{"id":6732,"date":"2010-02-13T23:35:12","date_gmt":"2010-02-13T21:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=6732"},"modified":"2011-04-25T12:39:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-25T10:39:00","slug":"restaurant-review-wild-woods-too-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/restaurant-review-wild-woods-too-wild\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant Review: Wild Woods too wild!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>For being one of three judges for the annual Eat Out <\/strong>Top 10 Restaurant Awards; being known as a celebrity chef, restaurant consultant and food alchemist; and presenter of the Kitchen Cowboys cooking workshops, our first visit to Peter Goffe-Woods’ new Wild Woods Bistro & Bar, at the foot of Chapman’s Peak Drive in Hout Bay, was a disappointment.\u00a0\u00a0 Our expectation was of a quality restaurant, that reflects what top restaurants aspire to : good food, good service, good ambiance, and if one is lucky, a good connection, which makes one feel that the restaurant is one that one would like to return to again.\u00a0\u00a0 Sadly, this expectation was nowhere near met, and it appears as if Goffe-Wood is not serious about his new venture.\u00a0\u00a0Given the stature he holds in the Cape Town food industry, and being a judge of other restaurants, Goffe-Wood may seriously disappoint his followers, and may even damage his reputation.<\/p>\n

We sat on the terrace with a fantastic view across to the Hout Bay landmark The Sentinel, for a Saturday lunch, and our first surprise was that we were\u00a0seated at a\u00a0very battered looking wooden table.\u00a0 My first reaction was to ask the waiter if he would bring the tablecloth, as the tables inside the restaurant all have\u00a0one, but those on the terrace do not.\u00a0\u00a0 There is no attempt to even cover the well-worn tables with place mats.\u00a0\u00a0 The decor inside the restaurant is very basic – the table-cloth covered tables, wooden chairs, and very basic and functional lighting, with a bar counter, behind which the Manager Rory was to be seen most of the time, even though most of the few clients sat on the terrace.\u00a0 The word “unpretentious” came to mind immediately – paper menu, paper serviettes, the decor (or lack of it), and the battered tables.<\/p>\n

We were asked for our meal order immediately, and were not offered a winelist.\u00a0 An ordered beer never arrived.\u00a0\u00a0 Our waiter was friendly, and took the order efficiently, and brought us bread with only one place setting, but brought another when requested.\u00a0\u00a0 The bread was lovely, clearly home-baked.<\/p>\n

The menu lists\u00a0eight starters, ranging from R 45 (mussels, chicken liver parfait and two salad choices)\u00a0– R 60 (gravadlax, caprese salad\u00a0and cured ham).\u00a0 The main course list\u00a0was commendable, in that Goffe-Wood has clearly\u00a0capped his prices at R 100, for a substantial plate of food, offering\u00a0seared tuna, sirloin steak and lamb rogan josh at this price,\u00a0mushroom risotto at R 60, angel fish at R 75, and chicken breast,\u00a0pork belly, veal brisket, hangar steak, and a sirloin and egg sandwich range between R 80 – R 90.\u00a0\u00a0 The pork belly was served with a generous portion of mash and a little spinach, and\u00a0was most crispy and delicious.\u00a0 I would have preferred to not have the gravy, which is not mentioned on the menu.\u00a0\u00a0 The steak and egg sandwich was a substantial meal for a hungry student, and the chips tasty.\u00a0 We did not have any of the\u00a0six desserts offered, at R 40, nor the cheese plate at R 60.\u00a0 Having seen the menu on the website before we came, just 2 days before our visit, I was disappointed that it differed so vastly from that which we were presented.<\/p>\n

The menu\u00a0carries the S A Sustainable Seafood\u00a0Initiative logo, so subtle that most would not see it or recognise it.\u00a0\u00a0 The menu has a welcome non-smoking sign on it, and welcomes “restaurant friendly children”.<\/p>\n

The Manager Rory only spoke to us when we asked about the lack of 3G connectivity in the restaurant, especially outside, and he confirmed that they struggle with it too for their credit card machines because of the mountain.\u00a0\u00a0This\u00a0prevents the patrons from being able to Twitter, which Goffe-Wood should attend to, being on Twitter himself.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rory previously was a restaurant owner himself (Rory’s in the City Bowl and Observatory) before he opened a restaurant in Arniston.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Goffe-Wood was not seen at all, being in the kitchen, \u00a0which is a good place for him to be for the benefit of his clients, but connecting to his customers in these early days of his restaurant opening would go down well, especially as\u00a0he is a very likeable and sociable person.\u00a0 Goffe-Wood’s charming wife Elize was not at the restaurant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The waiters need training, our waiter not only forgetting the beer, the Manager nor the waiter checking our satisfaction with the meal, the waiter removing our plates while we were chewing the last food on the plate, and the waiter wanting to take our money before we had finished our coffee or looking ready to leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 25\/4\/11:<\/strong>\u00a0 After just over a year of being open, Wild Woods is closing at the end of this week.<\/p>\n

Wild Woods Bistro & Bar<\/strong>, Main Road, Hout Bay (next door to Chapman’s Peak Hotel), Tel 021 791-1166, open Tuesday – Saturday evenings, and for Saturday and Sunday lunch. www.wildwoods.co.za<\/a>\u00a0Twitter \u00a0@peteGW<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For being one of three judges for the annual Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards; being known as a celebrity chef, restaurant consultant and food alchemist; and presenter of the Kitchen Cowboys cooking workshops, our first visit to Peter Goffe-Woods’ new Wild Woods Bistro & Bar, at the foot of Chapman’s Peak Drive in Hout […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[3,124,20,21],"tags":[3551,3556,32366,3550,3554,1160,32378,3558,3547,3549,3555,697,3552,3546,252,3548,3553,255,3193,3557,1587,2031,32373,3545],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t