Helena's Restaurant, Stellenbosch

 16 June 2022

 

Helena’s Restaurant

Coopmanhuijs Hotel, 33 Church Street, Stellenbosch

 

The Oudewerf Hotel and the Coopmanhuijs Hotel are diagonally across from each other, which is fortuitous as we stayed in the former and went for dinner at the latter.  For one thing, it meant no restrictions on alcohol intake and for another, the freezing night time temperature was more easily survivable.

 

The interior dining space is updated old-fashioned to maintain the heritage but to confirm that we aren’t still in the early 18^th century when the building was constructed. The floors are terra cotta tiles, there is luxuriously textured wallpaper on the walls and the tables are set with starched lined, fine glassware and the good silver, well, okay, stainless steel cutlery, but the style is the same. One has a sense of comfortable well-being and the best part (for us, not so much the hotel) was that the room was not crowded at all and civilised conversation at minimal decibels was possible. 

 

We like Helena’s. It’s a lovely space, the food is always beyond reproach and the service is friendly and efficient.

 

The deal of the night was three courses (or six if you count the bread, palate cleanser and meringues with coffee) for R450,00, coffee included.

 

Despite the promise of merely stumbling drunkenly back across the street, we restrained ourselves and the wife was content with a tot of a local whiskey and a  glass of pinotage. I had two tots of one of my favourite peaty scotches.

 

The bread course was slightly let down by hummus that lacked tahini and was therefore tasteless. The breadstick type mini baguettes were crusty and delicious, the slices of more ordinary bread underneath were okay and I loved the briny olives.

 

The wife’s starter was the double baked cheese and biltong soufflé with kirsch cream. When she ate it, she made small noises of intense satisfaction. 

I had the beetroot tarte tatin with goat’s cheese croquettes and fresh garden salad. Loved the sweetness of the beet against the creamy cheese, and the salad was a fresh tantaliser.

 

The passion fruit sorbet was a tad too sweet to be proper for a palate cleanser and, though delightful, was more like dessert taster before the main course.

 

The wife’s choice for main was the duo of Swartland lamb (slow roasted, deboned lamb neck and curry lamb croquette) with a cumin jus, Duchesse potato, tender stem broccoli and ratatouille. This was what one calls a plate of food of epic proportions; I could barely see the wife on the other side of the table. Succulent, tender, flavourful lamb and a deeply rich jus, of which there was too little. The attentive waiter spotted the deficiency and brought more.  

 

The wife loves a bit of lamb and this dish was enormously satisfactory. When she was about 90% done, she could do no more and, try as I might, I couldn’t finish her food either, having already eaten my own substantial main course.

 

The line fish of the day was the ubiquitous Kingklip with garlic prawns, potato cubes, fine beans, charred cherry tomatoes and aubergine caviar. The fish was well cooked, the prawns were incredibly succulent and tender (the best things on the plate) and the potato was nicely crisp outside and creamily soft inside.

 

We also received two vegetable dishes: creamy leaks and a cucumber and Parmesan bake. The latter tasted of cucumber but the cheese and seasoning reminded one of a cheesy cauliflower  bake. The leak diss was less successful, reminiscent in texture and flavour of an onion salad I know as “slap hakskeenjies,”  but far too acidic to be pleasant on its own. Went well with the fish, though.

 

Both of us chose the vanilla pod panna cotta dessert as a light alternative to the other, “heavier” desserts, and they were variable in wobble. Mine did, the wife’s didn’t. The vanilla flavour was delightful though and it was great that it was light and airy. The accompanying strawberry ice cream was far too subtle in strawberry taste for the wife but a blessing for me, who doesn’t like strawberry flavoured things. The pistachio biscotti had a good crunch but was far more like a standard rusk in texture than a true biscotti.

 

We finished off the meal with two light, crunchy meringues, washed down with a cappuccino for the wife and a very generous espresso for me. For a change, the excellent coffee was from Lavazza and not a local micro roastery.  

 

The total bill, including tip, came to R1380,00.

 

We’ve never had a bad meal at Helena’s (nit-picking aside) and it’s one of those places where care and attention is paid to the cooking, the plating is good without being over fancy, the portions are generous and the service of a high standard.