I thoroughly enjoy the idea of having a favourite restaurant that I visit regularly as well as a particular dish that I know will bring me joy every time I indulge in it. More than that I’m attracted to the idea of knowing that every dish at the said restaurant will bring me joy and that’s probably the best thing about Menlo Park’s Capital Craft Academy – they’re constantly on a mission to recreate their menu so that it’s always new and never boring for their regular guests.
In the spirit of spring and new births they recently launched their new menu.
If you look them up then you’ll know that they’re passionate about serving lip-smacking meals accompanied by South Africa’s prime craft beers and liquors. That coupled with the fact that what they already have is a few different shades of yummy I was pretty keen to try out their new concoctions.
First things first, I had to find the perfect drink to escort me through my stay. I fell in love with my first pick of beer, it was as if the universe was sending me a subliminal message, in a beer bottle labeled Fokofpolisiekar, letting me know that I was where I was supposed to be. It’s a larger with a clean and crisp malt flavor that lingers on your palette long after the floral hop smell has left your nose. It’s no stranger to their collection but hey I still think that it was worth writing home about.
A few of the other craft beers that they’ve added to their menu include Brouer Broers – Buffelsfontein lewer, Copperlake – English Ale, Friar’s Habit – Irish Red Ale as well as the Old Main Brewery – Real Ale among others.
Then there was the outstanding offering of food. If you’ve ever eaten there then you’ll know that their chefs mean business when they step into the kitchen. I almost want to call it upper echelon pub food just because it’s what you want to eat when you’re enjoying a beer but I also feel like that’s could be a bit disrespectful.
So what’s new on the menu? There’s The Original Cobb salad and Writer Block – Biltong And Avo Salad (which I’ll definitely be going back for that when days are dark and I’m struggling to write), beef sirloin carpaccio, corndog as well as the deep fried biltong and sticky wings. The sticky-sweetness from the wings was a great introduction for what was still to follow. As for the fried biltong, I still don’t know how to feel about it and there was only so much of it that I could eat before it became too much.
As a main I tried The Real Mac burger which is a 200g beef patty, a deep fried macaroni and cheese ball, bacon, cheese, bbq sauce as well as mayo and quick pickled red cabbage packed in between two fresh buns. It looked like something from the Food Porn account on Instagram and tasted like the best decision I’d made all day. I loved the innovation in the meals and how the chefs aren’t afraid to play around with their dishes.
Other additions to the menu include the Stolen Goods and the Party in the Club sandwich, the Deep Fried Man and Rack Me Three Ways platters, the Drunken Hombre and Killer Kraut burgers as well as the slow braised beef and lamb.
It’s the crème de la crème of pub food in the sense that it’s exactly the kind of stuff your tummy yearns for after throwing back a few.