Lunch date @ Homespun At The Andros
Delightfully delicious dumplings and other special dishes. A relaxed fine dining experience in the southern suburbs.
Image, of the outside seating area, taken from the Andros hotel website.
As I have mentioned before, dates are more about me giving a carefully curated image of myself to my dining companion. Still not sponsored by Hinge, unfortunately. I want to come back for the dumplings and an espresso martini or two.
Pork Belly Pancake ( miso salsa verde char siu)
The pork was very tasty and soft, nothing mind blowing but still very enjoyable. It was less asian than I expected with a very crepe-like pancake, however it was a nice and rich start to the meal. I really love that salty, fatty and crunchy taste/texture combo of crackling, however this crackling followed the trend of being cooked separately, which is nice, but it's role is more texture than more-ish flavour.
I am not going to be a stuck record and say that we shouldn't eat pork and especially if it is not ethically sourced - there was no mention of the origin of the pork, which is a tad disappointing, I am unusually willing to be corrected if they do ethically source their pork- and look at me being a stuck record once again.)
Prawn dumplings (corn togarashi katsuobushi)
The dumplings were so great. An extreme depth of flavour in the broth - fishy and salty and sweet. Yum. The dumpling was tender with fresh and crisp prawns and the sweet crunch of the corn was perfect.
Togarashi is the Japanese name for red chilli pepper flakes, however, it is commonly used to refer to the Japanese spice mix made up of seven different spices or elements. Included in the spice mix is seaweed, chilli powder or flakes, orange zest, poppy seeds, ginger, pepper and sesame seeds. It is sweet and spicy with an umami kick provided by the seaweed.
Katsuobushi is another name for bonito flakes which are flakes of cooked and fermented tuna which move in the air on your plate.
Jackfruit Dumplings (umami corn togarashi (V))
This was equally as delicious as the prawn but different. Soo yummy and I’m sure any vegetarian-averse person would be obsessed with the umami flavour. SO good. My date should have been concerned with the relationship I was forming with the broths *love-eyes and drooling face*
Jack fruit is a fruit grown in tropical and subtropical regions, originating from India and Sri Lanka. It has a meaty interior which is often shredded and then used as a meat substitute because of the neutrality of its flesh.
Matt Special (fillet, wasabi, ponzu, walnut)
The fillet was extremely tender and was a delicious piece of beef. However this dish was rather underwhelming. The potato mash lacked flavour. That being said, it was a substantial dish and would please many, traditional meat and potato style.
Lamb (corn textures, chicken, sweetbreads)
So many corn textures! This dish was interesting, not my favorite lamb dish ever but was really fun trying all the different corn elements. I want to insert a corny joke here. Corn butter, corn foam and pieces of roasted and charred corn were all carefully placed on the plate. I love corn so it was really enjoyable to have so much of it. If you aren’t a fan of corn then don't eat it because it was CORN-Y. It was also very rich with a fatty cut of lamb, sweetbreads and the corn butter all being fatty elements. Still really nice and soft lamb which was enjoyable with the sweet corn.
Olive Chocolate Garden (toffee, tonka bean (V))
This was a really interesting dessert, infact, my date said this was maybe his favorite chocolate dessert he’s had in a Cape Town restaurant recently! A big compliment to this dish. I was drooling over the toffee sauce which was poured at the table. The garden soil was made of a crumbled chocolate and olive oil cake or cookie and was so nice and chunky. Tonka bean vegan ice cream (this dish is vegan?!) was a perfectly cooling and refreshing element. I have an issue with those dry and rubbery black olives which restaurants so often use, but I guess for this dish they were needed to provide an optional salty umami kick (if you like olives that is).
The Beetroot (Textures)
This was a fun and slightly interactive dessert. To start they give pieces of (very flavourless almost cake-rusk) sponge that have been frozen in dry ice, and they give it to you in your mouth which was such a weird and fun feeling - blowing out cold dry ice - however the sponge itself was not something I’d want to eat again but that was not it's intention. Anyway, onto the dessert itself, the white chocolate shell was decorated with wafer-thin slices of the most beautiful purple-pink beetroot. After cracking the ball open with your spoon a creamy beetroot filling is revealed.
This dessert was great if you really like beetroot. The earthiness of the beetroot paired nicely with the sweet (but slightly waxy) white chocolate shell. It wasn't my favourite dessert and I probably wouldn't rush back to order it again, however it is just sooo pretty and photogenic and a great option for beetroot and white chocolate lovers.
This is a really nice option for a relaxing weekend lunch in the southern suburbs with quality food. A refreshing addition to the culinary landscape of the Southern Suburbs.
Matthew Schreuder (Matt) is the executive chef and owner of both Homespun at The Andros and Homespun in Blouberg. The latter is the first Homespun opened by Matt. The Andros hotel opened in 1908.
3 Course Menu: R475
5 Phyllis Rd, Claremont, Cape Town, 7708
