Cape Town’s stellar restaurant scene gives foodies something to be excited about at any time of year. And as the temperatures continue to rise, so too does the standard of new seasonal offerings that are popping up at restaurants around the country.
With summer and the festive season on the horizon, eateries are pulling out all the stops with a host of new menus that offer delicious dishes made with seasonal ingredients.
From beef tartare to ox tongue, there is something for just about everyone.
Upper Union
At Upper Union, chef Amori Burger has updated her menu in line with her seasonally led, locally sourced approach to cooking. As always, Burger has drawn inspiration from around the globe, creating a series of vibrant, flavourful and utterly more-ish dishes.
From the Middle East across to eastern Europe and all the way down to Peru and, most importantly with some local flair, the new menu is all about bright, light and fresh ingredients.
The menu also still delivering the chef’s signature bold, spice-driven, and abundant flavours approach to cooking. The new seasonal chef’s sharing menu sees the likes of fresh sea bass with tiger’s milk and green papaya as well as ox tongue with Worcestershire gel and horseradish to start.
A tender Picanha rump steak with waterblommetjie and nasturtium chimichurri and accompanying sides of in-house made feta will be another meal available under the mains section.
You can end the meal with a taste of nostalgia in the form of a popcorn sugar cookie ice cream sandwich,which is also filled with corn and Frosties ice cream.
Another dessert option is a classic flavour combination of chocolate hazelnut and raspberry with the dacquoise.
Commenting on the new menu, Burger explained that summer is all about light, bright and vibrant flavours. “It is also about our constant striving to explore and learn as much as we can.”
“The team and I have loved delving into the world of fermentation and preservation, and I think those components really shine on this menu,” Burger added.
GOLD Restaurant
GOLD Restaurant offers an authentic African experience and a night at the restaurant is an immersive experience that will take you on a 14-dish taste safari paired with traditional Mali puppets and entertainment.
Their African entertainment includes praise singing to welcome you, Mali puppetry, and dancing to the rhythms of the marimba percussion and djembe drums. In addition to hosting, cooking, and serving guests, the team at the restaurant contributes with their favourite African recipes.
Hailing from all over the African content, GOLD Restaurant provides the ambience, warmth, and knowledgeable service for which they are acclaimed.
Taking to Instagram, the eatery announced that as part of their new summer menu, there will be Namibian seared ostrich salad, vetkoek, Tunisian carrot and potato briouats, Xhosa imfino patties, and Cameroon lime and mango chicken to name a few.
“Summer is well underway in Cape Town and our Namibian Seared Ostrich Salad is the perfect start to our menu,” the social media post read.
The restaurant added that a fun fact is that their ostrich meat is not only delicious but also incredibly lean. “It's lower in fat and cholesterol compared to other meats, making it a healthy alternative to red meat,” they wrote.
Ouzeri
Ouzeri, a trendy eatery at Wale Street celebrated for its contemporary Cypriot and Greek cuisine, will be serving up a host of exciting new dishes.
The menu remains true to its core of balancing tradition and innovation, paying homage to the rich culinary heritage of Cyprus and Greece while embracing the bounty of fine South African produce.
With the new menu, chef Nic Charalambous drew inspiration from his recent trip to the Mediterranean Islands.
The new dishes on the menu include Apaki, originating from Crete, which sees mountain herbs used to cure and smoke pork loin. Another dish is the Gamopilafo, a traditional, celebratory Cretan wedding dish.
Charalambous brings his twist to this dish by using the finest lamb and mutton from the Western Cape along with Cream of the Crop’s cultured butter to replicate the taste of the goats' butter.
Also on the new menu is the beef tartare - the local steak is served with elements inspired by the skordalia which uses walnuts in place of potatoes.
“It has been really exciting for me to learn more and more, and then to pass that knowledge onto the team who then showcase this to our customers.
“It’s this importance of establishing a connection between the origin of a dish, the landscape, climate, geography, and culture, and then also merging that with Cape Town's own identity,” said Charalambous.