|
Ad Talent // Newsletter September 2010 |
| "Eating Out" With Industry Leaders |
|
The ambience is trendy and dare I say, dark. Haiku is so dark that it is the only place you could have an affair in Cape Town and not be seen. An appetiser of Kim chi (a Korean staple of pickled cabbage) was presented for us to consume while we went through the menu. We started with Dim Sum: spring rolls that have asparagus wrapped in prawn with fried seaweed as a garnish. The flavour is as delicate as the size. Then wanton style dumpling. Wanton means that the dumpling is open at the top. We had three types of fillings: spicy prawn, scallops and conventional prawn. These dumplings are just too delightful. You could make a meal of the Dim Sum alone. This was followed by two hot pots. Hot pots are big in China and lots of fun. Almost like a soup-based fondue, you just throw in the fresh meat and vegetables into the boiling soup and fish it out with your chopsticks when cooked. Haiku's hot pots are not like this. The type Haiku offer came to the table (on a burner) with everything already in the boiling sauce. We chose mixed seafood and the water beef hot pot. The water beef contained thin slices of beef in the famous ‘five spice' sauce (you can taste the aniseed). While the beef is rich and almost spicy, the seafood was delicate and subtle. Containing crabmeat, prawn, salmon and a white fish I couldn't identify, the sauce enhances their flavour rather than overpowering it. The meal was finished off with 'Asian trio' ice cream - green tea, black tea and sesame seed ice cream. Sounds strange, but this dessert was actually a very nice way to end off a meal that was fancy, but very, very delicious and provided a surprisingly authentic taste. The only negative of the evening was that they couldn't deliver a Dom Pedro as they had no vanilla ice cream. Total cost minus drinks for 2 people: R438 Two days later, we met friends at Chuck Yang. A real ‘hole in the wall' restaurant. (100 metres down Camp Ground Road from Rondebosch Junior Boys School) Run by Chuck Yang and his wife, this is as authentic as you'll get in Cape Town. Bright lights, clean formica tables and Taiwan TV playing on the flat screen on the wall. There is nothing glamorous about this place, but when the dishes start hitting the lazy Susan, your senses are aroused and your taste buds realise that this is a real restaurant. Rice is the staple dish brought to life with dishes you won't find on the Western menu. ‘Three beef' pot containing three variants of finely sliced beef, with cabbage, glass noodles and tofu. The tenderness of the beef will astound you. Then there was lamb pot, containing small pieces of lamb chops in a tasty broth also containing tofu and cabbage. Crispy coriander beef should really excite a Western palate. A deliciously stir-fried Chinese spring cabbage was followed by a dish that you just won't normally find in Cape Town: roast pork strips over shredded cucumber. There are no desserts offered at Chuck Yang, as Chinese don't finish off a meal with desserts. However, a plate of sliced orange is often brought to the table at the end of the meal, free of charge. This meal was wholesome and very delicious. Total cost minus drinks for 5 people: R485 So the conclusion of my quest: you can find authentic Chinese cuisine in Cape Town. One where the food is a flavour adventure, but you're paying for the ambience. The other, a family place where the food was wholesomely delicious and made with love. |
|
Industry Antics from this Newsletter:
|