Cosy Cafe's

Over the past short while I have visited two great cafés – One in the Northern suburbs (TREAT) and one in the Southern suburbs (OBZ CAFÉ). In this review I am going to be highlighting the main attributes of each café – the food they serve, service, atmosphere etc. and hope that I will entice you to visit one or both.

OBZ CAFÉ

For most people who live in the Southern suburbs – particularly students – you will know OBZ well. It’s a chilled out place by day and a party haven by night. Don’t be fooled by this unpretentious little place… It has a lot to offer.

The restaurant was relatively quiet with only a few patrons as it was early lunch time on a Saturday. We were helped immediately and shown to our table. (Please do not be alarmed by the broken wooden floors and metal plates they have used to patch it up, it is all part of the character of the restaurant.) We ordered our drinks and they came relatively quickly. The menu is quite diverse and has something for all tastes. Each dish seems to have a touch of ‘finer’ dining coming through. I eventually settled on the wild mushroom linguine with truffle oil and my hubby (David) had the ‘bomb’ which is a beef burger with blue cheese sauce.

 Both dishes came well-presented and the portion sizes were more than adequate. My linguine was perfectly cooked and the combination of the woody wild mushroom and the smooth truffle oil had me chomping at the bit for more. This dish was quite rich as it had a creamy sauce and I ended up taking some home.

The beef burger too was cooked excellently, a generous beef patty served with a portion of ‘skinny’ fries made this a man’s meal. David enjoyed the burger but said that the blue cheese sauce was slightly over powering.

The service was not fantastic – this could be due to the very relaxed nature of the staff that permeates throughout the restaurant. With the bill coming to just under R200… it was worth the drive.

TREAT PASTIERRE

This has to be of my new favourite places – unfortunately it is one of those places that you need to have controlled visits to because of their delicious ware. I have come here on a few occasions, each time trying something different. Their menu does not have a lot to choose from but it is a satisfactory range for lunch. It is mainly salads, wraps and sandwiches. I have had a sandwich and a wrap – they were both delightfully fresh and I could only manage half. It is worth the R40 – R60 you pay. They too have a way with combining textures and flavours to fully complement each ingredient in the dish.

BUT…. The big draw card at TREAT is not just their food, relaxed atmosphere or incredible service! It is their inconceivable range of cakes. Ok, I know what you’re thinking… another cake shop with the same old stuff… You’re wrong. I have never seen such an amazing/creative range. They have thought outside the box and brought us some fantastic variations. Every slice that I have had had has been great, with the exception of one – Lemon curd chocolate cake.

The Lemon meringue has the softest marshmallow meringue that seems to dissolve as you take your first bite, the Red Velvet cheesecake is a stroke of genius consisting of Red Velvet cake on top of an incomparable cheesecake, my new favourite Pecan maple – jam packed with pecan nuts in a light sponge, flavoured with maple syrup and topped off my incredibly smooth icing. These are to name a few!

At R30 a slice there is no way you can afford to miss out on this heavenly experience. To making choosing a cake easier, they have come up with a tasting plate. The tasting plate is for 2 people and you get to share 4 different half slices of cake.

I strongly urge you to visit TREAT as I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

They are only open until 4pm on weekdays, 2pm on weekends and closed on public holidays.

Please feel free to ask any questions or leave comments.

Why blog about food?

People tend to think that I’m joking when they ask me what my hobby is and I reply eating. You see the misconception comes in that any food will do – It simply won’t. I enjoy eating good food – and that doesn’t necessarily mean expensive food.

Going out for dinner is about the entire experience, not just the food. It’s about how satisfied I feel when I leave the restaurant. It is the encompassing factors that all combine (or divide) that makes an evening great, average or dreadful.

I have been to many restaurants – insert shocked smiley face – and through the years I have become more critical. The main reason for this is because of the prices we pay when we dine out. If I order a meal, I expect it to come out as specified.

Then we get to service. There is this misconception that people have to pay a 10% tip regardless of what the service was like. I strongly disagree. Service can make or break your evening – as I have discovered on many occasions. People also think that they only have to pay 10%... If the service is superior surely it makes sense to pay more.

Another contributing factor is the ambience in the restaurant – whether you are at a fine dining restaurant or any other place, the general atmosphere does influence your experience. Things like sound, lighting, temperature all affect how much you enjoy your meal and overall dining experience.

I hope that I will be able to bring you fair unbiased reviews that will help you, not only to determine whether or not your want to go to a place, but also to help you learn how to perceive things in a different way when dining out.

Please feel free to comment/correct or compliment.

I look forward to sharing my next review with you.

The Tasting Room - 27/07/2012

  'Bites' - squid ink rocks to die for, the exterior seems to melt away and relapse the foam that washes over your tastes buds to complete the experience. Chakalaka cigars with pap takes second place with regard to flavour, the other items - olive wafer with green olive marshmellow and foie gras slab lacked flavour but completed the general 'sweet' theme of the 'bites'

 Bread - brilliantly displayed in pilchard tins. Light fluffly consistency. Salted caramel butter a treat for that makes your taste buds salivate without control. Great combination.

Served on, as David puts it ' a slate roof tile' the beetroot 'ball' with a cucumber and dill granita and labneh 'smudge' was a little on the salty side and the spinach centre was lost in the full flavour of the beetroot. As a combination texture wise - very creative but not a winner when it comes to taste.

The salad... The only word to describe this is... Interesting. The nasturtiums have a slightly over powering sour taste but are complemented by the woody flavour of the beetroot (which was part of our previous course.) Not an overly fantastic course...as it left that strange after sour feeling on my teeth

 The next one might alarm some - nettle broth with artichoke done 3 ways. The diced artichoke added a crunchy texture to the broth which was a little on the salty side. The smoky flavour of the pan fried artichoke was a welcome change as was the creamy artichoke custard, again not an overwhelming success.

What can I say about the next course... (Green sick bbm face) I am not a fan of oysters, raw, cooked or half way in between. Luckily my dish was salvaged by a oyster vichyssoise and roasted cos lettuce crumble. Hubby had curry dusted kingklip which he descirbed as well prepared. The variety of textures complementing each other fantastically.

Guinea fowl - not so bad - quite tender, again a bit salty. The white liquorice puree added an interesting flavour which was a lot like beef stock. The quail - or midget quail was flavourful and was topped off with the granola, sweet corn puree and a pea dusted quail egg. A beautiful colour filled dish.

Wildebeest loin was tender and excellently cooked. It was accompanied by carrot 3 ways with celeriac puree. Very well salted and an exceptional course. The lamb cheek with aubergine puree, fermented garlic 'puree' and crispy tongue was the winner of the two. The combination of textures alone was something to write home about. Great course.

The cheese course: very interesting combination of flavours in both dishes. The salt and vinegar flings were excellently paired with a Languedoc (lankydak) custard. The other cheese plate - with grueye was expertly paired with a combination of nuts, currents and rusk pieces. Very rich, but incredibly tasty.

Dessert - a feast for both the eyes and taste buds. A dome of thin chocolate dissipating with the addition of a hot bitter butterscotch sauce. One melted a ball of snow white coconut ice cream is revealed.

Resting on a bed of caramelized macadamia nuts and sheltering a sweet boabab fruit centre. The other dessert was not lacking either. The silky smooth texture of the chocolate breaking the crisp chocolate granita. Although the holy basil was not my favourite, it was immensely enjoyed by David.

After dinner sweets consisted of a coffee ganache topped with a shell of meringue, portraying the illusion of a mushroom and a mussel tin filled with candyfloss and bite size jelly treats. Great way to end the meal.

For R770 it is quite pricey, but worth it to experience world class fine dining.