Jordan Restaurant

Food:

Anybody who needs convincing that sometimes less is more should visit Jordan. There are no tricks, just incredible food put together with enough flair to make it stand out from the ever-growing winelands crowd. Indeed, the simplicity of the menu means there is nowhere to hide and the fact that chef George Jardine nails every dish so perfectly is a tribute to his ability. The menu changes daily, but options that (luckily) re-surface are mussels steamed with lemongrass, coconut milk, ginger and garlic, and beautiful aged sirloin, topped with a bone marrow and bordelaise sauce. The chocolate soufflé will stop you in your tracks – it’s as light as candyfloss.

Wine:

Like the food, the wine list changes constantly. The Jordan Estate’s wines feature heavily, with a handful of other local wines on offer. It’s not a big list, but it’s nicely put-together.

Service:

Everything you need it to be. Warm, genuine and knowledgeable.

Ambience:

The terrace, with views over a lush lawn and a beautiful lake, is where you want to be in summer. With this standard of food you’d be forgiven for thinking it might be a bit stiff, but that’s not the case at all. Instead it’s quite common to see kids playing with the resident border collie, while parents happily knock back an extra glass under the shade of a nearby tree.

And...:

Take a trip to their cheese room for your dessert. You are walked through a selection of artisanal suppliers to pick out your favourites. Paired with something like quince jam, or the ginger and apple chutney made on-site, it’s a cracking way to end a meal. (AF, October 2011)

Check out chef George Jardine's recipe for white bean and truffle veloute on our sister site, Eat In.

Jacqueline Kinnear
14-May-2012

The most incredible Mother's Day Meal yesterday. Thank you for adding to my special day with my daughter, Sarah.

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Francesca
14-May-2012

A flawless lunch, absolutely delicious! Hope to be back soon.

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Johan Liebenberg
5-Apr-2012

We were lucky. It was a perfect day in early autumn and somehow there was a softness in the air, and the leaves on the vines, in the soft, rolling landscape, were turning a subtle tone of yellow and red. There was a dam, of course, a girl was throwing a ball to the sheepdog on the sprawling lawns.



The wines, the wines! (I just wish their website would make it easier to locate their wines. I had to eventually Google 'double gold Veritas barrel fermented to get hold of the name) It's Outlier, and it had matured for a year or two. Magnificent. I was sure I could taste sweet melon but the tasting notes proved me wrong.



Then, the meal, the vista. The girl was still tossing a ball to the dog. Someone was taking photographs. The starter of mussels baked in parchment paper was the best I have yet had. The Saldanha Bay mussels (Spanish) were unforgettable, swimming in a gentle pool of coconut milk and lemon grass. (I thought I detected fennel but I was once again wrong, at least according to the waiter. It was not my day in that sense.) I have to say the aioli was simply the lightest I have tasted. I wondered if there was cream in it, but decided not to ask, lest I be proved wrong yet again. It was, how should I put it, a study in lightness. Then the sole gratin was a bit of a let down, I have to say. The poor sole fingers were simply smothered in cheese and layers of potato. No, it didn't work. It was too rich. Potatoes and sole? No, perhaps not. But who cares. I don't even think about that ... as I am haunted by the mussels in a coconut milk sauce .... and aioli as light as clouds.



Well, why say everything was perfect when you can find fault? I thought the salesman at the wine cellar was a bit familiar. "Did you steal my pen?" he barked at a tourist. There's a fine line between being warm and inviting and being too familiar.

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Lisa Dyboll
22-Mar-2012

Outstanding food, service and wine. Without doubt the restaurant experience of our recent holiday around South Africa.

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