On The Rocks’ new menu smacks of the sea
WHEN a restaurant has been around for more than 50 years you’d expect it to be all grown up, but On The Rocks in Bloubergstrand feels like it was born yesterday.
I’d heard about On The Rocks but never been.
When I arrived I was in awe of the spectacular location.
Masterchef SA judge Pete GoffeWood teamed up with Chef Charl du Preez to scale down the On The Rocks menu and breathe new life into it.
As the name suggests the restaurant feels as if it’s perched atop boulders and you’re in the middle of the ocean, but Goffe-Wood said the previous menu had not been in harmony with the location.
“If I showed you the menu here and said guess where this restaurant is, you would have said Claremont or Newlands, a nice suburban restaurant,” he said.
For spruced-up the menu, kitchen staff collect seaweed and rocks in the morning and use this on which to serve their oysters, testament to On The Rocks’ new lease of life.
The Sunset Platter starter is great for sharing, featuring black olives, humus, pickles and preserves you can spread on pita bread.
The West Coast Soup sums up the new menu perfectly. It’s fish, mussels and prawns with tomato, garlic and lemon with a toasted baguette.
The beetroot, pear and blue cheese salad is the tastiest salad I’ve had in a long time.
On The Rocks is known as a perfect Sunday lunch venue and there are still traits of this on the new menu.
The braised lamb shoulder tastes like a Sunday roast that came out of granny’s oven.
The fish tacos are also great to share as a starter among a group of people. They contain deep fried hake fillets, tomato, coriander, salsa and sour cream. They’re a good option if you don’t want to have fish for mains.
For dessert make sure that someone at the table orders Lydia’s baked cheesecake. It is the perfect way to end your meal.
If you have visitors coming these holidays, you should definitely pop into On The Rocks.