Club on the Beach, Gavin Lockitch, inviting me to try the restaurant, was the call to action which my colleague and I needed to get us to try out the restaurant.   Our “welcome” outside the blustery entrance to the restaurant was odd, in that the hostess would not let us inside until we told her our name.  We could see that only one other table was occupied, so that availability of tables, or matching our booking with that on a list, would have been simple.    She did not appreciate my feedback in this regard.  

The restaurant is large, probably seating 100 – 150 persons, so it needs lots of guests to make it buzz.  With three tables filled in total during the evening, this was difficult, although the Buena Vista Social Club CD playing initially helped “fill” the space.   In some sections of the restaurant the tables are further apart, which makes it feel even bigger.  A private smoking dining room can seat up to 20 persons.   The colour scheme is neutral, with white and beige.   Nothing stands out decor wise, but many tiny downlighters give the restaurant a sophisticated touch.   The chairs are comfortable.   The only splash of colour is the collection of red menus.   The deck outside the restaurant has new furniture, and new heaters will make it comfortable to sit outside on cooler evenings.

We met two Managers, one newer, and the other, Lynn, had been at Summerville.  Ten of the Summerville staff are at Pepper Club.  We had the feeling that we were almost “over serviced”, there being more staff on duty than patrons in the restaurant.  The Austrian chef Reinhard Schwaihofer came to visit our table, to tell us about his favourite dishes on the menu, a welcome touch.   Reinhard was previously at Summerville, and has worked at Zerbans, Fancourt and the Paternoster Lodge, amongst others, in his 20 years in this country.  Carsten Kocke was the Executive Chef previously, and was a Michelin-starred chef.   It was surprising to receive an e-mail from him recently, requesting that his past connection to the Pepper Club be removed from the www.campsbayinfo.com/blog.  No one wanted to tell us why the chef had left after such a short time at the Pepper Club.   

Our waiter offered us a drink while we paged through the big red plastic menus and winelist, branded on the outside but difficult to read, and therefore difficult to differentiate between the two documents.  The menu contains a vast choice, and contains many of the Summerville items, to which has been added burgers, sandwiches, and other light meals which are served outside of lunch and dinner times.   Starters are expensive, in ranging from R 64 for Calamari to a Lobster avacado cocktail at R 105. Five salads are offered, including a Prawn and Avocado salad at R 89.  Steaks range from R 120 for a 200g ladies’ fillet to R 150 for a 300 g beef fillet, and they are served with a choice of two side orders, including chips, salad, mushrooms, and mash. Four sauces can be ordered additionally, each costing R 25.   Other interesting dishes are the Cape Malay lamb curry (R 130), Trio of game (R 165), 13 fish dishes (the cheapest seafood platter for one costs R265), and six pasta dishes start from R 70, five pasta types available for each dish.   Close to 30 sushi options are available as well. 

Once we placed our order, we received European style rolls with cumin seed, served with the most attractively presented garlic butter, herb butter and paprika butter.   My Avocado Ritz (R79), a favourite, was excellent, with the avocado taken out of the skin, and the three prawns thick and juicy.  I could only fault the over-decoration of the plate with bits of lettuce, paprika and tomato.   My colleague was very happy with her grilled calamari starter (R64).   For the main course I enjoyed veal cutlet (R130), looking and tasting as if it came straight off the “braai”, absolutely tender, placed on top of the best mash I have ever eaten, as well as three asparagus spears.    My colleague’s herb-crusted ostrich steak (R148) was too large (250g) for her to finish.   The portions are generous, and so too was the Apfelstrudel (R55), which Chef Reinhard recommended as his speciality.  It was served warm, with well-cooked apple and large raisins, “oven fresh” the Austrian way, said Chef Reinhard.   A very generous portion of real fresh cream came with the dessert.    

The winelist is even more extensive than the menu, running to ten pages, a page per variety.  Laurent Perrier is the most pricy of the three champagne brands stocked, at R1490, and Pongracz Desidirius the most expensive of the four sparkling wines, at R395 – however, the standard Pongracz costs R169.  Sauvignon Blanc wines feature most prominently on the list, including Southern Right (R149), Neil Ellis Groenkloof (R158), Steenberg (R167), and Iona (R198).   Twelve wines-by-the-glass are offered, and the reds include L’Omarins Terra Del Capo Sangiovese (R38), Warwick 3 Cape Ladies (R58), and Porcupine Ridge (R32).   The Ridgeback Shiraz, one of the two shirazes which can be ordered by the glass, was out of stock, but the waiter brought an Asara with the same vintage in its place, a commendable gesture.  Corkage is R25 for the first bottle, and R40 thereafter.

My colleague and I were most pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed our dinner, and would return and recommend it to our guest house guests.   One would hope that it would fill up, to give the large restaurant more of a buzz and a vibe,

Pepper Club on the Beach, The Promenade, Victoria Road, Camps Bay.  Tel 021 438-3174.  www.pepperclubonthebeach.co.za. (only the menu is available)

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

New York Times sings praises of S A Cabernet Sauvignons

“Forgive me if I’m excited, but I can’t help it.   I want to tell you straight out that South Africa, of all places , is one of the greatest sources for moderately priced cabernet sauvignon on the planet today”.  So begins Eric Asimov’s story in praise of this country’s Cabernet Sauvignon wines in the 21 January edition of the New York Times. 

Asimov’s verdict resulted from a tasting of 25 South African Cabernet Sauvignon wines, which he generalises as “balanced”, “with a sense of structure and shape”, “with flavours of cassis and violets, cedar and minerals”, “they demonstrated power”, “but also showed finesse”.

Asimov and his tasting panel voted the De Trafford 2004 as the top scorer, followed by the 2004 Rust en Vrede, and the 2003 One Stroke One from Graceland.  The remaining top ten Cabernet Sauvignons, as ranked by Asimov, a wine critic not easily pleased, were 2004 Bon Cap, 2004 Thelema, 2004 Neil Ellis, 2004 Bilton, 2005 Waterford, 2005 Alto, and 2005 Stark-Conde Jonkershoek Valley Twin Peak.  All but the Bon Cap are from Stellenbosch. 

Asimov was less kind to Boekenhoutskloof : ” …the 2006 Boekenhoutskloof cabernet from the Franschhoek region was, at $ 47, the most expensive wine in our tasting.  While the winemaker is critically acclaimed, we rejected the wine for its generic vanilla-cherry cheesecake flavours, which I often taste in New World red wines that are intended to please an international audience.”

Wines of South Africa (WOSA) are delighted with the article, and say that it should have a strong impact on marketing South Africa’s relatively unknown wines in the USA.

Asimov is somewhat sceptical about the future of South Africa’s wines.  “Yet the track record is slim.  We don’t know yet how these wines will age.  Many of these producers are too new to have shown consistency over time.”   Yet, he says that “South Africa has the potential for greatness.  In the snapshot offered by these 25 bottles, we found a region offering wonderful values and lovely wines.”