Let me tell you chaps, if you want to treat yourself to a meal of fresh crayfish, get down to the Crayfish Inn at La Montagne in Ballito. Hubby and I had the best Crayfish Thermidor at this cosy little seaside restaurant. Nothing much compares to the juicy, sweet flesh of a fresh crayfish bathed in a bubbling creamy cheesy mushroom sauce!
The vibe
The décor of this seafood haven is nautical and the view over the ocean is awesome. You feel as if you have taken a step back in time and are eating in an old galleon. The array of fresh shellfish and line fish on ice as your enter the ‘galleon’ is mouth-watering and one is totally spoilt for choice. You half expect Capt. Jack Sparrow, dagger between his teeth, to swing into the restaurant from the sails at any moment.
I have often written on my blog about our Tripepi family Sunday trips to Sheffield Beach and the mussel dishes that were made from our plunder of the rocks; so when I spied a mussel pot starter of half shell mussels steamed in a garlic and cream sauce served with freshly baked bread. (R42) I jumped in with both feet. The plump Knysna mussels surely delivered everything one expects of a mussel pot. Hubby had his way with some equally fresh, milky and beautifully cleaned Knysna oysters ( R13each).
The Crayfish Inn has a capacity of 50 people, so one enjoys a rather intimate meal and I have to say that the service was commendably excellent. The a la carte menu is jam packed with seafood favourites. Freshly grilled prawns, langoustines, crayfish, calamari and prawns together with line fish, caught daily, are all on offer to tempt your palate together with a comprehensive selection of some of South Africa’s most celebrated wines. The seafood platter for 1 overflows with calamari, mussels, prince prawns and grilled line fish, which, was Dorado. (R210)
The seafood
I was not going to go to a restaurant called the ‘Crayfish” Inn and not sample their namesake. I am drooling as I type this, the Crayfish Thermidor in all its oven baked glory came out bubbling and oozing in its creamy cheese and mushroom sauce. Need I say more? The Thermidor is served on a bed of mashed potatoes and weighs in at R72 per 100 grams. It’s your choice how big or greedy you go!
Dessert was not the best rendition of deep fried ice cream (R37) that I have ever tasted but overall the seafood, which is what this restaurant is all about, was awesome.
Situated on the KZN North Coast, La Montagne is a time share resort and one cannot help but wonder how much support this little gem of a restaurant gets from the resort guests. Personally, I would love to see a massive deck built onto the restaurant so one could enjoy the sea breeze, amazing view and that incredible aroma of seafood on the grill.
The Crayfish Inn was reviewed by Janice Tripepi, read her blog here.