With a warm, charming atmosphere, this small restaurant doesn’t have
fancy decor, but it has something better: a good chef who can cook Italian, German
and Indian food with South African flavor.
For starters I chose the springbok carpaccio. A friend told me his son
couldn’t get enough of it and if a kid will eat raw game meat, I’m willing to try.
The menu said it was succulent, thin-sliced springbok sprinkled with shaved parmesan,
rocket (that’s South African for arugula, my new favorite word); pesto and mushrooms.
For an entree I chose ostrich filet with red cabbage and pepper sauce.
Grilled ostrich meat is as red as beef. On the grill, it gets as dark as red meat does, but
it’s much leaner. It’s low fat and low cholesterol, with less than 100 calories for three ounces, but it’s still tender. South Africans farm ostriches prodigiously for their meat.
“I love ostrich because I don’t feel like I’m eating red meat that’s bad for me,”
said Jane Thandi Lipman, a fellow diner sitting at the next table over.
My friend chose the line fish — yellow tail — caught on a line in the surf as opposed to in a net.
This may not be the yellow fish you know at home. It’s commonly caught on the west coast
of South Africa between Walvis Bay in Namibia and Lamberts Bay in the Western Cape.
It’s a very distinctive kind of fish, my friend said. Parker’s serves it grilled in lemon butter with pan-fried potatoes.
For dessert, I chose the chacha pudding. I chose it for two reasons. One, it’s name, and two, it had peppermint crisp in it.
If you grow up in South Africa, you develop a taste for peppermint crisp, a type of mint-flavored honeycomb encased in chocolate that I’ve never seen duplicated elsewhere.
Like the marula fruit made famous by elephants and Bar One candy bars, Peppermint Crisp finds its way into gourmet desserts, milkshakes and alcoholic beverages all over South Africa.
My Chacha pudding consisted of layers of peppermint crisp, biscuit, caramel and whipped cream served in a sundae glass. I dare you to stop at just one bite.
Expert Review
With a warm, charming atmosphere, this small restaurant doesn't have fancy decor, but it has something better: a good chef who...
With a warm, charming atmosphere, this small restaurant doesn’t have
fancy decor, but it has something better: a good chef who can cook Italian, German
and Indian food with South African flavor.
For starters I chose the springbok carpaccio. A friend told me his son
couldn’t get enough of it and if a kid will eat raw game meat, I’m willing to try.
The menu said it was succulent, thin-sliced springbok sprinkled with shaved parmesan,
rocket (that’s South African for arugula, my new favorite word); pesto and mushrooms.
For an entree I chose ostrich filet with red cabbage and pepper sauce.
Grilled ostrich meat is as red as beef. On the grill, it gets as dark as red meat does, but
it’s much leaner. It’s low fat and low cholesterol, with less than 100 calories for three ounces, but it’s still tender. South Africans farm ostriches prodigiously for their meat.
“I love ostrich because I don’t feel like I’m eating red meat that’s bad for me,”
said Jane Thandi Lipman, a fellow diner sitting at the next table over.
My friend chose the line fish — yellow tail — caught on a line in the surf as opposed to in a net.
This may not be the yellow fish you know at home. It’s commonly caught on the west coast
of South Africa between Walvis Bay in Namibia and Lamberts Bay in the Western Cape.
It’s a very distinctive kind of fish, my friend said. Parker’s serves it grilled in lemon butter with pan-fried potatoes.
For dessert, I chose the chacha pudding. I chose it for two reasons. One, it’s name, and two, it had peppermint crisp in it.
If you grow up in South Africa, you develop a taste for peppermint crisp, a type of mint-flavored honeycomb encased in chocolate that I’ve never seen duplicated elsewhere.
Like the marula fruit made famous by elephants and Bar One candy bars, Peppermint Crisp finds its way into gourmet desserts, milkshakes and alcoholic beverages all over South Africa.
My Chacha pudding consisted of layers of peppermint crisp, biscuit, caramel and whipped cream served in a sundae glass. I dare you to stop at just one bite.