With its yellowwood tables, rietdak ceiling and not a white table cloth in sight this may be the most informal of the city’s fine dining restaurants. From a single experience the service matched the unpretentious and warm décor. Descriptions of specials were concise. Are rambling speeches about kos being nestled in a bed of unpronounceable greens, finished with a drizzle of god knows what, thankfully going out of fashion?
We booked at the last minute on the eve of a long weekend and were told only a small table was available. The doubting Thomas in me thought “small table” code word for the crappest one: next to the entrance or practically in the kitchen. It was neither tiny nor badly placed.
This was in stark contrast to Bantry Bay rival Salt where earlier in the year I had booked ten days in advance (in order to procure a window seat with the superb view of the turquoise Atlantic). Salt couldn’t promise one and on the designated day the window tables were mostly empty but management still didn’t deign to give us one until dessert was served. On leaving we were told there was a secret password to securing a risotto with a view: table 23 or something.
Enough Salt, back to the Aubergine at hand. Amuse-Bouches, including a real surprise, a yellowtail sushi roll arrived. Now yellowtail is hardly my favourite fish but this swimmer was superb, brilliantly combined with that most humble of vegetables: the cabbage. This was washed down with a flute of vanity, the Teddy Hall chardonnay bubbly. At R72 a pop (around US $10) there was only going to be one glass but it was worth it.
The Aubergine Soufflé was texture-wise a fluffy success though the hint of lingering bitterness characteristic of this purple vegetable was for me a little out of kilter with the delicate egginess of the soufflé.
My girlfriend, who grew up on the US East Coast, opted for nostalgia, ordering the scallops. Happy childhood memories remain intact.
Sticking with the seafood theme I splashed out the R275 for crayfish tails with saffron despite my experience that the kreef’s poorer cousin, the prawn, has a stronger and sweeter flavour (this possibly on account of growing up closer to Mozambique than the Cape). I am a convert: the cray was a juicy success.
My partner went for the veg lasagna, usually the worst item on any menu (conversely one of the best acid tests of a restaurant). Not this one. The chef had been to the dairy to collect a pound each of butter and strong cheese. When a vegetarian dish has more fat than a red meat one then you start entering the realm of veggie nirvana. The wonderful vegetarian cuisine of India is a case in point: housewives there aren’t shy of using fat. Of course there was broccoli and spinach in Aubergine’s lasagna too.
In between the starters and mains the freshest strawberry sorbet palate cleanser had blown the girlfriend away.
This prompted her to ask if she could get more for dessert. A trio that included strawberry, mango and a mixed fruit scoop with cinnamon was delivered.
At R708 for two, including only two glasses of wine, this was an expensive meal. Three dishes were very good to excellent, the soufflé acceptable. When you next compare prices of Spur and Aubergine remember that at the family (read screaming kids) restaurant chain they don’t throw in mouth-watering surprises throughout the meal, such as a delectable cheesecake with coffee chocolate as part of the petits four.
Cape Town relentlessly chases the latest restaurant fads but the jolly tables at Aubergine that night indicate that sometimes you really can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
Tom Robbins
September 24, 2009
Aubergine
+27 (0)21 465 4909
www.aubergine.co.za
email: info@aubergine.co.za
39 Barnet St
Gardens
Cape Town
Tags: Aubergine, crayfish, fine dining restaurant, Salt, scallops, sorbet, souffle, sushi, Teddy Hall, vegetable lasagna, yellowtail
Great to see that Harald B is still keeping up the good work. He really is an absolute artist.