Vrede and Lust Wine Estate

 8 August 2026

 

SAVOYE and LUST BISTRO

at Vrede en Lust Wine Estate 

 

Picture this:  you choose to eat a two-course set menu dinner and realise that you want only one of the three starters (the other two options are, uh, non-starters for you) and the server returns with the absolutely mood enhancing news that he thinks the kitchen has run out of the one and only starter you want. Life is full of crushing but meaningless blows but this one means you will not eat a starter tonight. Dinner, and the weekend, ruined.

 

But wait, there’s more! After slinking off having delivered the bad news, the server returns all smiles and announces that he’s pressured the kitchen into giving you your starter. There’s exhilaration yet you also wonder where this hidden gem suddenly came from or was the alleged lack thereof merely fake news?

 

No worries, though, the day was saved and the dinner ended happily ever after. 

 

We were on our annual winter mini break at Vrede en Lust, not only because we dig it the most but also because they’re pet friendly. This two-night stay was bittersweet for it was the first time without Lucy who passed on in October 2025 and by now Prinses is blind, deaf and demented, which limits her enjoyment of the farmyard environment. Despite all of this, and the almost disaster mentioned in the intro. It was a good getaway, we ate well and had a good time.

 

There were two dinners at Savoye, the flagship restaurant, and a lunch at the Lust Bistro.

 

Savoye is elegantly appointed, has good views and on cold, wet nights, such as this was, the room is made cosy by the warmth of a centrally located fireplace.

 

For the first dinner, we chose the two-course set menu with a glass of premium wine, for R295,00 per person. Technically it’s not truly a set menu, as one has three choices of starters and of mains. 

 

I don’t drink wine, other than bubbly,  so Von-Mari had the benefit of two glasses of wine (white and red) while I drank a glass of bubbly. She relished in them.

 

The thing with a set, or restricted, menu is that often only one option per course actually appeal and that one either doesn’t want anything else or will only grudgingly settle for third choice, so to speak, and this was kind of the case here and there were challenges.

 

The Chef’s gift (I wouldn't quite dignify it with the appellation amuse bouche) were two bits of bruschetta topped with diced tomato and onion.

 

The starters were tomato soup, baked Camembert and creamy Tuscan prawns. I would’ve been happy with either of the first two but didn’t care for a creamy prawn dish. I chose the soup. 

 

Von-Mari only wanted the Camembert and that’s when our server informed her that the kitchen might’ve run out of stock.

 

The restaurant was the busiest we’d ever experienced and part of the reason was a large group obviously celebrating some special event and when we passed them on the way to our table, I heard a chorus of “Camembert” “Camembert” “Camembert” when they ordered.  

 

The bitter blow for Von-Mari was that she really, truly, unequivocally didn’t want any of the other starters.  To her delight and gratitude, the server, to whom she had clearly communicated her lack of joy at the prospect of not eating a starter, returned with the announcement that he’d strong armed the chef into preparing a baked Camembert for Von-Mari.

 

After all that, though, Von-Mari wasn’t completely satisfied with her starter. As she said, one can’t mess up a baked Camembert too much but her complaint was that the quantity of the tomato, chilli chutney and olive combination that came with the cheese was excessive and came across as the kind of thing one would serve as a condiment with “braai pap” and didn’t quite elevate the dish. We’re used to, say, fig conserve or cranberry compote to offset the savouriness of the cheese. The idea wasn’t necessarily bad but wasn’t executed with finesse and subtlety.

 

My tomato soup with toast was serviceable without being the best tomato soup ever. 

 

The options for a main course were butternut ravioli, linefish and Springbok loin.

 

Von-Mari chose the Springbok loin, which she requested medium rare. The dish was generous with lovely vegetables, crisp polenta for additional texture and a deeply rich jus, but the meat seemed to be basically rare (it reminded me of the seared tuna I’d recently eaten at Aubergine) although it was quite toothsome.

 

I’m sardonically amused by the ostensibly optimistic mention of “linefish” or “linefish of the day” on so many restaurant menus, when I know, they know and I know that they know, that chances are 95% that it’ll be Kingklip. Don’t be so shy about it, say it proudly and boldly. I’m fond of Kingklip and I don’t think less of a restaurant that can’t come up with a different option.

 

Perfect fish cookery, al dente vegetables and silky smooth potato mash. Very satisfactory indeed.

 

We shared a scrumptious, generous crème brûlée with a set custard texture and a deliciously crisp shell, a highlight of the evening and, we agreed, possibly the best crème brûlée we’d had in a while. The quantity was perfect for sharing.

 

We skipped the first complimentary breakfast for the blessing of rising late and breaking our fast with lunch at Lust Bistro. It was a very cold day and we were fortunate and quite grateful that we were allowed to bring Prinses, snugly wrapped in her fleece blanket, inside. This was the first time we sat inside (usually we choose a table on the patio) and it’s pleasantly cosy, with elegant, dark wood furniture, a warm atmosphere and plenty of natural light from huge windows on all sides.

 

Lunch was simple. Von-Mari chose the beef brisket on flatbread (R180) and I ordered the chicken tikka masala (R165). 

 

Fun fact: “tikka masala” simply means “pieces spice” and isn’t a spice blend as I’d always thought.

 

We were both quite happy with our respective choices . The brisket presented as a pulled pork style dish with a similar fruity flavour profile and the tikka masala was both cheekily spice and flavourful. The flatbreads were crisp and as satisfying as a good pizza.

 

The bill (including a couple of coffees and a smoothie, excluding tip) came to R493,00

 

From the bistro we wandered over to the wine tasting venue. The price of our stay included a complimentary wine tasting and for once we could say  some of the best things in life are free. On a previous occasion our wine guide was clearly only there to do a job she tried to get through asap and, to cap it all, I didn’t even like what I was tasting.

 

Today, we had the polar opposite with a very enthusiastic, knowledgeable and personable Siran who turned out to be the grandson of the Ari of Ari’s Souvlaki, the beloved Greek restaurant in Sea Point where I’d learnt to eat and appreciate Greek food. Yet another of those “the small world of Cape Town” stories. 

 

We tasted 10 wines, and Siran poured me a little extra of the Riesling I liked best and we stumbled away happy for a little lie-down before supper.

 

Frankly, after the wine tasting and given the chilly, rainy conditions, we weren’t incredibly keen on leaving the warmth and comfort of our room for dinner at Savoye but it was either that or starve; a packet of crisps, two small yoghurts and three overripe bananas weren’t going to eliminate the hunger pangs that would eventually become unbearable.

 

Seeing as how we’d eaten what we wanted off the set menu, and because we’d had the small plates option of the a la carte menu last time around, we resolved to skip starters and ordered just a main courses. The main courses of the set menu were still available, amplified by a few other options.

 

We’d had enough alcohol for the day and drank only sparkling water and coffee after dessert.

 

We received the same Bruschetta “intro” as we’d had previously.

 

Von-Mari ordered the 250g BBQ basted beef fillet with roasted root vegetables and fries (R325). She was very happy with the beef that was grilled to medium rare perfection and she loved the al dentevegetables, other than the carrot batons she passed on to me. They were slightly sweet and with just the right amount of resistance.

 

Von-Mari wasn’t keen on the fries either, commenting that they were obviously from a catering supplier and gave half of the rather substantial quantity to me. I had no issue with the fries; they were crisp and the rosemary salt seasoning was tasty.

 

The line fish was Kingklip, natch, so I went eenie meenie miney mo and ordered the  butternut ravioli (R150).

 

The last time I’d eaten ravioli, it was at Aubergine, and I hadn’t been impressed by the stodgy thickness of the pasta but the texture of these ravioli were perfect with the delicate sweetness of butternut and an unctuous balsamic walnut poppy cream and pesto that I finished with a spoon but there was no discernible chilli warmth, never mind bite, to the dish. It was, however, quite satisfactory.

 

We again shared the crème brûlée and it was as yummy as on the previous occasion though it was markedly less generous, the texture of the custardy was considerably less dense (Von-Mari compared it to a good panacotta) and the brûlée was almost absent. Taste trumps al the deficiencies, though, and this dessert was still a triumph.

 

The bill (including water and coffee and excluding tip) came to R708,00.

 

On our last morning, we ate breakfast, indoors because it wasn’t quite pleasant enough for the outdoor area at the pool. Prinses was still content in the cocoon of her fleece blanket. 

 

We weren’t hungover and didn’t require the boost of a Bloody Mary (R120) and it wasn’t summery enough for a mimosa (R120), so it was just a coffee kind or morning.

 

The breakfast menu is simple: pastries, two health options, eggs Benedict or Florentine, banana bread French toast, a fry up and a Mediterranean Brekkie.

 

Von-Mari had the eggs Benedict and I went Mediterranean, with two perfectly poached eggs, crisp chickpeas, labneh, charred broccoli, avocado and wilted baby spinach,  The eggs Benedict were good but it’s on the light side whereas my breakfast was as filling as it was delicious.

 

All’s well that ended well, then.