The Tasting Room

The Tasting Room in located in downtown Franschhoek and in walking distance of most of the hotels in the city.  The Tasting Room is another top 100 restaurant in the world and this one did not disappoint.  I daresay this might be the best meal we've ever had.

First, they bring a glass of champagne.

Next, we got a variety of amuse bouches including pork rinds.

I believe these were apple something.

Little tomato cones and aubergine lollipops.

A bread plate of flatbread and a delicious cornbread with a tasty butter.

And finally, this is a mini glass full of garden tasting foam and mushrooms gelee.  I found this to be really interesting and it tasted so fresh.

There are 2 menu options, one is an "African Surprise" 9 course tasting menu or a prix fixe meal with 5 courses.  Nick chose the African surprise menu with wine pairings.  I chose the prix fixe as I'm not brave enough to try anything labelled as a surprise.  I also skipped the wine pairings as they made me entirely too full the night before at Rust en Vrede.

African Surprise - Course 1

Lightly smoked luderitz oyster, chorizo, cucumber and granadilla

Paired with Monis pale dry sherry

Jen - course 1

corn soup

African Surprise - course 2

Lemon poached west coast crayfish tail, prawn wafer, marshmallow

Paired with Graham Beck brut

African Surprise - Course 3

Cured foie gras, prosciutto, cranberry and whisky dressing (that foie gras on the left has a bacon jam in it too!)

Paired with Cederberg bukettraube 2010

African Surprise - Course 4

Celeriac and buchu risotto

Paired with GlenWood semillon 2009

Jen - course 3

warthog!

African Surprise - Course 5

Sous vide paradyskloof quail breast, truffled quail egg, asparagus

Paired with Vergelegen vin de florence 2009

African Surprise - Course 6

Braised, free range klein karoo lamb breast, chakalaka marmalade, basil, salted grapes, roast garlic

Paired with Anthonij Rupert merlot 2006

Jen - course 4

Cheese course with a blue cheese

African Surprise - Course 7

Swissland goat's brie, rhubarb, southern black figs

Paired with Moreson pinotage 2008

African Surprise - Course 8

Pear and baobab parfait, lemon verbena, verjuice, pistachio

Paired with Silverthorn genie brut rose

Jen - course 5

dessert

African Surprise - Course 9 is missing

Orange and buttermilk cannelloni, jersey milk sherbet, fennel

Paired with Rickety Bridge natural sweet chenin blanc 2009

Mignardise

Obviously I kind of suck at food blogging since I'm missing pictures and forgot to make note of what I ate.  However, this was one of the best meals of our lives. Absolutely do not miss this place.  My favorite dishes were the warthog, the cheese course (both dishes), and the risotto.

I will say that service seemed to be a teeny bit lacking at both top 100 restaurants we went to in South Africa.  Maybe it was because we had the most excellent service when we ate at L20 in Chicago, but I thought they could improve.  There were times when both my wine and water glass were empty and the waiter was no where to be found to get me something to drink. I know that's a really picky comment but for such a highly ranked restaurant I expected it to be perfect.