I plant my flag. I sit by the warm fire. I see the road traveled so far,fruitful, full of joy and with lovely characters along the way.

Search This Blog

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Review Karoo - Cattle & Land - Fourways Johannesburg

'As South African as it gets' is the heading on the website. Curious as I am, I book a table for four and look forward to an evening of South African Dining in Karoo - Cattle & Land with good friends.

First I want to apologize a million times to you who have followed my blog for the past couple of months. I admit I haven't been the sharpest pencil in the packet these days and I am so sorry. Due to the fact that I started a new job two months ago, I lost focus on what is really important in my life: writing & eating!! So guys, be aware.. I am back! And I look forward to more Summer!

The Karoo is a semi-desert region of South Africa. It has two main sub-regions - the Great Karoo in the north and the Little Karoo in the south. Currently sheep farming is the economic backbone of the Karoo with other forms of agriculture taking place in areas where irrigation is possible.

Karoo - Cattle & Land is famous for their red meat, ribs and fresh fish. To complete their African style menu they offer Boerewors and Bobotie. The atmosphere in the restaurant is good. It is very busy this Saturday night with a huge variety of food lovers that sit at the nicely laid wooden tables, some by themselves, others in groups.

First impression at the entrance:
  • Friendly staff at the entrance
  • Very busy
  • Convenient temperature
  • Wonderful salade bar in the front
  • Nice finishings
  • Modern
We sit down at a table in the back area and order a good bottle of wine (Hidden Valley Stellenbosch) to start the evening. The ambiance is fantastic. The music is soft, although once in a while when quiet at the table for a few seconds, I hear Jamiroquai, Sinead O'Connor and other all time favorites. Great songs!


Our friends ordered Butternut soup for starters. The soup was creamy but very thick. The chicken livers, prepared with piri piri, were great. I ordered carpaccio. The dish was thinly sliced, (too salty!) topped with roquefort cheese and rocket. For mains our friends ordered crumbed chicken breast lightly fried and served with Karoo sauce. Surprisingly enough the Chicken Schnitzel was really good. It would never be my first choice in a Steak Restaurant with South African traditional dishes. But that is just my opinion. Because it is my blog, I am allowed to have an opinion. Especially when it comes to food!

I recently read a book from Anthony Bourdain. He reminded me not to order food, that is not a fast seller. Which means that the chicken sold in an Steak Restaurant is probably not your best option as it comes to taste and expiry dates! :) But anyway..

Peter ordered Spare Ribs, finished off on the flame grill with basting sauce. The ribs were an absolute winner, the marinade very tasteful. I ordered Traditional Bobotie dish, served with yellow rice. For dessert Melktert, a good choice and such a difference to the melktert in the retail shops. Jammie!!

While we were still enjoying our starters, the waiters walked up to our tables with our mains. Such a big mistake, and bad communication between the front area and the kitchen.
 
Overall experience?
Okay. Karoo Cattle & Land serves good food, the place has a great and modern atmosphere and it is a nice overall experience. I loved the choices the Salad Bar had to offer.

Value for money?
Starters range from R40,- to R55,-. Mains range from R75,-  to R165,-. Desserts are R35,-. For the wine we paid R150,-. It was not cheap but it was worth the money spend.

Food        3/5
Service     2/5
Ambiance 4/5

Overall review
3.0

Warm Regards,

Abigail Summer