It feels like absolutely AGES now, but it was just over a month ago, when I visited Anthonij Rupert’s Terra del Capo for the first time. I’d heard of the estate, but never any details about it. Have you visited? It’s really grand and I’m already keen for a second visit!
Terra Del Capo New Winter Menu
New Winter Menu
I was invited to the Franschhoek wine estate for an exploration of their new, winter menu. It was here that I was served the most adorable carrot arancini! I love arancini and the Terra del Capo ones did not disappoint. LOOK AT THIS!
Set against their wine cellar, their restaurant is small and cosy. Perfect to be tucked away in this winter as the storms rage outside (you’d never know). I’m surprised that I’ve not heard of their restaurant before as their food was excellent. We were spoilt to a number of courses, all of which were surprisingly fresh and steered away from the typical winter heaviness.
My Favourite Starters
The mostly vegetarian starter menu included the Baby Vegetable Crudite (R68), Truffled Polenta Chips with Parmesan and Aioli (R48), Grilled Artichokes with Sultana Chutney (R68) and Carrot Arancini with Cumin Boerenkaas filling (R48). All of the starters were good, but I loved the:
- Grilled Artichokes – They were cooked perfectly and balanced, with the crunch of pine nuts and the sweetness of the sultana chutney.
- Carrot Arancini – I mean, what more can I say?! The ‘soil’ was burnt, crumbed leaks I think, but I do stand to be corrected.
The seafood starter was the Franschhoek Trout Ceviche (R75) with gooseberries, honey, lime and ginger which was incredibly fresh and bright.
Main Courses
The main courses included potato gnocchi with black garlic butter (R68), a Charcuterie & Shiraz pairing (R120), Homemade Salsiccia Sausages & Cannellini Al Fiasco (R68) and mini Lasagne (R55).
My favourite was the lasagne because I just happen to love lasagne and I find most places don’t do it that well. This portion size was perfect for the price with the right balance of sauce, cheese and pasta. I also really enjoyed the homemade sausages. Being of British descent, I love a banger and these were cooked really well, firm but soft, with a good balance of herbs.
Best Macaron EVER!
Desserts were pretty as a picture and very particular. I had the chocolate ___ and ___. I don’t enjoy macarons, but this was the best macaron I’d ever had (sorry Switzerland! I feel guilty saying that, but it’s true!). It was a tiramisu macaron that wasn’t too “meringuey” (the bit I don’t like), with a soft, buttery centre. The chocolate was the shiniest ganache I’d ever seen! Delicious.
Anthonij Rupert Wines
And it would be amiss if I did not mention the beautiful wines that we enjoyed on the day, from the charcuterie shiraz pairing to the wine we could enjoy thereafter.
Anthonij Rupert has two collections; aside from their premium collection they also have the Protea branded collection. It’s a more affordable range, however, the Anthonji Rupert range was more to my taste. We were also given a bottle to take away, which I enjoyed on my road trip to Namibia.
I had a lovely lunch at Anthonij Rupert and I’m keen to return for another tasting on another day to familiarise myself with their collection of wines further.
Thank you for having me AR!
