We were so lucky to get a table on Thursday at Cheyne’s in Hout Bay to experience his fabulous winter special, the ‘Winter Yum Cha Experience’ which is R150 per person for any three dishes of your choice from his winter menu. You then have the option of paying R50 for an additional 4th dish so we used that option to have dessert, working out at the bargain price of only R200 per person! His menu is divided into 4 sections: Sea, Land, Earth and Happy Endings.

The decor in Cheyne’s restaurant is very intimate, it is not a huge venue but the dark blue walls give you a sense of warmth and coziness, perfect for a cool winter’s evening. The chairs are covered in a lovely soft velvet. He has a variety of interesting artworks on the walls which always serve as good conversation pieces.

We invited my daughter Caitlin and her beau Wesley to come with us. She has been working so hard at getting her flat ready to move in and has invested so much time and money into it I thought she deserved a wee treat.

Norm and I shared a bottle of Iona Sauvignon Blanc which was divine. Crisp and light and not too acidic for me as I struggle with some wines since we reduced our sugar intake.

We spent ages trying to choose from the long list of delicious sounding items and we finally decided to have one of our 3 courses as a starter. We all chose from the Sea section of the menu.

Norm and I both had the Crispy Chili Salt Squid which came with a little puddle of sesame mayo and a green chili caramel dipping sauce. It was both crispy and spicy as promised, I loved it.

Both Wes and Caitlin had the Baby Shrimp Tempura with red pepper caramel and garlic truffle aioli. I swapped a bite for a bite with Caitlin and it was really nice. If I go back and this is on the menu I will have this. It is like a modern tastier twist on Scampi like you get in Ireland. It was a nice sized portion as well.

We ordered 2 ‘Side dishes’ from the Earth portion of the menu as one of our 3 courses and shared them both per couple.

We each had a bowl of the Duck fat fries with truffle salt and Nori dust which were divine. They come with a spicy dipping sauce called a Bulls-eye Sauce.

We also each had the Deep Fried potato and coconut dumplings which are served with a tom yum lemongrass cream. These are from the Earth portion of the menu but there is nothing earthly about these, they are little balls of heaven. 

We all chose a dish off of the Land menu.

Both Wes and I had the Crispy pork san choy bau served on baby gem lettuce and topped with kimchi, chinese mustard and a quail’s egg. It was sprinkled with crushed roasted peanuts.

I loved that crispy pork dish! The pork was lean and crispy, the sauces were just the right combo of tastes to balance it out perfectly.

Norm had the char grilled Chalmar Rump dish with gochu-jang and shimeji cream which he said was very tasty.

Caitlin ordered the crispy wings which arrived after we had all finished our dishes and all of the sides had been gobbled up. The only slight blemish on a perfect evening. But she made such a mess eating them maybe that was for the best that she did not cover her potato dumplings with sticky sauce?

For our 4th (and extra) dish we all chose to have Dessert. I had the double thick Peanut Butter milkshake, with 70% chocolate soil and crushed peanuts. I adore peanut butter in anything but put it in ice cream and I am in heaven. This was a perfect end to my amazing meal.

 

Wes had the Sago pudding which the rest of us all agreed tasted a bit like you would expect frogs eggs to taste, but Wes loves Sago pudding and he was very happy.

Norm and Caitlin both had the Apple fritter with ice cream. I did taste a wee bite and it was yummy.

It was such a lovely evening.

Today I finally made my own drum to use at my drum circle and any other events which I go to on my spirit journey. I’m too exhausted to tell you about it today.

Tomorrow I am going to the Silo Hotel for their Afternoon Tea with my friend Di. The hotel is at the V&A Waterfront so the views will be stunning. I am very keen on that as well so there is lots of excitement for this weekend.