Sunday lunch at The Wild Fig

 3 March 2024

 

THE WILD FIG RESTAURANT

1 Liesbeek Avenue, Observatory, Cape Town

 

Caveat: there are no mezze, tapas or picadas on this menu, only oldie but goodie starters.

 

Not only is the Wild Fig old-school on starters but its prices are incredibly reasonable and makes lunch or dinner an excellent value for money proposition in a lovely setting, interior or exterior.

 

As you know by now, Sunday has become Yorkie excursion day and that generally means we sit outside, as far away as possible from our fellow diners.

 

We’ve been upping the ante on dog friendly outings from markets to pubs to a proper restaurant. We sat outside at bench seating protected from sun and wind by canvass cover, in the garden setting at the front of the main building. Fortunately, we were on our own for most of our time there,  which meant relative peace and Yorkie quiet.

 

This was our first visit to the Wild Fig in ages; it’s probably been at least ten years since our last dinner here.  I don’t really know why because we’ve  always thought very fondly of it.  I guess, with all the choice at our disposal, it just fell between the cracks.

 

We started with bubbly. I had a second glass while the wife moved on to white wine and at the end of lunch we had a pleasant buzz of immense well-being. There’s something to be said for day drinking, isn’t there?

 

We got good, fresh, chunks of rustic bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, one of the small yet enormously well received pleasures of life.

Her starter was the almond crusted baked camembert (R96)  with gooseberry confit and melba toast 

and mine was the baba ganoush (R78) with aubergine crisps, tahini, lavash and coriander. 

 

A baked Camembert is almost always a splendid opening gustatory gambit, with the combination of smooth as silk cheese, crisp crust and a bit of sweetness.  The creamy baba ganoush was more understated but was just the right light starter for me.

 

The wife chose the pappardelle pasta with pork ragout (R175) and goats Feta crema, rosemary and fennel and I went for the grilled Yellowtail (R195) with chargrilled zucchini, roast onions, baby potatoes and butter sauce. My initial inclination had been to have the dahl makhani or perhaps the pork belly (both were incredibly enticing)  but I also quite like fish and Yellowtail is a favourite; a welcome change from the ubiquitous Kingklip.

 

The wife was very happy with her pasta. The succulent, tender pork had intense depth of flavour and the pasta was perfectly cooked. Comfort food supreme.

 

The portion of fish was most generous and almost surprising but I thought it teetered on the verge of being overcooked, could’ve done with more seasoning and the well-cooked vegetables didn’t blow my non-existent hair back. 

If the quantity was generous, the dish lacked wow factor.  I can’t fault it but I can’t gush over it either.

 

There was nothing on the dessert menu that whispered sweet nothings to me.  

The wife interfaced with the peppermint crisp terrarium with salted caramel ice cream. It was good but it didn’t satisfy her craving for sweetness. 

 

The bill, with wine and coffees, came to R951,00 before tip.

 

We had a lovely time in a quiet setting (a relief after the crowds of last weekend at Forester’s Arms and The Gardener’s Cottage), Prinses had a really marvellous outing exploring the area in and around the restaurant (Lucy sticks closely to the table), the service was friendly and efficient, except for a small lull between main course and the ordering of dessert, and the food was good if not spectacular.  Having said that, the menu is chock-a-block with intriguing dishes and it’s probably worthwhile returning to sample some of the other offerings.

 

The prices are very reasonable. I can’t think of any other restaurant in this city that would charge less  than R200 for such a generous portion of fish (other than fish ‘n chips, obviously); generally one would be paying R250 or more.