So, husband mine is not a big fan of “fancy” restaurants. So
I expected some sort of resistance when I told him I’d won a prize on Twitter
for dinner for two at Jardine on Bree. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
“Great!” he said (not really, but his real exclamation is a
tad unprintable.)
“Huh?” I replied sounding stupid.
“Dude, it’s freaking Jardine. Of course I want to go.”
And go we did. We arrived at 7 and the extremely personable Wilhelm
suggested we have a little pre-dinner drink in the cosy bar downstairs to allow
the restaurant to fill up a little. Then we were whisked upstairs by the very
friendly front of house staff. Sadly I’ve forgotten the young gentleman’s name,
(can it be Johan?) but he proved to be a delight throughout the evening.
In fact, the staff in general (waitress, sommelier,
plate-carrying guy) were all professional, knowledgeable, and friendly and
their impeccable service and on target recommendations made us feel very
welcome and comfortable.
But the food! Oh the food. Chef Eric Bullpitt impressed the
pants off me. As a starter Charles had the cured and smoked salmon with green
melon and tomato consommé and I had the best mussels I’ve ever had in my life.
This is not an exaggeration. Fresh, unfettered with garlic or white sauce with
just a hint of ginger and coconut to compliment the flavours. And melt in your
mouth tender. I’ve started salivating now just thinking about it.
For our mains I had the duck and Charles the warthog. The
combinations on the plate were sublime and I ate far too much (the duck turned
out to be a really big portion, but I couldn’t NOT eat it – leaving it on the
plate would have been a crime against humanity) but my senses loved me for it.
We left feeling giddy and happy with all senses truly
satisfied. And at R230 for the two course and R260 for the three course menu I
think it’s completely worth it.
Jardine was reviewed by Lili Radloff, Deputy Editor, Women24