Maze, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Capetonians tend to think that Sol Kerzner’s One & Only hotel in the V&A Waterfront is so exclusive that it’s not really ”for us”, their marketing guru told me as we left after dinner at Maze. Yet it is meant to be very much for locals – hey, your money is still good, despite the recession. Just take lots of it with you.
Being at the Sun King’s newest venue whisked me right back to the ground-wetting for the Cape Sun Hotel aeons ago, when Anneline Kriel, then Sun Queen, stepped out of a limo in the rain and I nearly choked on a sliver of Parma ham. Later we were at the ground-wetting of another Kerzner extravaganza, the Palace of the Lost City at Sun City, a luncheon event which was so utterly over the top – “soup lovelies” delivering golden tureens of broth, Des Lindbergh MCeeing as a David Livingstone clone, decor worthy of Carmen Miranda – that afterwards a jewel-bedecked kugel in front of us said to her friend in a pure Nowell Fine accent, ‘My gaad, what’s he going to do for the opening, slaughter the naked maidens?’
So it would be the venerable resort wheeler dealer who brought us both Maze and Nobu. The venues flank the swank Vista Bar with its mammoth double-volume window wall looking towards Table Mountain. Maze is a splendidly decorated venue with a contemporary take on 1970s geometric decor in the eye-catching carpeting, wood-panelled pillars and clubby chairs. What Maze is, when you shake off all the baggage that comes with Gordon Ramsay – the expectation of some sort of pizzazz and scripted histrionics in the kitchen – what you have is a modern take on an old-fashioned hotel grill room. It’s mostly about excellent grills and seafood, with a few alternatives.
So you can order, for a starter or a smaller meal, something from the cold seafood bar (oysters from Saldanha, Namibia or Algoa Bay, Mozambican langos and prawns, Cape crayfish or seafood selections with or without kreef) or “small plates” like soft shell crab with spicy mayo, a charcuterie selection, poached veal and seared tuna carpaccio, or seared Karan beef with chargrilled peppers.
“Beef from the broiler” is a speciality arena where you’re offered Karan (very fine South African beef) dry-aged for 28 days in either fillet or rib-eye on the bone, at R155 and R165. The Namibian alternative (rib-eye or sirloin) comes at a similar price. But if you really want to splurge, there’s 9th grade Australian Wagyu beef in sirloin or fillet for R700 to R750 for 200g. Is it worth it? The meat is as supple as can be, but it’s the depth of flavour that makes it clear why meat such as this is so prized.
There’s a choice of seafood alla plancha, which is a fancy way of saying it’s grilled on a metal plate – kingklip, linefish, swordfish, prawns and langoustines. If the grills don’t tickle your palate, look under “other main plates” for items such as roasted Karoo lamb chop and braised neck of lamb, panfried hake wrapped in Parma ham with shellfish risotto, or a lovely white onion risotto with roasted mushrooms and slow-cooked egg (there’s a first – what, five hours at 100?) Side orders and sauces are extra.
Best way to end is with an Assiette of Maze desserts, meaning a little of everything for R90. We shared this, and really it was enough for three or four people to have little tastes of various things. Exquisite, as you’d expect. So yes, it was always going to be an expensive night out at Maze, or at anything to do with Kerzner, but you could always hold this one in reserve for a special occasion.
Nobu is an experience. Nobu Matsuhisa’s legendary food is inspired by Japanese and Peruvian cuisines, so you can choose Peruvian skewers (asparagus, salmon, beef or chicken) or a host of tempura, sushi, marinated fish and many, many other options. If it’s all too confusing, choose one of the Nobu set dinners, or a seven-course tasting menu for R550 or R650.
Nobu, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Don’t expect it to be all about raw fish – there’s lots of lovely marinated seafood and cooked options. We were taken through a menu of countless small tastes and there was nothing that was not perfectly delicious. Definitely a place to try at east once – to taste for yourself why Nobu Matsuhisa is quite as famous as he is. Simply bloody marvellous food.
Maze and Nobu, One & Only Hotel, V & A Waterfront 021 431 5800
First published in Cape Argus Tonight, November 2009
About tonyjackman
Tony Jackman writes about food, wine and restaurants, witty and irreverent newspaper columns on almost any subject, and also dabbles in playwrighting and painting in watercolours and pastels. He cooks up dinners, lunches, breakfasts, braais and brunches for his weekly food column, and is developing this site into an extensive resource of information about Western Cape restaurants.