Living in Sea Point is heavenly for eating out and Zest is one of our favourites from last year. There’s such a range of restaurants offering an impressive diversity of cuisine and a price range to suit every pocket. In fact there are so many we can never get around to visiting them all during our stay. Perhaps I’d better try harder. Anyway what this means is that we are risking missing out on eating at some truly fabulous places, and we almost missed out on eating at Zest.
Planned for a Saturday lunchtime in March some time in advance we hadn’t expected the weather to take such a turn for the worse. I mean it really bucketed down which is unusual for the time of year. Of course we’re used to living in England so ventured out with our umbrellas for a pre-lunch libation at new rooftop bar The Nines.
Obviously the beautiful terrace was closed but we managed to squeeze in a quick glass (of bubbles in my case) before the heavens well and truly opened! Running through the downpour trying to dodge puddles we very nearly went into a closer establishment to escape the storm. Well, we would have if it had been open – luckily it wasn’t and we had to continue our dash to Zest. It was well worth it.
Zest also has a terrace with lovely sea views, but again it was cold and looking decidedly unwelcoming with the rain teeming down. I’ve never sat inside the restaurant and have to admit I was unexpectedly impressed, there was great vibe and it immediately felt like the perfect place to have lunch on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
What’s on the menu
Zest’s motto is “Fresh and local at its best” and there’s a decent selection of dishes with a mix of Mediterranean and Asian influences. Most items are available in small or large plates – how I love that.
I’ve enjoyed a good haul of oysters during my Cape Town sojourn this year. Today I devoured three Luderitz oysters topped with Asian dressing and crispy shallots. This is my absolute favourite way for oysters to be served and makes me very happy.
The sauteed prawns are served with chilli butter, tomato and red pepper fondue and in two sizes. This is the small plate (pretty generous I would say). The sweetest of prawns perfectly fried and served with a delicate and tingling sauce with a chilli bite.
The Asian beef fillet comes with mushrooms, ginger, spring onion, sesame and nori and is on the starter menu. Though today my husband had it as his main course, again it’s pretty substantial.
I felt in a fishy frame of mind today and when our waiter said the plancha linefish was cabeljou (also known as cob) my mind was made up. I love a cobeljou and here is is served with lentils, tomato fondue and grilled baby marrow. Again available in two portion sizes and I went for the small one. The perfect lunch-size for me.
Our friend Candy who’d trekked through the rain to join us thoroughly enjoyed her wood-fired grilled beef fillet, a luscious piece of steak served with a garnish of crispy vegetables cooked over fire. Fillets come in two different sizes, this is the smaller portion.
I remembered from a previous visit that the vegetables at Zest were the vegetables of dreams. So we ordered a miso eggplant. Good decision – I’m going to try to recreate this on my barbecue this summer (if it ever stops raining) A beautifully crunchy skin and the softest of sweet aubergine melted on our tongues accompanied by oohs and aahs. Love it when a humble vegetable is cooked so wonderfully that it becomes one of the highlights of the meal.
Fried potato wedges seemed a good choice for a chilly afternoon and we asked for them extra crispy. Just because we felt like it. The chef did a great job to make this wish come true, and we were presented with these delightful golden and crunchy morsels.
A delicious wild mushroom sauce was also chosen to perfectly complete the steak dish.
Today’s price point
The food in our lunch for three today came to the grand total of R763. That’s a mere £33 at today’s exchange rate. Yes – we paid £11 each for this superb lunch. Boy am I going to miss Cape Town’s restaurantland.
White wine starts from R230 a bottle and red from R210.
Zest is at in the Newkings Boutique Hotel, 2nd Floors, Piazza Da Luz, 94 Regent Road, Sea Point, Cape Town.
