Harrington's and Izakaya Matsuri

9 March 2019

HARRINGTON’S

61 Harrington Street, Cape Town

IZAKAYA MATSURI

@ The Rockwell, Prestwich Street, Cape Town

A tale of misconceived expectations and redemption.

Last Thursday the wife told me that her boss and her husband were going to Harrington’s that evening and this got my attention, as I’d not taken note of this establishment at all.

The wife googled Harrington’s, that calls itself “a classic cocktail lounge, restaurant and boutique bar” that allegedly” evokes a feel of otherworldly opulence and style” and the tapas style menu sounded delightful and was so enticing that we immediately decided it could be worth checking out;  a good place to take the goddaughters (those fortunate goddaughters!), and their respective friends, for a fam blast before we go off on our hols in April.

I phoned to book a table for 6 for Saturday night. The young woman who took the booking, paused for a moment, apparently to confirm that a table for six was available, or so I thought, and we exchanged some banter about the advisability of ubering there rather than trying to look for parking in the area.

As is the custom nowadays, Harrington’s followed up twice with text messages to confirm my booking for “6 pax” and on Saturday morning I was required to confirm the booking from my side as well.

Harrington’s is upstairs in a corner building, with views across the neighbourhood, opposite the Bootlegger and Lekker Vegan, with an imposing looking bouncer outside.

There is a reception desk at the top of a steep staircase, and when one turns the corner you walk past the impressive long bar to get to the main room. The young crowd at the bar and the loud music should have been a dead giveaway but I thought this was just the cocktail bar portal to the dining area.

The initial apprehension became a real sinking feeling when we stepped into the main room, which has a series of booths at the windows, a large high table at the end and banquette seating around the inner wall, with low, rectangular tables.  The immediate realisation was that the demographic was about the age of the younger people of our party and that it did not seem to be much of a restaurant, at least of the type we expected.

Two booths were unoccupied, yet we were pointed to a corner, with one of those small tables.

This was not what I had thought I’d booked, and I went up to an official looking young man to ask why we couldn’t have a booth, only to be told that these were reserved for parties of between 20 to 30 people.

We were done here for the night. I returned to our group where the wife had reached the same conclusion and the debate amongst us turned to where we could find a good place to eat at this late hour, about 20h00, in Cape Town. The younger goddaughter suggested Izakaya Matsuri where we’d a very pleasant meal, probably in 2017, and the elder goddaughter made the necessary phone call.

In the meanwhile, a young, bearded chap, possibly the manager, who’d been informed of our unhappiness, came up to me, not to assist with a table but to commiserate with our disappointment and, gallingly, to offer suggestions for an alternative eatery and to arrange a taxi to take us there. It was a brief, unpleasant conversation. I gave him the death stare and indicated, as seasoned Capetonians, that we were quite capable of making our own way in our own city. If you cannot offer a solution, don’t try to placate me about my “disappointment.”

I hope the manager took a good look at my face, because he ain’t seeing it ever again.

We ubered to the Rockwell in Prestwich Street, discussing our recent experience and concluded, even if we’d had a table, that the noise and “vibe” would not have made dining a good experience, regardless of the quality of the food.

Izakaya was not very busy and the waiter put together two large trestle table outside in a sheltered corner.

The menu features a page of starters, plus various sushi and sashimi options, and there are blackboard menus offering ramen dishes too.  If one is into mezze or tapas, the starter dishes could equally well serve as that style of dining, and we did order a large combination of dishes, perhaps (as we tend to do when faced with “small plate” options) too many but, hey, when it's delicious it’s worth overeating, no?

Some shared two bottles of the excellent La Motte Sauvignon Blanc (R170 a bottle), the younger goddaughter stuck to iced tea and I had two cans of pricey Asahi beer (R58 a pop), allegedly “Japan’s number 1 beer.” It was okay but almost bland and not as crisp as I prefer.

My choices were deep fried calamari tentacles (Ikageso age) with crisp, dry noodles, Yakitori pork neck skewers and Nabe Yake Udon, a broth with noodles, prawn tempura, chicken, mushrooms, spinach, tofu, bean curd and a hard-poached egg.

The wife ordered the pan-fried dumplings (Gyoza) with pork and prawn, sushi and also some Ikageso age. Someone had the jalapeno poppers with spicy tuna and deep fried, crisp sushi with salmon; someone else had yaki soba (stir fried noodles) with chicken. That’s where I lost count. Needless to say, there was a decent amount of food on the table.

Everything was excellent, well-prepared and flavourful. The tempura prawns in my broth were slightly soggy by the time I got to eat them, probably my fault, but the dish was a highlight with subtly seasoned broth and chewy noodles. The tentacles were lightly battered, flash fried and brittle. The pork was a tad overcooked for my taste, but the smoky grill flavour was superb. The jalapeno poppers absolutely popped with an endorphin boosting burst of chilli heat that lingered for a bit but didn’t outstay its welcome.

The service was efficient and friendly. There was a brief wait for the first dishes to arrive at our table but then there was a steady flow.

Most of us finished off with a selection of the ice creams offered on the limited dessert menu. The wife had a spoonful of the green tea flavoured ice cream the younger goddaughter chose, and was not pleased, though the younger person liked it. My choice was the wasabi ice cream. Apparently, the wasabi served with the sushi, had a fierce bite but in the ice cream it was a flavour more than a source of heat and very enjoyable.

It was a jolly evening, after the initial challenges, with lots of laughter and exhilaration, in a venue that might not boast “otherworldly opulence” (in fact, Izakaya is anything but opulent) but did give us a quiet corner, away from the partying hipster crowd, for a wonderful meal.

The odd part is that the kitchen closes at about 21h30 (on a Saturday night) and that Izakaya closed down at about 22h00. The Vasco da Gama Tavern next door, that had been absolutely buzzing, suddenly emptied as if there were a bomb scare, and at Izakaya the staff started clearing and cleaning up around us.

So, Harrington’s might be a mid-week restaurant option but don’t go there on the weekend unless you’re under thirty, in a large group and not hearing-sensitive. Whoever takes their phone bookings should be taught to inform callers of what the deal is and that they can’t actually book a table for six for dinner on a Saturday. Izakaya is informal and relaxed and not the place you go to for dine dining but if you want good Japanese/Asian fusion food in this town, it’s an excellent option.