Raw, fearless and bold at Ongetem.

 5 July 2025

 

ONGETEM

at Canopy by Hilton, 24 Park Street, Cape Town

 

Von-Mari will never let me live down my misunderstanding of the restaurant name. I saw a picture of  the square  logo on a wall in the restaurant with “onge” and “tem” respectively above and below the phrase “butcher baker cocktail maker” and, not then knowing this was Bertus Basson’s new Cape Town joint, believed it to be a French eatery and that the two separated parts should be pronounced “onj tam” in a bad French accent.

 

Von-Mari pointed out that it was the  much more mundane Afrikaans word ongetem (untamed) and just like that the mystique was gone. I’ll have to live with the mockery, though.

 

According to the Instagram hype, we could expect “a culinary experience that is raw, fearless and unapologetically bold.”

 

I sincerely hoped the food would be properly cooked.

 

Our evening at Ongetem was supposed to have been the capstone of our wedding anniversary celebrations of mid-June but we postponed the original reservation on Saturday 15 June  because we’d had enough of eating out for the time being by that Friday and feared that we wouldn’t be able to do justice to the fearless boldness of Ongetem at that point.  The place was so popular, the next available Saturday was a few weeks hence.

 

We’ve been to most of Bertus Basson’s establishments (barring Overture) over the years and generally enjoy the offerings. So far, for me, the best experiences have been at Spek & Bone (small plates in an informal setting) and Eike (fine dining), both in Stellenbosch.

 

My first impression of Ongetem, as we approached it from the hotel’s reception area, is that it’s been styled to be a fancy, upmarket hotel dining room with a sterile type of anodyne elegance. Simple, wooden tables (our table tos was protected by a black leather “sheet”), there is lots of banquette seating in the centre of the room, antelope skulls adorn the walls, the bar and kitchen are state of the art high tech and the light fittings are exquisite, yet I didn’t experience it as a cosy space even if we were tucked away in a corner. An upper floor of the hotel looks out over the dining space below.  Von-Mari really loved the interior and did feel it was cosy and romantic.

 

The menu is divided into bread courses, small plate courses, main courses, steaks (T-bone, rump, sirloin, flank or flat iron), sides  and desserts. 

Von-Mari, who knows about these things, said the wines are pretty expensive, a tad more so than average. The cocktails were better value for money, especially my humongous  “signature” gin and tonic (R95). Von-Mari’s choice was a  burnt negroni (R95), followed by an also generous “cherry bomb” (R120).  My G & T was so generous, it lasted me all night. Von-Mari absolutely loved her negroni.

We also had a 760 ml bottle of San Pellegrino sparkling water (R65). Why do SA restaurants insist on serving imported water at exorbitant prices?! This is one of Von-Mari’s pet peeves.

 

We debated our meal choices. According to Von-Mari, she’d heard that the main courses  and steaks weren’t wonderful, so we went for smaller portions, but many of them, probably too many.

 

We started with woodfired flatbreads. Von-Mari’s choice was accompanied by snoek taramasalata, snoek bottarga and trout roe (R80). My bread was served with smoked aubergine, labneh, cucumber and cumin (R80).

Somehow we missed the reference to crusty bread with cold butter, that’s the complementary entree, otherwise we might not have ordered so much flatbread.  The crusty bread came to table after the flatbreads had been served.

 

The latter were probably the best such bread I’ve eaten in a long while: warm, fluffy, puffy, flowery and utterly luxuriously moreish. A few of them could be all one needs for a seriously good  meal.

 

The aubergine, labneh and cucumber were mild in flavour with far too little of a smoky flavour on the aubergine. The initial taste of the taramasalata was indeed bold and flavourful but it’s saltiness soon became overpowering and less pleasant.

 

The crusty bread was served warm in a miniature hessian bag (a lovely touch) and was as excellent as the flatbreads.

 

Our small plates were a Waldorf salad (R90 for two),

raw tuna (R130),

lamb “sout” ribs (R180)

 and Puglia burrata (R140),

with a portion of salt and vinegar fries (R50) for Von-Mari.

The preparation of the Waldorf salad at the table, all the elements on a trolley for the server to assemble, with some amusing patter, was the food theatre of the evening and quite entertaining. The salad was substantial and was served last. Though we enjoyed the production, the realisation dawned, once again, that we’d probably over ordered, as we tend to do with small plate menus. 

 

The salad, with walnut pesto, was super fresh and crunchy and utterly delightful.

 

The lamb “sout” ribs had the boldest, deepest flavour of our dishes and Von-Mari could easily have had another plateful.  

She loves salt and vinegar flavoured crisps and fries and was well happy with her side that neatly balanced the crispness of fries with the pliable texture of “slap tjips” and the vinegar wasn’t overbearing.

 

I loved the tuna with spiced palm sugar dressing, guava, avocado and cucumber. The fish was fresh and succulent and the dressing  was sublime. The cucumber slices were an oddity, to me, as the quantity kind of unbalanced the overall flavour of the dish. 

 

The burrata dish with mulled pear, pistachio and olive oil was nice enough, especially the textural contrast between nuts and sweet, slightly firm pear, but I was disappointed with the burrata itself. The best burrata dish I’ve ever eaten is served by El Bar de Gorka in San Sebastian, amongst other things because the burrata is sizable, and it’s my gold standard in this regard. Ongetem’s take on it is okay but not something I’d order again. 

 

Ongetem offers five options for dessert plus “sweet and sticky” wines and a Dom Pedro, but  I was there only for the Basque cheesecake.

 

It’s sardonically amusing that Basque (or San Sebastian) cheesecake seems to have become fashionable in Cape Town (it was all over Türkiye last year) more than a year after we first tasted it, in its home city. Basque cheesecake was a revelation and we’ve been singing its praises ever since. I even bake my own.

 

Burnt Basque cheesecake has a slightly dry, airy and not overly sweet taste, with just a subtle hint of being burnt, the caramelisation of the top and sides, for ultra delicious flavour.  You don’t have to dust it with castor sugar or serve it with ice cream, cream or fruit. It is perfect in and of itself.

 

Ongetem’s Basque cheesecake is a good cheesecake and has the requisite lightness but is far too creamy and therefore has the texture of a fridge cheesecake rather than the mildly, ever so slightly crumbly, dry texture it should have. It’s highly enjoyable as cheesecakes go, but didn’t bring that involuntary smile I get when I taste the real thing.

The bill came to R1220,00 before tip. 

 

The service was good, cheerful and efficient, the ambience of the restaurant (surprisingly not completely packed) is nice and the food was good though I wouldn’t call it fearless or unapologetically bold. It’s just good upmarket restaurant cooking with quality ingredients, pretty much what one would expect when you open the box. I think we’ll be back for more of the delicious flatbreads and to sample some of the other small plates, as they all sounded delectable. 

 

All in all, a fun night out. 

 

Also, Von-Mari wants me to mention that she loved the small stool next to the table where she could safely stow her handbag, a nice touch indeed and very thoughtful.