I found a thrill at The Grille ... Shack

 21 January 2024

 

THE GRILLE SHACK

Clarence Drive, off the R44, about 8km beyond Gordon’s Bay.

 

The other patrons in the back garden of The Grille Shack bemusedly watched a couple wandering from table to table, two small Yorkies in tow, looking for the table where the one dog, whose best life is lived fiercely chasing screaming small kids, would be furthest away from the kids’ playground at the edge of the garden, only for the couple to end up at a table right next to the first table they’d abandoned because it was deemed too risky. The problem was that the empty tables furthest from the play area were clearly marked as smoking tables by small metal plaques and that the occupied tables in the area were taken by smokers.

 

We were at The Grille Shack because my dearest wife, ever vigilantly on the lookout for dog friendly eateries, saw a mention on Instagram this morning describing the joint as the dog friendly place with the best food in the Western Cape, or some such hyperbole.

 

It's an hour’s drive from home and we were kinda tense and nervous over the prospect of driving all that way and being disappointed (like our experience at the Hickory Shack many years ago), so much so that the wife pointed to a coffee truck close to Gordon’s Bay beach we passed and announced that we could always return there for coffee and a muffin if The Grille Shack turned out to be less than a thrill shack.

 

We walked into the joint shortly after 14h00 when the lunch time crowd had thinned out, hence our perambulation to find a good table; there were many options.

 

Okay, that’s been a long set up and, to ease your no doubt mounting concern, I can reveal that we ate well, and far too much, had excellent service and thoroughly enjoyed our outing. As did the dogs, who ate as well as we did (and weren’t going to get supper.)  We carefully reigned in Prinses, who yapped a lot, made some darting runs and yet did not materially traumatise any kids.

 

The front entrance of the Grille Shack is decorated with all manner of automobile and service station related paraphernalia to emphasise the theme. There are lots of tables inside and probably as many in the large green, sheltered garden.  The interior is funky eclectic and the exterior seating is rustic. There’s plenty of shade from the surrounding trees or umbrellas where necessary, or under a covered stoep. 

 

The literally large menu offers mains and grills (with extensive add-ons), burgers and what they call signature pans, or platters elsewhere.  I saw no mention of tapas but there were some “small plates” on offer.

 

Caveat: The Grille Shack supports local, small businesses and suppliers in various ways and one of those ways is that they have only craft beer, but fortunately for me, that includes craft lagers.

 

We had been mainly interested in the nachos and considered ordering a starter portion until the wife noticed that the “Bel die Polisie” signature pan includes nachos. 

 

Bearing in mind how egregiously we over ordered at our lunch at Brick Lane Eatery last year, we eschewed starters and went straight for the meaty jugular with the aforementioned cop friendly pan (R399), an assortment of items served in an iron skillet with the French fries and side salad in separate bowls.

 

The gargantuan proportions of our meal was mildly astonishing. We had a material portion of falling-of-the-bone ribs, lightly crumbed and delicately fried calamari, chicken wings, a small mountain of nachos, two corn dogs, some coleslaw and the fries and the salad.

Another caveat: it was windy out there and the food on the skillet grew cold much quicker than we could eat but I guess that’s the risk you run when you literally have that much on your plate.

 

Everything was most excellent, with the (presumably hand cut) fries and the calamari being my particular highlights though the ribs were succulent, tender and scrumptious too.  The wings  were supposed to be chilli hot but I didn’t get any heat there, only from the chillies with the nachos.

 

Sadly, by the time I got to the nachos, they were cold and mostly soggy underneath the guacamole and sour cream topping and I was too full already and could manage only about a quarter of a very substantial amount. I can see where it would be a very lovely dish if eaten straightaway.

 

I also left about half of the chicken wings and all of the salad except for the avocado I scraped off the top to add to the nachos.

 

We didn’t ask for a doggy bag.

 

Truth be told, I gave up on the main meal because I had my eye on Milla’s apple pie. (R79)

I love a good apple pie and it’s a dessert of first choice if available on a menu. However, like carrot cake and pork belly, it’s always a calculated gamble that you’ll get a decent product.

 

Hallelujah, mates, I can testify that Milla’s apple pie, that looks oddly like chicken pot pie until you cut into it, is unassumingly awesome and by itself worth the trip to The Grille Shack. The crust is short, just the right degree of dry and crisp while the apple, and the whole damn thing, was filled to capacity with apple, was the optimal blend of soft yet not soggy, sweet and sour yet not cloying or unpleasant.

This apple pie is a triumph of pastry excellence.

 

The bill, including the beer, three flat whites and a Coke Zero, came to R655,00.

We liked the venue for its garden setting and magnificent mountain views, because we were given dog treats as soon as we sat down, the relaxed vibe with patrons who either coo-ed at the Yorkies or were amused by their feistiness, the really excellent food and the supremely excellent, friendly  and efficient service.

 

The other day I made a quip about expecting beer garden quality food if you eat at a beer garden but The Grille Shack shows that you can elevate simple, unpretentious food to another level that will never be mistaken for Michelin starred nosh but still leaves one deeply satisfied and happy when you take on the long drive from home feeling slightly guilty for succeeding in excess.

 

Hey, it was the last culinary blow out of our month-long holiday. Tomorrow we go strict again.