Part Two: A trip to Fyn

After wandering past the District Six Museum down the road, we were ushered upstairs in the lift, to a stunning glass-encased restaurant where the waiters were extremely friendly and helpful and urged us to hang up our jackets.   

Our waiter Emile greeted us with a smile, detailing what would be awaiting us over the course of the next two hours. For those interested in wine pairings, it would be an additional R1050. We decided on just the lunch tasting menu, ordering two cocktails from the extensive drink menu.

We began the experience with a plate of palate cleansers, consisting of cucumbers, pickled daikon, and carrots. The first bite of these palate cleansers, usually eaten between courses to ‘cleanse’ your mouth of the taste of the previous course, signalled that we were in for a culinary adventure, the simple flavour was done perfectly, and we had finished all of them well before the end of the meal.

Following our palate cleansers came an assortment of sushi, from tamagoyaki with caviar that came in a skull shaped container, to a crab and seaweed salad, rolled in a crunchy and delicate exterior.

Following the sushi came a Hokkaido milk bun, fluffy and warm, evocative of what you can find in a bakery in the northernmost main island of Japan. The warm bun was accompanied by a mushroom custard, served akin to a creme brulee. We could see chefs in the open kitchen using blowtorches on a dish, wondering what would come from it, only to flip over the dish the bun was served on to find the mushroom custard.

Table service was at a premium during the lunch experience, many of the courses involved tableside service and detailed explanations.  

A highlight of the menu was the tableside creation of a chirizu sauce, consisting of citrus, daikon, onion, chives, and chilli powder. Our waiter explained each ingredient as they mixed them together in a suribachi, then pouring it over our plate of gamefish. The mix of fish, citrus, spice and tempura spinach was wonderful. The tempura was light and crispy, reminiscent of a corner tempura restaurant that has been perfecting its craft for the past 50 years. 

The main dish came with another helping of table service. We were presented with a stylish knife holder with 5 Japanese style damascus steel knives in it. Our waiter informed us that the knives were made by a local South African artisan, Anton Kock, and that we were free to choose whichever knife we preferred.

After carefully inspecting each knife, we chose our desired piece and waited for the course to arrive. The course consisted of Kalahari beef that was accompanied by mushroom ragout, spinach, and garlic. The combination of the soft meat, creamy ragout, and crunchy garlic chips made this dish a standout.

Nevertheless, there was still dessert to be had! The final dish consisted of a multitude of unique sweets to cap off an amazing lunch. First up was a fried Mozambican chocolate, alongside a soft pear and sakura sauce. We also had a matcha ice cream paired with a delightfully sour lime glaze, and a boeber pudding topped with various crushed nuts and granola.

Our final two pieces, coming on additional plates brought over by our waiter, were a small piece of chocolate and a selection of mochi, created by local restaurant Mochi Mochi. From three available flavours, we had a blackberry and buchu infused mochi and a wonderful orange and citrus piece. It is clear that Mochi Mochi is having a big impact on the local food scene, as these tiny bites were big in taste, a splendid fusion of both South Africa and Japan.

We left full and happy.