Reviews
Brian Berkman’s Luxury World
I have recently completed my assignment for Fodor’s South Africa 5th edition, available for sale in December this year.
Good, Better, Best, First published in 48 Hours, July 9, 2009.
TAKING its name from two saucers and a martini glass at its centre, OYO restaurant at the excellent V&A Hotel, the first hotel to open at the Waterfront, is a winner on a number of levels: stellar views, great service and a varied menu that is well executed. It may be that parking there isn’t at its most convenient, or that as the not-new-kid-on-the-block it isn’t necessarily top-of-mind, but OYO deserves to be more popular than it is. If you’re only enjoying one dish, make it the seafood laksa (R45) – a cross between a soup and a curry with smoothly intense Malaysian coconut flavours with a spicy zing lifted by lemongrass.
Baked Franschhoek trout (R95) gets Med-treatment with feta and peppedew crushed potatoes, mange tout and garlic-rich tzatziki, while duck (R110), roasted honeyed breast with French-style potato gratin, sweet glazed shallots and a bourbon sauce echoes the Creole flavours of New Orleans. For its position overlooking the docks and onwards onto Table Mountain, the menu presents global flavours with a strong Cape grounding. Nowhere perhaps more evident than on the dessert menu where OYO Dream (R55), (a nightmare for diabetics), is a marquise of chocolate, crème Brule and Amarula ice cream cone; or local artisan cheeses (R55) with boere preserves and biscuits.
OYO Restaurant, V&A Hotel, Waterfront. 021-419-6677.
