I’ve been to the Mount Nelson before, but not the Planet restaurant so this was to be a real treat. We were early for dinner and chose to wait in the lounge while our table was being prepared. The lobby was filled with foreigners making an early start of the Cape Town summer.
We were whisked to our table, and it felt really strange as we pretty much had the entire restaurant to ourselves except for two other couples. I was trying to reconcile why this could be, maybe the lack of options to the menu, as patrons were limited in terms of options with one starter, main and dessert to choose from. Maybe, it was the cost which was R400 per person which was maybe one of the more expensive dinners on offer at Restaurant Week.
As it would turn out I couldn’t care less about who was in attendance or not for that matter, as the food was absolutely amazing and the courses just got better and better with each.
Planet Restaurant
Restaurant Week 2017 Menu
Starters
Beef carpaccio
spiced chickpea purée, crispy beef tendon, oxtail pokora, parmesan
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Mains
Poached seabass
mussel velouté, seaweed, grilled tender stem broccoli, potato cooked in coal
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Dessert
Caramel popcorn and miso
tonka bean, salted caramel parfait, sencha tea gel, miso and caramel
popcorn ice cream
R400 per person
The first course was the Beef carpaccio with spiced chickpea puree, crispy beef tendon oxtail with parmesan. This course was amazing and all the elements worked together beautifully and the portion was extremely generous.
Vegetarian Option – Mushroom Terrine & Shaved Mushroom & Apple Salad
The main was sublime and consisted of Poached seabass wrapped in seaweed, mussel veloute, grilled tender stem broccoli and coal smoked potato.
Vegaterian Option – Marogo Raviole & Crispy Cale
Finally, dessert consisted of Tonka bean, salted caramel parfait, Sencha green tea gel, pear gel and caramel miso popcorn ice cream. I know a real mouthful but wow, what an explosion of flavours.
The Mount Nelson has always been one of the premier destinations in Cape Town, and it really was a shame that on the night we were in attendance, more people didn’t take advantage of this opportunity. It really was a top notch dining experience and one of the standouts for me.
For the full album click HERE
Restaurant Info:
76 Orange Street,
Gardens,
Cape Town
Email · reservations.mnh@belmond.com
Reservations · +27 21 483 1000
Written for JAR PHOTOGRAPHY by Mario Arendse
Photography for JAR PHOTOGRAPHY by Jason “Dubbz” Petersen
