Rambling Rose @ Montagu

We were on our way to Warmwatersberg and made a stop in Montagu on R62, what a lovely drive! We had lunch in Rambling Rose and unfortunately, I left very disappointed. This may be my first red flag on a restaurant.

The place is lovely, beautifully setting and everything I expected from a farm stall restaurant. The waitress was very friendly and helpful and the owner even helped us with our later braai ideas!

However the food was not tasty for majority of our table, we were a group of 8 and only one person enjoyed the food. I ordered the prego roll with salad, the meat had a very strong alcohol taste with no other flavors. Same as the beef stew they had, surprisingly blend with alcohol tasting, we did not finish that. The chicken and mushroom pie was equally bad and the presentation was so lovely! What a shame.

I would give this place a 4/10. I left the place very upset, maybe I should have order the waffle to make up for it? Lol.

Karibu @ V&A Waterfront

My uncle requested to dine at an African restaurant when he visited Cape Town last month (ha yes, overdue photos!) so we took him to the Karibu by the V&A Waterfront, thought he can visit the touristy shopping centre after supper.

Karibu was very enjoyable, the service was excellent. The food was good quality, even though I would not say its the best I have had but the overall quality and dining experience was very positive. The seafood & salad was fresh and the portion was good. Just one thing about the restaurant, I thought the food was not that authentic (I was expecting a menu that I CANNOT understand! Lol.)

Karibu was on the pricey side of things and uncle had a bottle of wine for R500 something (say what, the wine I know cost like R80!) but you are guaranteed to have quality service and food with a beautiful view of the Waterfront. I'd say 8/10.

The Trumpet Tree @ Stellenbosch

The Trumpet Tree is not very easy to find, you can easily miss it when you are driving. We found this place by accident when we went to the farm stall in Stellenbosch and we went back with my family!

I remember the first time I ate at the restaurant was on a hot summer's day. We dined under the tree and to our surprise, the restaurant got an outdoor splashing cooler?! We loved it. So this time when I passed by Stellenbosch, The Trumpet Tree was the first restaurant came to our mind.

The meal was enjoyable. I had a chicken wrap with salad, stole some amazing potato fries from my brother's burger dish. I feel the quality of the food was very decent, it is a great spot to hang out with great people. Even though the dishes on the menu is nothing creative, I would recommend it to anyone who just wants to have a relaxing meal and a few drinks. I give it a 7.5/10, she says.

The Trumpet Tree
84 Dorp Street, Stellenbosch
021 883 8379
http://www.thetrumpettree.com/

FAIL: Epic bread maker fail

%!%^@&*#

COOKING DON'T ALWAYS GOES WELL.

THIS IS ONE GREAT EXAMPLE, FOLLOWED THE RECIPE 100% (WELL, NOT REALLY, I ESTIMATED SOME OF THE INGREDIENTS =P), POPPED EVERYTHING IN THE BREAD MAKER, CHOSE BASIC.

3 HOURS LATER, WALA! THIS IS WHAT  I GOT!

WORST PART? DON'T KNOW WHAT WENT WRONG! HAHA

HOPEFULLY I CAN COME UP WITH A SUCCESSFUL ONE IN THE NEAR FUTURE!

TILL THEN, PEACE!

HE SAYS

Super Easy Thomas Keller inspired Roast Chicken

WHOLE BIRD

CARVED

SIMPLE ROASTED CHICKEN, IT CANNOT GET EASIER THAN THIS!

TO ME NOTHING BEAT THE FRESH ROASTED CHICKEN, CRISPY ON THE SKINS AND JUICY ON THE INSIDE! AND HERE I WILL SHOW YOU HOW!

INSPIRED BY TOP CHEF THOMAS KELLER, WITH A TWIST ON THE FLAVOURING, ADDED WITH ROSEMARY AND GARLICS, GIVES THE BIRD AN INCREDIBLE FROM THE INSIDE OUT!

INGREDIENTS:

WHOLE BIRD..........................................1 WHOLE

GARLIC GLOVES....................................4 GLOVES

ROSEMARY..............................................2 SMALL BUNCHES

THYME.....................................................OPTIONAL

METHODS:

1) PREHEAT OVEN TO 230 DEGREE.

2) WASH AND DRY THE BIRD WITH KITCHEN TOWEL, AND ALLOW TO DRY ON RACK FOR 1 HOUR TO GET THE BIRD TO ROOM TEMPERATURE.

3) REMOVE WISHBONE OF THE CHICKEN, FOR EASIER CARVING.

4) SEASON THE INSIDE OF BIRD WITH SALT AND PEPPER, INSERT TWO GARLIC GLOVES AND A BUNCH OF ROSEMARY.

5) SALT AND PEPPER ON THE BIRD, WITH SLICED GARLICS AND CHOPPED ROSEMARY/THYME.

6) ROAST IN OVEN FOR 40MINS AT 230 DEGREE, OR UNTIL SKINS GOLDER BROWN AND CRISPY.

TIPS:

1) DRYING THE BIRD ON RACK WILL MAKE THE SKIN CRISPIER AT THE END.

2) YOU WILL ALSO WANT TO ADD GENEROUS AMOUNT OF SALT ON THE SKIN, THIS WILL GIVE THE CHICKEN A BEAUTIFUL CRUST.

3) SPRINKLE SALT FROM HIGH ABOVE TO ENSURE IT SPREAD EVENLY.

4) I ALSO HAVE A BEAUTIFUL BOILED VEGGIE ON THE PLATE, BOIL WITH SALT AND A LITTLE OF SUGAR, THEY SUGAR WITH GIVE IT A BEAUTIFUL .

HE SAYS

THOMAS KELLER'S ROASTED CHICKEN VIDEO

34 South @ Knysna Waterfront

I recently had a mini holiday along the Garden Route with family members from overseas so when we got to Knysna, I had to order some oysters for my family. Knysna - home of oysters! We ended up in 34 South by the Waterfront.

34 South is a bit of everything: a restaurant, a shop and a bar..etc. We got a warm spot by the fire so grandma can stay warm, ordered some seafood and sushi to enjoy. Oh and grandma loved the bread from 34 South, we had to ask the waitress to bring us more bread.

We had seafood platter, sushi platter and some oysters. To be honest, I cannot remember much of the seafood platter, it was like a slightly more fancy version of Ocean Basket's platter. The sushi on the other hand was very decent quality, we really missed having rice after a few days of traveling haha (damn Asians!).

The oysters I ordered were medium sizes (R15/each) was very fresh, I did not want to have any due to bad childhood experience. Uncle offered me one saying it is very fresh and I enjoyed it, it was not as nearly as bad as I imagined!

34 South overall I think is a good choice to eat at the Knysna Waterfront, the chance of you getting something yucky is low. I give it a 8/10.

P.S. The place is not that easy to find, just follow the arrow by the elevator.


34 South
044 382 7331