“The belly rules the mind.“ ~Spanish Proverb
What’s on at the What’s on Eatery?!
When my friend first mentioned the name I thought he was saying “What’s on the tree?” in pidgin Zulu. Why was my friend banging on about this place? Was it a Christmas shop selling African baubles? In which case, er, no thanks.
Turns out, it is in fact a peculiarly named restaurant. On Watson Street. See what they’ve done there?
This restaurant-come-deli is sandwiched between Loop Street and Bree Street. It’s not much to look at from the street and has dimly lit signage at night.
Despite this self-inflicted marketing adversity, the What’s On Eatery is a great little restaurant. What a treat to sit down and see a menu where every dish looks delicious and the prices are reasonable.
Behind the perse-coloured exterior lies an immaculately renovated Victorian town house. The deli is on the ground floor and offers all manner of lunchtime specials and a full English breakfast with toast and coffee for R25.
We were ushered upstairs to the main restaurant which rather took me by surprise – a gracious and elegant dining room with timber floors, white table cloths and ornate mirrors punctuating the pewter fleur-de-lis; a far cry from the ground floor deli.
Stylish cutlery is negated by branded and laminated place mats. The waitress will smugly invite you to turn your place mat over to reveal the menu on the flipside. I don’t think this is a particularly clever little trick. Not really ‘playful’ either. A little tacky.
Starters are all R39 and mains are all R98. Or select two courses for R125. Puddings are R40 or you can have 3 courses for R150. I subsequently found out that this is a ‘winter menu’ which comes to an end in early September. We’ve been assured though that the menu replacing it will still be great value.
Starters included a carpaccio of smoked kudu served with a red wine poached pear, parmesan shavings and rocket; tempura of snoek and prawn served with a lime, chilli and coriander dressing, stuffed calamari with feta and pepadews and a venison bobotie in a phyllo parcel. Nicely executed South African interpretations of some classics starters. Beautifully presented and most importantly – tasty. Very tasty.
For mains there were two risottos – a wild mushroom and a slow braised oxtail; a seafood paella; duck a l’orange; lamb shank; a beef fillet served with pomme pure, black truffle and herb butter and a red wine jus; and the dish I can never resist – a beef wellington with pancetta and duck liver parfait served with a bordelaise jus. It was really good. If I have to be critical it could have been warmer.
The portions are pretty small, so reckon on 3 courses if you want to leave sated. And why not? The proof certainly was in the puddings. A Cape brandy pudding with orange anglaise and vanilla pod ice cream was sensational as was the caramel apple and pear crumble.
So what’s the catch? A monstrously overpriced wine list?
Nope. The wine list is also great value. We enjoyed a beautiful bottle (or six) of the Neil Ellis Groenekloof Sauvignon Blanc for R140.
Despite its slightly enigmatic/epileptic identity the What’s On eatery does begin to make sense. I had one of the best meals I’ve had in Cape Town, not least of all because I didn’t leave feeling completely bankrupt. Let’s hope that they keep the prices sensible over the summer months. Go with friends, or take a date. Great food and great value – still a winning recipe in my cook book.
What’s On Eatery
6 Watson Street
Tel: +27 (0) 21 422 5652Have you dined at What’s On Eatery, what did you think? Let us know in the comments.
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