At Bouchon our cup overfloweth

 5 April 2022

 

Bouchon Bistro

95 Hout Street, Cape Town

 

Visualise this scene.

 

The wife and I are sitting comfortably in the cosy, warm interior of a very full Bouchon, watching a group of four people, who arrived without a booking, hovering on the pavement in the dark, cold, wet rainy night in the hope of getting a table inside at some point.  

 

It's a Tuesday night.  Did I mention that it’s cold and wet outside?

 

The four hopeful loiterers couldn’t possibly be native Capetonians. It’s been the conventional wisdom for aeons that Capetonians simply don’t go out if the weather is challenging.

 

“Aah, I know why,” the wife sagely remarked when I registered my puzzlement at this situation, so at odds with my understanding of the habits of Capetonians. “It’s restaurant week (that lasts a whole month) and people are flocking here for good deals in a very excellent restaurant.”

 

Of course.  Even adverse weather averse Capetonians like a discount.

 

We were at Bouchon to celebrate my birthday, after at least three previous abortive attempts (not birthday related) to get here for a spot of dinner and had expected a much quieter vibe.  At times there was just too much noise in a low-ceilinged room with poor acoustics, especially when it’s packed, to the extent that when we exchanged sweet nothings, they tended to waft away into the ether along with the rest of the chatter. It’s a long, narrow space that gives me a sense of dining in a wine cellar in a cave, given that there is in fact a wine cellar at the back of the room, and the cosy atmospherics are gained at the expense of a more subdued, discreet vibe

 

We love Bouchon, for the atmosphere (when it is quieter), the ambience, the look, the feel, the excellent service, the delicious tapas style food and the gin trolley.

 

The latter, with five different options each as delectable as the other, is a temptation of note and the mixologist was beguiling in her alluring descriptions of the flavour profiles of the various offerings. Not only is there a choice of mixer but also of condiment. Bespoke is spoken here.

 

The wife had a double shot of Bloedlemoen gin with pink tonic  and a slice of lemon and I had a double shot of the house gin, with a heady citrus flavour, and plain tonic. 

 

If life’s challenges were as simple as having too much choice of too many good things, we’d be as happily frustrated as the patron at Bouchon who must navigate the extensive and enticing  menu and yet acknowledge and understand that Adulting 101 means having to make difficult choices because you can’t have it all.

 

The wife and I tend to make the fundamental error of ordering too many dishes and then ending up enjoying the later courses progressively less because we’re already beyond replete. This happened tonight anyway, even when we ordered only three plates each. The portions are cumulatively that generous.

 

As it happens, and unbeknownst to us,  the Bouchon restaurant week special offer was 3 plates for R245,00.

 

We had crisp squid,

baked Camembert,

ox tail gnocchi,

twice cooked pork belly,

artichoke and pea risotto

and wild mushroom gnocchi.

 

As a brief summary, the undisputed highlight of the meal was the pork belly, with a crisp, deeply flavourful exterior and melt-in-the-mouth juiciness inside. The luxuriously rich oxtail ragu with light, spongy gnocchi was indulgently lovely too, and the lightly battered and crisp squid was sublime. The gooey baked Camembert with toast is a simple thing of great delight .

 

By the time we got to the back-to-back starches of the risotto and wild mushroom gnocchi, we’d already almost had enough, and this probably informed our less enthusiastic opinions of these dishes. The risotto was perfectly cooked, with a subtle, lovely artichoke flavour that  was overwhelmed by a surfeit of rosemary.  The gnocchi were stodgy compared to the gnocchi served with the oxtail ragu, and there was a strange oversalted, almost burnt flavour to the mushrooms that the wife didn’t like at all and I only came to appreciate, rather than enjoy, after I acquired the taste. 

 

I thought that it was probably bad planning by the kitchen to serve the risotto and final gnocchi dish together and at the end of the meal. Having said that, I was pleased that the squid, oxtail gnocchi and pork belly were the first three courses and could be enjoyed with the rapture of hungry diners chowing down om exemplary fare.

 

After our six generous platesful, there was no need or desire for dessert, and none of the three options appealed to me anyway.  We also forewent coffee, called for the bill and went home.

 

No doubt there were more potential diners outside who would’ve been grateful to see us leave early.

 

The bill came to R692,00 before tip. 

 

As is the case with Saigon, we’ve found that Bouchon, over many years and quite a few meals, has maintained a consistently high standard in food and service and it’s one of the few eateries we have no qualms about recommending to friends. That’s a rarity for us because tastes differ, and there’s no guarantee that one’s own good experience will be repeated for others, as consistency can be so unreliable in the industry.

 

Bouchon is beaucoup beautiful bistro.