Valentine's Day dinner at The Bailey

 14 February 2024

 

VALENTINE’S DAY DINNER AT THE BAILEY

91 Bree Street, Cape Town

 

Tonight, we ventured back into the wild and crazy world of special Valentine’ Day dinners for the first time in a long while. Over the past few years, I’ve cooked at home; the portions were generous, the bubbly flowed freely and the bill wasn’t a shock.

 

It's probably trite to say that restaurants that offer special dinners on special occasions take advantage of the punters by offering an experience, no matter how good, that is considerably overpriced compared to your ordinary night out.

 

The Bailey’s masterplan was a sharing menu for two for R1400,00 and  a deposit of R600,00 was required to secure the booking.  They had two slots, at 18h00 and at 20h00; the latter was fully booked already. We were happy to take the early slot.  We were told, though, if we weren’t done by 20h00, that we could take our dessert and coffee to the upstairs bar and hang out as long as we wanted.

 

We arrived at about 18h05 and, though not the first guests, were amongst the early arrivals. A steady trickle of arrivals followed but the space was always about half full.  Interestingly, it seemed that the majority of the patrons were couples.

 

There is an ancient lift that gives access to the first floor, if trudging up a flight of stairs isn’t your thing, provided that you keep you finger on the first floor button to persuade the lift to move at its slow, deliberate pace. 

 

The room is quite luxuriously elegant in the olde worlde style one would expect, with polished parquet floors, a high ceiling and all manner of gentleman’s club prints on the walls, including an unsettling painting of, presumably, a farmer holding two piglets.  The tables were set with white tablecloths, glassware and cutlery; another old school, elegant touch. Our table was next to the large, open stairwell and halfway between the bar counter at the rear of the room and the windows  to Bree Street.

 

The welcoming drink was a nicely full glass of Graham Beck Brut Rosé, one of our favourite local sparkling wines. The wife had another a bit later and I had a whiskey sour. 

After studying the wine list, the wife, who is a connoisseur of these matters, remarked that the prices were so steep that she wasn’t prepared to pay them, even for a special occasion like this. Not that we can’t afford expensive plonk, mind you. It’s the principle of not feeling ripped off.

 

The bread course was our introduction to the sharing theme and should’ve warned us of what to expect. One small brioche bun with flavoured butter, a savoury custard, and olives, however lovely, seemed to be an excuse for giving us as much bread as you would be served for one person under other circumstances.

 

It also made me ponder the penchant of high end restaurants to make a big production of their bread, by assigning it the lofty status of first course of a multiple course tasting menu. It’s only bread, hey. 

 

Whatever happened to just plonking a small basket with slices of baguette and some hard, ice cold butter in a small glass ramekin (or frozen on an ashtray, hey La Perla)?

 

Also, we noted that there was no amuse bouche.

 

I suppose we’re spoilt.

 

The trout and the beef carpaccio dishes, likewise, were served to be shared, duh, and also seemed more like single person portions but both were extremely tasty, with my nod going to the soft, almost creamy trout but the carpaccio was equally excellent and the wife’s favourite and made me wonder why anyone would ever want to eat cooked steak.

  

Our lamb main course was more abundant, with a good quantity of meat and tiny vegetables. The meat was perfectly succulent and juicy and the gravy, or jus, had good depth of flavour.  Really, really enjoyable.

 

The mille feuille desserts, individually plated, were delightful, visually and taste-wise, with a satisfactory  contrast between the crème pat and the crunchy  honeycomb, even if the pastries were petite.

We didn’t have coffee.  Or petit fours.  Once again, one would think it’s small value add on this kind of occasion, a hot beverage and a small pastry, that would elevate the meal.  

 

The service had been so efficient that we’d finished our entire meal by 19h45 and were out of the door by 20h00. The server’s gentle reminder about our deadline had been unnecessary.

 

The bill came to R1700,00 before deduction of the deposit or addition of the tip.

 

Although we were a tad put out by the sharing concept, with the impression that we’d effectively received one meal for the price of two, we did have an elegant sufficiency by the end of it (no  need to stop at McDonalds on the way home), the quality of the meal was high and all the elements were yummy to the max.

 

The environment of The Bailey is comforting and luxurious without being over the top, the service was friendly and excellent and we agreed that we’d want to return to sample the standard menu, as the dishes were intriguing and enticing. 

 

On reflection, considering the prices on the standard menu and considering restaurant prices elsewhere in the city and surrounds, the Valentine’s Day dinner wasn’t the overpriced rip-off one so often finds. It simply is expensive to eat at high end restaurants, and nowadays even middling restaurants. Also, it was special to share the evening with my lovely wife who looked ravishing on the night.