Long leisurely lunches are a guilty pleasure of mine. I get to spend hours in interesting restaurants, chatting with people I love and engaging in my favourite activity of all time – eating.
Normally, lunch is a homemade sandwich at my desk or a quick walk to the closest shop. So when planning a recreational lunch, all the elements have to be perfect. The venue should have a great relaxed atmosphere, the service should be excellent and (most importantly) the food needs to be exceptional. Myoga at the Vineyard Hotel ticks all three boxes in the most impressive way.
Executive Chef and owner Mike Bassett, recently launched a new lunch menu, and it is awesome. You get to indulge in a five-course tasting menu, and if you are feeling particularly fancy, the sommelier will present you with the best wine to complement each dish. I tried this menu first hand along with some of my peers in the industry, and I think it’s safe to say we were all blown away.
The menu features such great dishes; I had a mild crisis trying to decide what to order. Everything looked so tasty! Luckily, having lunch in a group meant I could see the dishes I did not order. Every single course was beautifully presented. Foodgrammers will lose their minds at how great everything looked. Even the plates and bowls that the food came in were cool, but that pales in comparison to how delicious the food was.
We began with a tickler. All of us were presented with a small helping of mushroom oatmeal with a miso milk. It tasted like risotto and felt like being hugged from the inside. Before our starter came out (in fact, before each course arrived) the waiters presented you with the wine you would be having with your meal, complete with what flavours to expect and how it will complement your dish. I have to say, the wines definitely added a new dimension to the food.
I started with ancho chilli garlic chorizo prawns, mild buffalo wings with blue cheese spuma and avocado butter. Every element worked together beautifully. Our palate cleanser was a yummy lime sorbet. For mains, I had confit duck tacos with mango mission fig scallion salad paired with Domaine des Dieux’s Josphine Pinot Noir which was heavenly. Dessert was by far the coolest course. I chose the coconut sphere, but the star of the show was ‘death by cheesecake’. A plate covered in pink candy floss which melts away when the waiter pours a pink reduction over it! Check out the video below:
Overall, the portions were quite generous for a tasting menu, the wines were absolutely splendid, and the food was out of this world. Even if you do not opt for the wine pairings, you are in for a treat. From the atmosphere to the food, Myoga offers much more than a great lunch. They offer a great experience.
OF NOTE
When Tuesday – Saturday 11:30 am – 2:30 pm (lunch hours)
Where The Vineyard Hotel, 60 Colinton Road, Newlands
Cost R275 pp, R500 with wine pairings
Contact +27 21 657 4545, [email protected], www.myoga.co.za
Photography courtesy Annzra Denita and Myoga