{"id":8573,"date":"2010-05-19T11:01:21","date_gmt":"2010-05-19T09:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=8573"},"modified":"2011-02-28T20:07:02","modified_gmt":"2011-02-28T18:07:02","slug":"restaurant-review-food-and-prices-at-blonde-more-than-a-little-blond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/restaurant-review-food-and-prices-at-blonde-more-than-a-little-blond\/","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant Review: Food and prices at Blonde more than a little ….blond!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Caviar Group (Beluga, Sevruga, Caviar Fine Foods)\u00a0owner Oskar “Blonde” Kotze has a weakness for blonds, or so his marketing tells us, as most photographs used to market his restaurants\u00a0feature sexy girls, particularly blond ones.\u00a0 Blonde, the newest restaurant of the Caviar Group, opened earlier this month as a dinner-only venue on Hatfield Street.\u00a0\u00a0 While the\u00a0female staff are all blond, the male waiters are not, and\u00a0the food as well as the prices of Blonde leave much to be desired.<\/p>\n

If one drives to the restaurant from the Parliament side, one will see an ueber-massive billboard with a ……blond on it, and the name of the restaurant (but only during the day, and not at night, as it is not lit).\u00a0 If\u00a0one comes down Hatfield Street from Orange Street,\u00a0one would not notice the 110 year old Victorian restaurant building, and drive past it.\u00a0\u00a0The red carpet entrance is through stylish glass double doors, down a passage with a massive chandelier.\u00a0\u00a0 The white walls are adorned with large murals of ……blonds drinking Moet et Chandon.\u00a0 The chairs have a black and white floral design, and are very comfortable.\u00a0\u00a0 The double story house, home to a number of failed restaurants previously, is divided into a\u00a0number of small dining rooms, none having more than 3 or\u00a04 tables or so in them, giving one\u00a0a feeling of\u00a0being cramped inside the small rooms after a while.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One is greeted by a hostess (Nikita), who is so new that she does not know where table 301 is, as per the booking sheet.\u00a0\u00a0 The service from waitress Karien is professional, but she seemed incredibly nervous, stuttering and shaking.\u00a0\u00a0 Three Managers were on duty, and each one of them regularly came to check if all was in order at the table, meaning that up to seven persons ask one the same question in an hour, a nagging irritation.\u00a0\u00a0 One receives an A3 menu, with a full page …… blond on the reverse side, and another …… blond at the top of what is called the “Unofficial Menu”.\u00a0\u00a0 A “menu explainer” comes to each table, and he explains the menu, making his personal recommendations, not surprisingly for the most expensive items on the menu (the Foie gras balentine and the Roasted foie gras starters, at R 139 and R 129, respectively) and the Truffle-infused fillet as a main course, indicated as being the restaurant’s signature dish, at R 189.<\/p>\n

Very nice bread rolls were served, with a complimentary generous platter of little toasted breads, duck liver pate, roast beef, pickled onions, and homemade sweet chilli sauce.\u00a0\u00a0 An amuse bouche\u00a0was then sent to the table, butternut soup served in an espresso cup.<\/p>\n

The wine list has about 60 wines, and\u00a0eleven each are by-the-glass.\u00a0 For white wines the wine-by-the-glass choice is mainly from Greyling (“The Doppie”, Family Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, “Botterbek”, “Mengelmoes”), all at R 29, up to R 59 for Sterhuis Barrel Select and a Mulderbosch 2006.\u00a0\u00a0Red wines by-the-glass\u00a0also start at R 29 for Saxenburg and Greyling HMI Collection, up to R 55 for Boschendal 1685, Greyling Family Reserve and Clos Malverne Pinotage Reserve.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Between 5 – 10 options are offered per wine\u00a0variety, and then an additional heading adds\u00a0about 20 further options, being more select and more expensive (e.g. the “Special red wines” list includes Vergelegen V 2006 at R 1685, Meerlust Rubicon in various bottle sizes and vintages, and Raats Mr De Compostella 2007 at R 1065).\u00a0 The “Special white wines” list includes a Vergelegen White 2006 at R 665.\u00a0\u00a0Very few of the wines have vintages provided on the list.\u00a0\u00a0The Graham Beck Merlot\u00a0was served in an odd glass, very bulbous at the bottom and a very narrow top, almost like a larger wine estate tasting room glass, which does not allow the wine to breath well.<\/p>\n

The 40 minute wait for the main course is long, but the restaurant was almost full.\u00a0 The “truffle-infused fillet”, served with “garlic galette potato, mushroom ragout, bordelaise jus and beef reduction”, was a huge let-down.\u00a0\u00a0Not only was the 220 gram fillet bland, but the truffle infusion could not be detected.\u00a0 The terrible taste of the potato bake\u00a0cannot be described in words without making the reader of this review run to the bathroom.\u00a0 The mushroom ragout was the most tasty element on the plate.\u00a0\u00a0 When the complaint was lodged with the Manager, she was very condescending, saying that maybe it just was not to the liking of her patrons.\u00a0\u00a0 When this approach to “customer service” was questioned, she apologised, said that she would\u00a0reprimand the chef, and offered complimentary desserts (a chocolate terrine, and a peach cobbler)\u00a0and Glen Carlou dessert wine.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was clear that the Manager does not yet know the Blonde menu, in that she did not know the detail about all the desserts.\u00a0\u00a0 A basil sorbet palate cleanser was sent to the table before the desserts were served.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The menu uses an interesting pricing technique, in that the prices are not written in numbers but in words, making it harder to “see” the R number, perhaps\u00a0to hide\u00a0the high Blonde prices!\u00a0\u00a0 The Starter choice of ten dishes ranges in price from R 49 (Roast vegetable salad, Baby calamari, or Herb salad) to R 129\/R139 for the two foie gras dishes.\u00a0\u00a0 Roast tomato tarte tatin, calamari cerviche, duck breast, and onion veloute are other options.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ten Mains are offered, ranging in price from R 109 (smoked aubergine and goat’s cheese cannelloni) to the beef fillet at R 189.\u00a0 Other choices are Chicken breast, Smoked springbok, Ostrich, Confit duck roll, Kingklip, Linefish (Cape Salmon), and Beef rib.\u00a0\u00a0 A second column offers lighter, smaller\u00a0and less expensive dishes , under the heading “Simply Blonde” – it is not explained if these are for the ladies?\u00a0\u00a0Nine options include Roasted chicken breast, at R 99; East coast sole and linefish\u00a0cost R 109; Kingklip, Salmon,\u00a0Lamb rump and Lamb shank pie cost R119; and Fillet steak and\u00a0Duck breast cost R 129.\u00a0 A choice of sides includes an unusual selection of pickled vegetables; beef and poultry reduction; chilli jam, tomato compote, beetroot and onion chutney; and “braised” mixed vegetables, each at R 25.\u00a0\u00a0 Last, but not least, the menu makes a recommendation for “Next time at Blonde”, being a “whole roasted fillet steak for two, roasted vegetables, duo of potato, herb salad and a beef reduction.”\u00a0 No price is provided, and it does not encourage one to order it during one’s current visit to the restaurant.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Underneath the menu a line is printed : “anything but pepenero” – obviously a private joke, in that it\u00a0could be\u00a0a reference to another restaurant group that also has 4 restaurants (Pepenero, The Kove, Zenzero and Paranga – I have been told that there is no love lost between the owners of the two restaurant groups),\u00a0and that no black pepper (only …… blond pepper, i.e. white peppercorns)\u00a0is available.\u00a0\u00a0 The menu also states that “A discretionary 13 % service charge will be added to your bill.\u00a0 Please feel free to ask us to remove it if you are not comfortable with this addition”.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The tip was\u00a0removed before\u00a0the bill\u00a0came to the table, due to the problems experienced with the main course.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The dessert menu is short, offering lemon sabayon tart, creme anglaise soup, and Absolut mango chocolate martini as options in addition to the peach cobbler and chocolate terrine, in a\u00a0price range of R 49 – R 59.\u00a0 The Glen Carlou “The Welder” is offered on the Dessert menu at R 59.<\/p>\n

The bathroom is very ordinary, with average standard fittings, and feels tiny and cramped.<\/p>\n

Blonde<\/strong>, 129 Hatfield Street, Gardens. Tel 021 462 5793.\u00a0 Tuesdays – Sunday dinners. www.blondedining.co.za<\/a> (website still under construction!).<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT:<\/strong> A further sign of the ……blondness of Blonde’s marketing department is an ad with a ……blond\u00a0in the Business<\/strong> Report <\/strong>of 19 May, which lists the telephone numbers and website addresses of all four the restaurants in the Caviar Group – for Blonde it says “opening soon” and provides the web address, which is still under construction!<\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 7\/2<\/strong>: Blonde is to close down at the end of February, the current concept not having brought in the feet nor revenue, despite heavily discounted prices of its expensive menu and winelist.\u00a0\u00a0 This is the e-mail that was sent today:<\/p>\n

\u201cOur sexiest socialite Blonde had an <\/span>amazing summer<\/span><\/strong> <\/span>, met some <\/span>remarkable people<\/span><\/strong> and brought out some <\/span>incredible dishes<\/span><\/strong>. In fact, we’re so happy with our concept kitchen’s wonderful creations, that over winter we’ve decided to send her shopping for even more exciting <\/span>new ideas<\/span><\/strong>!! Sadly, this means we’ll be closing our doors for a while, but don’t despair we’ll be back with a <\/span>brand new menu concept<\/span><\/strong>, served with our signature style and charm. In the meantime, look for your favourite Blonde creations at Beluga and Sevruga, or book Blonde as a <\/span>private venue<\/span><\/strong> for your event, and get a sneak peek at what spring will bring. For her farewell, we are giving you <\/span>50% discount<\/span><\/strong> on your entire food and drinks bill for the entire month of February. Closing dates: March 2011 – August 2011\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 28\/2:\u00a0 Blonde has closed today, until September.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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

The Caviar Group (Beluga, Sevruga, Caviar Fine Foods)\u00a0owner Oskar “Blonde” Kotze has a weakness for blonds, or so his marketing tells us, as most photographs used to market his restaurants\u00a0feature sexy girls, particularly blond ones.\u00a0 Blonde, the newest restaurant of the Caviar Group, opened earlier this month as a dinner-only venue on Hatfield Street.\u00a0\u00a0 While […]<\/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":[4742,4736,3848,1508,4734,4708,2203,2201,4732,4740,32378,4737,2645,226,4733,4735,4709,4741,69,2112,4739,647,4825,252,3625,692,1654,4738,1896,644,4744,32373,49,4743],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\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