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Cafe Del Sol – Olivedale

oDD Cafe – Greenside

Greenside has become somewhat of an ‘it’ suburb, from the hipsters puffing on their menthol cigs outside Gin to the LOLs sipping wine by the glass and soaking up the sun at Doppio.

p.s LOL = ladies ‘oo lunch (say it with a French accent and it will make sense)

Now I don’t consider myself a hipster or a LOL but Greenside’s allure paired with quite a good write up in my personal bible (Taste Magazine) and Odd Café was on the cards for this Saturday.Here’s what went down.

Team: 7 old boys (and girls), 2 new faces.

Décor: I am a sucker for all things deconstructed. Deconstructed tables, deconstructed frames, deconstructed EVERYTHING! Odd merges the deconstructed with the eclectic, which makes for a pretty cool kind of marriage. The outside of the building is adorned with graffiti, and the inside is home to a variety of art work, most of which is for sale. There is seating outside, inside and downstairs. Yes downstairs. As in the basement. This is where we were seated. I guess having the whole place to ourselves was nice but at times I did feel a little like a kidnapped kid being kept away from society and more importantly, sunlight. Rather odd. (See what I did there?)

Vibe: Greenside always has a vibe. It’s Greenside FFS. Odd is on the other side of the main road, away from most of the other restaurants, but it was still full and it sounded  like things upstairs were pretty fun. Being in the basement makes it difficult to really have an opinion. We had a fun group so I guess that’s all that matters. If you want to see what’s happening with the rest of the world, make sure to sit upstairs.

Service: Our waitress was great. She remembered my name ( I booked so they wrote it down) and more importantly, remembered our order. She rattled off the specials without hesitation and was always on hand if we needed anything. The only downside, which is more a management issue than a waitress flaw, was the lack of a wine list. Now, I’m no wine connoisseur but I like to know what my options are and how much it will set me back.

Food: Choice is somewhat limited ( I imagine that’s why the specials menu was introduced) and pricing is average. There are a variety of breakfasts on offer as well as sandwiches and salads. All seemingly very healthy. I’m not a massive fan of healthy. We all basically ordered from the specials menu, which I think is quite telling.

Most of us had the Babalas burger – beef burger with bacon, haloumi and caramelized onions. The whole dish was rescued from mediocrity by the onions, which were divine.

Other dishes on offer were:

Odd Burger – beef burger with pineapple and avo. Self-explanatory.

 

Trinchado – looked fantastic but was more a goulash than a trinchado. I think most people had a taste and the general consensus was that it needed more chili. Lots more chili… and I don’t even like chili?!

 

Gnocchi – never one to mince her words, Dom will be our guest blogger today “Gnocchi was stodgy and although the flavours (pear, rocket, shaved mozzarella and pomegranate seeds) were interesting and kind of worked, after a while they stopped working and just became kind of yuck. It would have made a good tasting dish, but having the whole bowl became too much“ Thanks Dom.

 

Bruschetta – tomato, basil, mozzarella and basil pesto. Beautifully presented and tasted great. Personally, I prefer proper creamy mozzarella as opposed to the standard block variety, but I really can’t moan. It was good.  

I didn’t look at the dessert options (the wine had gone straight to my head by this point) but we were lucky enough to get a plate of biscuits on the house. They were delicious and being free, I can’t complain. Thanks Odd!

A special mention must be made of the Avo Milkshake – yes AVO milkshake. As mentioned above, I was drinking vino but Dom ordered the milkshake and I had a little taste. Creamy and avo-ey. Although I didn’t adore it, it wasn’t offensive and Dom seemed to love it. If you like avo and you like ice cream, this one is for you.

Although I think vibe, décor and service are important to the success of a restaurant, at the end of the day I eat out because I love food, and honestly, I was a little disappointed. There was nothing wrong with the food, but I wasn’t blown away. I like being blown away.

I think we can all agree that while Odd Café is definitely a great aesthetical addition to Greenside, I would only really return for a quick sarmie or some tea and biscuits.

Next up…. ODD Cafe

We’ll be going head to head with Odd Cafe in Greenside this Saturday.. be sure to check back next week for the results.

Cube (Part 3)

Round 3 *ding ding ding* Cube is certainly looking strong coming out its corner, let’s hope Team Restauranteering can stay with it until the end.

Note: dead camera batteries and full tummies contributed to the lack of pics in this round… but we’ve made do with what we had.

11. Cheese aka Jelly and custard

Let it just be known, that I am THE greatest cheese lover you will ever know, so when I heard there was a cheese course on offer, I was practically bouncing off the walls. You can imagine my disappointment when I was served a mere smudge of gruyere puree accompanied by a rather explosive wine jelly and a sugar almond ball. Now, my disappointment may not have been all that warranted (some people didn’t mind this course) but it was there none the less. I found the wine jelly completely inedible and the sugar almond ball a bit pointless. The saving grace was the gruyere but there was just not enough of it. All in all, my worst course. That being said, it’s definitely worth trying out for yourself.

12. Dessert (yippee)

As we were told by our waiter, the dessert course is made up of a few little courses that are usually served separately but for general ease of plating we were getting them all together. Cue happy face.

What was presented to us exceeded everyone’s expectations; I’ll break it down for you.

 12.1 Malva pudding – can’t go wrong, but boy, can you go so right! Rich moist sponge covered in warm thick toffee ginger sauce. Cube checked all the boxes.

12.2 Chocolate – a shot glass filled to capacity with warm liquid chocolate ganache could only be enhanced by a meringue topping and what we think was a bar-one flake biscuit covered in macaroon dust.And if that wasn’t enough of a chocolate fix, it was served with a cube of rich, dark chocolate ganache sprinkled with chili *death by chocolate*

12.3 Biscuit tin – macaroons are the new cup cakes, or so the foodies are telling me. Not to be left out, Cube gave us a little tin of strawberry and toffee macaroons and just for good measure, threw in a homemade biscotti. You will be at a loss to find a better macaroon, trust me, I’ve looked. (I’ve been craving them ever since)

12.4 Orange cream – to ensure no one went into a chocolate/sugar coma, we were given the most delectable orange mousse sprinkled with coco to cleanse the palate. I licked that plate clean. Hey, it was fruit after all!

We’re steadily approaching the final bell and Team Cube has Team Restauranteering on the ropes. Team Restauranteering is struggling to stay on its feet, struggling to move.

And with one final lick of a teaspoon, Team Restauranteering hits the mat.

 K.O

And the crowd goes wild!!!!! (*insert loud cheering noise*)

Team Cube takes the belt, the title, the trophy, the money…pretty much takes any award one could possibly give it! I know I say it about pretty much every restaurant I go to, but you REALLY have to try this place. It will change your perception of good food forever (forever…forever….forever) and you will henceforth be able to tell everyone you know that your foodie bum was kicked whilst your taste buds were made love to by the legend that is Cube – Tasting Kitchen.

Cube (Part 2)

And we’re back!

Round 2 *ding ding ding* The competitors come out fighting!

7. Risotto

This course was labeled a palate cleanser and incorporated flavours of Italy – pepperonata flavoured mousse with dehydrated tomatoes and risotto sprinklings Some thought the texture was off-putting, others thought the flavour was too intense. I thought it was delicious but certainly not as memorable as the other dishes we had been served.

8. Lamb

I can think of very few foods that surpass the lamb shank in the comfort food race and Cube’s lamb shank is no exception. Deboned and cooked until it melts in your mouth, the lamb is sprinkled with Moroccan spices (the name of which I cannot spell and am too lazy to Google) and accompanied by parsnip puree and teeny tiny cubes of what I can only describe as pepper squash (texture of a butternut squash but kapow flavour of peppers). Now, I always brag that MY lamb shank is the best in the world, but between you and me, Cube’s is leaps and bounds better!

9. Cauliflower

A spin on the family favorite cauliflower and cheese sauce left some of us cracking jokes and pulling faces. A cauliflower jelly was served with crispy pancetta and shavings of parmesan. Cauliflower is something you either love or hate so I knew there would be mixed reviews. I personally love it, but I even found the cold jelly slightly unappetizing. I did,however, adore the crispy pancetta and parmesan shavings. As pointed out by a fellow restauranteerer, perhaps if the jelly was served with parmesan crisps instead of shavings, the change in texture would have made the dish more appealing. A minor bump on an otherwise breathtaking road.

 

10. Braai

Ah, the braai. A South African staple we’re all familiar with… or are we? Cube’s take on this classic was refreshingly modern. Kudu fillet with lashings of beetroot foam, a medley of mushrooms and a strangely delicious, slightly sour puree (still not too sure what that was). Certainly not like any braai I’ve had before, but I’m all for the change. It was sensational. My personal 2nd placer for the night.

*ding ding ding*

A shorter round packed with more punch! We’ll need some time to recover
Round 3 is up next… stayed tuned.