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Seafood At The
Marine: From the seat of Delectable
Dinah
Liz
McGrath has elevated this hotel to its
current glory from the good old days of
David Rawdon, and together with all the
upgrades she’s running two restaurants –
Seafood at The Marine and The Pavilion
which is generally closed during Winter
time. We had a special occasion to
celebrate so we took ourselves off to
The Seafood Restaurant for a night of
indulgence.
You’re
greeted courteously at the door by a
strapping lad all decked out in a suit
and tie, which follows through to the
waiters as well. Here you get silver
service, together with beautifully
starched fresh white tablecloths and
silverware that would fit in nicely in
my home.
The menu
offers two choices: A two course meal
chosen from dishes off the menu for
R155.00 or a three course meal for
R190.00, however, if you decide to have,
for example, the crayfish dish, you need
to add a ‘small’ supplement fee of
R195.00 to the above-listed price. While
we’re on the subject of Crayfish, the
Seafood Platter for two goes for
R750.00! So, provided you stay within
the confines of the menu, you have a
good idea of what your meal is going to
cost you.
Starters
include a choice of two soups, cold
dishes such as oysters, salad and salmon
trout and hot dishes of fish cakes,
mussels and calamari. The Oysters (six)
are from the West Coast and are
wonderfully fresh with a supplement of
R45.00. Also recommended was the Tomato
Soup and Smoked Franschhoek Salmon Trout
– all using the freshest ingredients
available.
For the
main event the choices range from Fish
and Chips to Paella, Sole, Line fish and
Prawns and not forgetting the Bunny Chow
(pictured). If you care for French
fries, vegetables or salad on the side,
they must be ordered separately for
R20.00 a pop. If you have young guests
or someone who doesn’t enjoy the gifts
of the ocean you may very well have to
stop off at Steers on your way home,
every single dish on the menu includes
seafood except for the desserts
(thankfully), but those of you who
relish all things scaly and cold-blooded
will enjoy every morsel. The food is
cooked to perfection with flavours that
exist on their own on the plate in front
of you, by this I mean that not
everything on your plate tastes the same
as with many seafood dishes eaten by
many of us in the past and undoubtedly
in the future.
Thankfully
for those who didn’t get to eat yet,
there is a good selection of desserts
ranging from Crème Brúlée to Malva
Pudding, Cheesecake, Ice Cream and
Cheese.
Their wine
list is extensive and expensive – we
noticed that mark-ups were up to an
unbelievable 300% on some of the wines!
Luckily we had our own wine, which we
were charged R50.00 corkage for – well
you can’t win ‘em all..
All in all
the food was tremendous, service was
outstanding, the ambience a little stiff
and once four of you have shared
different dishes from the list, you’ve
really had it all and there’s not much
reason to re-visit the restaurant until
the menu has changed.
Average price for a
three-course meal without wine:
Easily R230.00
Corkage:
R50.00 huge smackaroos.
Value:
We’re not hurrying back.
The Seafood Restaurant and The Marine
Marine Drive, Hermanus
Tel: 028 313 1000 - bookings advisable
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Restaurant Reviews by Delectable Dinah