Restaurant review: The Fig Tree

I was recently invited to the launch of Fig Tree’s new menu at Simbithi Country Club.

We were treated to a tasting platter with a selection of dishes from the new menu. I won’t describe each dish but rather cherry pick the ones that really stood out.

First off, the roasted tomato and basil soup. This was a real hit. I could tell from the first taste that this dish comes with hours of preparation. It had a depth of flavor that has to be built from the beginning through careful roasting.

The consistency was spot on, it didn’t separate, was beautifully emulsified, had a delightful smokiness and the basil paired beautifully.

Next were the butternut gnocchi with gorgonzola. I can’t criticize this dish as it was made perfectly, but I would have liked the butternut gnocchi made slightly smaller with a touch more gorgonzola added to the cream (but that’s because I can literally bath in the stuff, I just love it).

The hamburger was quite impressive: a top quality patty cooked to perfection and the bun surprisingly found just the right balance between a white over-processed roll (which I quite enjoy) and an artisan bun (which I don’t enjoy with a burger at all) – soft yet with an artisan feel.

Now on to a few of the dinner dishes. Prawn and pea risotto is a complex dish to make that takes much finesse, as you do not want to overpower the prawns or peas, and they pulled it off without fault.

I also enjoyed the beef terrine (slow cooked beef encased in phyllo pastry), not quite what I was expecting but still top notch. The meat was tender but without losing too much of the texture and wonderfully rich – a perfect meal for winter.

The desserts were mind blowing, with so much attention to plating, flavor and texture.

The one I most enjoyed was the Summer Berries, a berry mouse served with pistachio sponge, berry jelly and gelato.

It had a wonderful freshness to it and is a light dessert, my only negative is that I would have liked to see a bit more contrast in texture (perhaps biscotti instead of a sponge to give it some crunch).

Next I sampled the Chocolate Parfait, the plating on this dish is one of the best I have seen. It’s the small details that really bring out the best in this dish, namely the passion fruit seeds and chocolate pearls.. yum!

I have always rated Fig Tree highly and it appears their new executive chef Daryn Bowers definitely has the skill to grow their good reputation even further.

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