One & Only Cape Town – Reuben’s Winter Menu

When I first got the invitation to spend a weekend at the One & Only Cape Town, I was both excited AND skeptical. I mean, amazing things like that always come with a catch, right? Luckily for me, not this time!
The fabulous Ian and Lise Manley (of Manley Communications), invited me, along with a few other journalists from Johannesburg and Durban to come experience the wonder that is The One & Only Cape Town.

Obviously, the invite alone got me excited, but when we found out that we would be joining a media lunch at Reuben’s to launch the new Winter menu, I started jumping up and down (not to mention the fact that we would also be having dinner at the fabulous Nobu – I’ll be sharing this experience later on this week).  And so, two weeks of waiting (which felt like years!) came to an end and my alarm woke me up at 4am on Friday, 3rd of June to catch my 6am flight to Cape Towne. The only thing getting me through an icy Joburg morning, was the thought of a Reuben’s lunch awaiting me at the other side.

And I wasn’t disappointed. Because the organisers wanted us to taste everything on the winter menu, we were served canape portions of starters, including French onion soup, Chicken liver parfait and Warm duck salad (to name only 3) which were all sublime. The mains were served as they would be if ordered and we got to share them to have a taste of everything and of course, order more of the dishes we particularly enjoyed. My absolute favourite was the Gnocchi with fried porcini mushrooms with butternut, crispy sage and brown butter followed closely by Miso cured Salmon. The gnocchi seemed to have been the dish of the day as almost everyone was raving about it. Other options were the amazing Soy braised Pork Belly,  Slow baked Lamb shank and Lightly creamed Chicken & Prawn curry.

I also really enjoyed this way of eating as it was quite social and allowed us to really get a sense of what everyone thought of the food.
We were presented with 4 different desserts. All delicious but my favourite was definitely the Chocolate Peppermint-crisp. The other options were Glazed lemon tart, Amarula Malva Pudding and Tiramisu. The general theme of the menu was one of homey, comfort food. Exactly the food you are looking for on a chilly Winter’s day/evening. What sets this apart from your mom’s cooking is punchy flavours and beautiful presentation.

If you are (or will be) in Cape Town over the colder months, be sure to pop into the beautiful Reuben’s at the One & Only Cape Town. I can almost guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.

For more information, visit the One & Only Cape Town’s website or phone Reuben’s directly at +27 21 431 5222/4511.