The fam gathers at Zest for a winter warmer

 21 June 2023

 

ZEST

Plaza da Luz, 94 Regent Road, Sea Point

 

There are those moments when I almost have an emotion and one of those occurred tonight at Zest when the younger goddaughter announced that the fam (wife, goddaughters and significant other) was gathered together at Zest to celebrate me on a kind of “Godfather’s Day,” seeing as how we couldn’t get together on Father’s Day.

 

The others had conspired to surprise me with this dinner but when the wife listened to a voice mail message in my presence, and it was someone who phoned to confirm a restaurant booking, I knew, at least, that I wasn’t cooking that evening. It was only shortly before departure that the penny dropped about the fam gathering, but I wasn’t told about the destination until we arrived at Plaza da Luz.

 

Zest is ostensibly part of the New Kingsway Hotel on one of the upper floors of the building, and is a large, ultra-modern, elegant and chic space, with open kitchen and bar at the front.  There is a dining area outside the main room, from which there is apparently a sea view but tonight was not the night for  that.  Instead, we had a small nook to ourselves, between the bar and the stack doors opening to the outside. Had it not been dark, we would’ve had something of a view.

 

The waiter informed us that his name was Will. Big mistake. Huge. I was compelled to make a couple of Dad jokes referencing his name as a verb to amuse myself and embarrass the others. 

 

Small things …

 

We were there for the four course Winter Warmer Menu at R395,00 a head. 

The goddaughters had cocktails, the wife and the significant other shared a bottle of Diemersdal Sauvignon Blanc,  I had a draught beer and there was a bottle of still water for the table.

 

The soup was thick and comfortably warming with the heady, subtle aroma of truffle. The perfect way to start a meal on a cold, wet night.

 

The prawns were perfectly cooked and the Mozambican curry was deeply flavourful but packed more than an amusing little kick to the extent that the wife scraped as much of the curry sauce off her prawns to be able to eat them.  

 

I asked for my beef to be prepared as rare as humanly possible  and got it that way.  The meat was tender and juicy, the potato puree silky smooth and the mixture of sprouts, mushroom and al dentebeans provided an excellent textural contrast, but, sadly, the palate smothering heat of the curry lingered long after it had outlived its welcome and I couldn’t identify any of the Asian flavours that presumably enhanced the dish.

 

My advice to the kitchen would be not to serve that curry before a dish as subtle as the beef. Those chillies still resonated with me a couple of hours later.

 

The malva pudding had a perfectly light crumb and good flavour but there was too much overly sweet sauce for my taste.  The ice cream was good.

 

For me the soup and the prawns were the highlights. I could recognise and acknowledge that the beef was well-cooked but took limited enjoyment from it.

 

The bill came to R2530 before tip. 

The atmosphere was agreeable and even in a crowded room there was no overbearing noise,  the fam had a fun evening out, the service was efficient and the food was excellent value for money.

 

The fam doesn’t get to go out like this as often as we used to and it’s a pity that busy schedules aren’t always easy to reconcile. I’m the only one who’s always available; the rest work hard for a living.