As you enter the concrete jungle of Cape Town CBD, there is a high-rise brick building that holds a hidden oasis. Situated in the center of this high-rise is Ben Wei. This Asian fashion restaurant transported one to East Asia with the decor and ambiance.
Almost as if you were invited to dine with an Emperor, the quality of the paper the menu was presented on was of a high quality and sported a caricature co-owner and chefs face Jim Dai. Looking back on the evening, the menu setting was a sign of the good to come. This also alluded to the assumption that no cost was spared to make the diners feel welcome.
Restaurant Week Dinner Special R250 p.p.
For a 4 Course Dinner Special
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1st Course
Starters Prawn Tempura
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Crispy Asian Fish Cake
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Panko Calamari
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2nd Course
Sushi California Sunshine
Or
Rainbow Reloaded
Or
Rainbow Roll
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3rd Course
Hot Mains Kung Pao Chicken
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Spicy Beef
Or
Chicken and Cashew Nut
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4th Course
Desserts Chocolate Banana Spring roll
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Coconut Ice Cream and Berry Coulis
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The prelude to supper was a condiment of “Asian salad” – cucumbers, carrots, bean sprouts pickled in vinegar. Thereafter, we were served four courses successively.
1st Course
The first course was fries with a dip – not the French fry variety but various seafood coated in bread crumbs and deep fried. The fish cakes were notable here because of the unique taste of the combined tuna and salmon and worked well with the coriander aioli.
2nd Course
The second course was a selection of sushi – California Sunshine, Rainbow Reloaded and Rainbow Rolls. Each serving was a generous 8 pieces and was delicious. Particularly with the California Sunshine, the addition of lemon zest on the sushi added a twist to the otherwise normal California Roll.
3rd Course
For Hot main, classical Asian dishes of Kung Pao Chicken, Spicy Beef and Chicken Cashew Nut were on the menu with the options of rice or noodles as a side. Each was a healthy portion and the Spicy Beef (as the name suggested) was indeed spicy. This can be attributed to the closely guarded secret sauce.
4th Course
After the climactic 1st to 3rd courses, the dessert was met with mixed reviews. The Chocolate Banana Spring roll was served with vanilla ice cream and was received very well. The chocolate was gooey and the Spring roll pastry was neither too thick nor thin but just enough to be crispy.
The coconut ice cream with berry couli did not amalgamate well together but the individual flavones were delicious.
Ben Wei certainly gave more than what was expected, especially in terms of value for money. The patrons were always available to set and did so with a smile. All in all, Ben Wei left us feeling very optimistic and was the perfect start to restaurant week 2017.
For the full album click HERE
Restaurant Info:
Shop 3, Wembley Square,
Solan Street,
Gardens,
Cape Town
Tel No : 021-461-2966
Email : eat@benwei.co.za
Trading Hours
Monday to Saturday
11:30am to 21:00pm
Written for JAR PHOTOGRAPHY by Lynelle Moodley
Photography for JAR PHOTOGRAPHY by Jason “Dubbz” Petersen