Ongetem 2.0

 3 August 2025

 

ONGETEM REVISITED

at Canopy by Hilton, 24 Park Street, Cape Town

 

We brought Von-Mari’s parents here for Sunday night dinner as part of her father’s extended birthday celebrations. 

 

Surprisingly, the restaurant was far busier than it had been on the Saturday night of our previous visit yet I believe Voni had no trouble reserving a table at relatively short notice. There was one birthday party and a slew of what appeared to be tourists and it was considerably noisier than at our previous visit and I suppose it’s because the restaurant design doesn’t allow for proper acoustics.

 

The wine prices are still exorbitant but the other three shared a bottle of bubbly while I again had the humongous signature gin and tonic that could revitalise the Sahara desert if gin were plant food.

 

The other three ordered small plates, such as the flatbread with schmaltz, crisp chicken skin, thyme and lemon (R75) which was bloody magnificent and, yet again the absolutely marvellous Waldorf salad (R90) and the addictively moreish lamb “sout” ribs” (R180).

 

The flatbread was as utterly exquisite as on our previous visit and the sublimely delectable schmaltz/chicken skin combination warped my fragile little mind. Next time I’ll order the bread and a tub of the crisp, unctuous, hugely flavourful schmaltz. And a beer.

 

As mentioned, the other small plate dishes met with great favour.

 

My father-in-law and I ordered main courses, to whit the Karoo “cassoulet,” with lamb shin, braised “herebone,” sausage, kidney and gremolata (R280).

 

The parentheses around cassoulet does warn one not to expect a product of the Toulouse region of France but I don’t know why this teaser is even there. Not only is it nothing like a cassoulet but it’s not even a well-integrated dish.  The individually well-cooked elements seemed to have met each other only when plated, instead of being slowly cooked together to extract and combine flavours. The broth that should tie everything together was too thin and bereft of depth of flavour.

 

I also ordered a side dish of sweet potato with orange glaze and pecans (R70) because caramelised sweet potato and lamb are best mates in my book but this dish was a one note samba of sweetness that lacked additional flavours, perhaps a bit of ginger, perhaps more salt, for a full bodied flavour experience.

 

The ”cassoulet” is not a bad dish, by any means, if you like lamb, but for me it wasn’t as deeply satisfying as, for example, the flatbread and schmaltz. 

 

On the other hand, my father-in-law absolutely raved about this dish and even got a tad emotional about it! He does love him a good, long and slow-cooked bit of lamb. 

 

Hey, if you don’t explore a menu, you won’t know what’s worthwhile  and what’s not.

 

My mother-in-law had the home ground beef burger with Emmenthaler, Cheddar and burger mayo on a home-made bun (R145) and she also really enjoyed it, even though she is more of a chicken-burger kinda gal. The burger is served on a wooden board wrapped in wax paper; a bit odd, but the burger is sizeable. She asked for the meat to be cooked well done but succulent but the patty still had a slight pinkness to it. Even so, she thought it was cooked as close as dammit to her request.

We didn’t try any of the desserts because we had a home baked Basque cheesecake at home (my speciality).

 

The dessert menu is not without other attractions, though.

 

 We saw a portion of crackling bun with chocolate sauce being served to another table and had already noted the grand manière(sic) soufflé on the dessert menu and Voni and I vowed to return for flatbread & schmaltz, “soutribbetjie” and, probably, the soufflé.  

 

The slight disappointment regarding the main course aside, the food is still excellent and portion sizes generous, the prices still reasonable, the service efficient and cheerful and the restaurant, if a tad loud, still beautifully elegant.

 

I can see this place becoming a regular outing for us when we feel like having something simple like the flatbread and a few other small plates. It is elegant yet relaxing and a very nice addition to Cape Town’s restaurant scene.