Chef Albert Bronkhorst Takes Flavour to New Heights at Dash Restaurant [Review]
These days fine dining restaurants are a dime a dozen in Cape Town. The trick is to find those that offer something truly novel and exciting… something more than just delicious food served with all sorts of gels and foams. Dash Restaurant at the Queen Victoria Hotel is well known for its truly exceptional fine dining menu and now with new Executive Chef, Albert Bronkhorst on-board, the menu at Dash continues to not only offer a taste experience of note but a unique journey of new and exciting flavour combinations too. If you consider yourself a bit of a foodie and love to try new things then the new menu at Dash restaurant is indeed a must-try!
Chef Bronkhorst’s new menu offerings exude elegance and offer a truly unique approach to fine dining and flavour combinations. While his dishes maintain South African elements, Chef Bronkhorst has incorporated hints of classic French, English and Asian flavours into the offerings on the new menus and diners can expect to see his trademark of ‘novel flavour combinations’ come through in each culinary delight served.
Visiting Dash to sample the new menu is definitely a must if you’re celebrating a special occasion or just love splashing out on fantastic foodie experiences. Featuring delights like Mushroom Port Soup (R115), Seared Prawns (R135), and Candied Beetroot Tarte Tatin (R120) for starters as well as Rooibos Smoked Risotto (R170), Seared Salmon (R255), and Lamb Wellington (R230) for mains, the menu won’t disappoint. As simple and classic as those menu items might sound, Chef Bronkhorst’s unique take on flavour and presentation makes for a special dining experience you’ll struggle to find anywhere else.
The Candied Beetroot Tarte Tatin starter (with salted honeycomb, goat’s cheese mousse, and citrus fruit) is nothing short of inspired. The perfect combination of salty and sweet, this dish changed the way I think about the humble beetroot. The Seared Prawn starter (with corn bisque puree, salty nori, burnt corn, and coconut espuma) offers an ingenious take on the classic prawn and coconut flavour combination. The coconut foam served with this dish was the hero of the dish for me and added a fabulous texture and wonderfully sweet flavour twist to the dish.
As for the mains, I chose to try the Seared Salmon (with saffron mash, fennel bulb, and mussel tomato beurre blanc) and Chermoula Lamb Wellington (with mushroom duxelles, braised red cabbage, asparagus, and sauce bearnaise). The lamb combined with the perfectly crumbly pastry, devilishly buttery bearnaise and mixture of mushrooms, red cabbage, and asparagus made for a divinely rich and hearty meal. As for the salmon dish, the saffron mash and tomato beurre blanc sauce served with the mussel were simply sublime. Next time I visit I plan to attempt to convince the chef to serve me an entire bowl of mussels with that divine buttery sauce!
Dessert was just as exciting – Chocolate Gelee Mousse (R120) followed by a selection of local cheeses, preserves, and biscuits (R155). The Chocolate Gelee Mousse (with chocolate almond streusel, mixed berry sorbet, and macerated berries) was dark and morish and proved to be the perfect end to a meal of epic proportions. Another highlight of the meal for me was the cheese selection. Dash isn’t messing around when it comes to cheese and they offer an incredible selection of South African cheese to delight any cheese lover.
Dash is located at the Queen Victoria Hotel at the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town. For more information visit the Newmark Hotel’s website and check out the full Dash menu here.
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