Constantia Uitsig is snuggled in at the back of Constantia Uitsig
wine estate and is a restaurant with classic country elegance and a beautiful
view (lunch on the stoep is just gorgeous).
The food
The food, I would describe as rustic fine dining. There is
little fussiness and chef Clayton Bell’s flavours are pure and fresh. What you see is what
you get and the portions are perfect ie: no teeny mounds of unrecognizable
foam.
Often, I feel, Constantia Uitsig gets overlooked and under-talked about as it’s big
sis La Colombe is the ever-present finer than fine dining figure just a hundred
metres away, but it is a restaurant with solid roots and seriously great fare.
My experience
We had the spring menu which is set at R340
for 4 courses, R365 for 5 and R390 for 6, including the pairing of wine with each dish
– and great news! It’s to be continued
throughout the season and into next year so no panic.
Mussels – I have honestly never had a
better mussel dish – light discs of pastry with fresh, plump mussels in a
creamy Saffron sauce – seriously wow.
Following this was a beautiful salad, great mushroom ravioli, a fish dish using Kingklip – ahhh! I was not happy to see this as it’s on the SASSI orange list.
Lamb chops – I was taken aback at the pure flavour of the
meat, its tenderness and all-round simplistic greatness of this dish. A dish
worth gushing about.
Look at the gallery of screen-lickable pics of dishes from the menu and more…
Wine
All paired with Constantia Uitsig wines and I’ll say again, they’re included in the price. I love that they haven’t put the pairing at a
premium, it’s great to be able to have the pairing as I think many miss out on this as it’s that much more expensive.
Should you go?
Without a doubt and then go again. It’s romantic, notably
drool-worthy and so very happy-making.
Perfect for
Romance, long lazy lunches and cosy dinners. A great special occasion place too.