The Banting Kitchen

Monday, March 30th, 2015

Reviewed by Natalie Henshaw

Besides "mountain" and "hey", "banting" is probably the third most common word to be uttered by most Capetonians. So it comes as no surprise that a banter's restaurant was born. The other night, after a girls' dinner, my fit friend suggested we visited The Banting Kitchen for pud. Having dined on overpriced raw fish and cucumber for most of the night, we all jumped at the opportunity to shovel down some guilt-free comfort food. We arrived at about ten and the friendly staff were more than happy to accommodate us, even though we only wanted dessert and coffees. The decor was very elegant and smart and I was very grateful that they allowed me and my leopard print tights through the door without so much as a judging look. After much deliberation, two of us went for the cheese cake, one the chocolate fondant and another (the personal trainer of the bunch) for the poached pear. The cheesecake was a heavenly combination of whipped cream and rich cheese on a nutty crust. Extremely satisfying. I had mine with cream and my fit friend had the ice-cream, which was as good as the non-banting kind. In true female fashion, we all pilfered a spoonful from each others' plates, giving me the liberty to comment on each dish. When the fondant arrived, we all thought it looked a little on the small side. Until we tasted it. It can only be described as a dark mound of deliciousness erupting with endorphins in the form of gooey sweetness. It was so satisfying that we all decided that next time (and there will be a next time) we would all order that one. For my friend who ordered the poached pear, I'm sorry. Although it was rather entertaining to see her "I should have ordered something else" face, we actually felt sorry for her. Although the dish was beautifully presented and had delicate floral honey flavours, it was still a pear. But who orders a pear at a banting restaurant anyway?