A V&A TOUR DE FORCE

Usually when I sit down to a meal at a good restaurant, I don’t expect to move for a while – not till the last sip of wine has been enjoyed and the espresso is cleared away.

Last Thursday night, however, was a little different.

CTE.com was invited to enjoy a culinary tour, if you will, of a trio of established eateries at the V&A Waterfront: Greek Fisherman on the lower level, overlooking the Victoria Basin; City Grill, its sister steakhouse nearly right next door; and Meloncino, an Italian darling but a staircase away, with wonderful views of the water and mountain.

A busy work day that left little time for more than a quick bowl of soup turned out to be the perfect preparation for our evening – starvation central was a good place to be, with the smorgasbord ahead of us. I was mentally undoing my top button from the moment the first groaning tray of meze arrived at our table at Greek Fisherman: mussels in a tomato-based sauce with feta, delicious halloumi, charcoal-grilled biftekia with their lovely cheesy centre and – but of course – a perfect Greek salad.

We did the best we could over a glass of Boschendal 1685 Chardonnay Pinot Noir, then repaired next door, the top button miraculously still doing brave service.

At this point I need to confess that I’m a steak snob. So many places claim perfection in this arena and really only hit ‘pretty good’, so I generally approach with skepticism. Which is how you might regard this next statement, but go and see for yourself: I had the best fillet of my life at City Grill.

Enough said.

(Except I feel I need to add that if you’re feeling more adventurous, the menu also offers a sizeable venison selection, including a giant grilled venison skewer of ostrich, crocodile, warthog, springbok and home-made venison sausage. A little taste of more wild Africa…)

If you can believe it, we then took our distended bellies upstairs after draining the dregs of a particularly tasty Darling Cellars Old Blocks Pinotage (those flavourful bush vines, I tell you). One look at Meloncino’s dessert list and you know why this is our final stop. It’s a sweet tooth’s dream, and nothing satisfies more so than the warm chocolate soufflé, served with a lemon sorbet that perfectly cuts the richness of the chocolate.

We lingered for a while – to enjoy the last sips of wine and see the espresso cleared away – and then rolled on home.

And yes. The top button got its break in the car.

Photography Courtesy