Marble by David Higgs

Tuesday, July 23rd, 2019

Reviewed by Carla Schoeman

Having had probably the best steak of my life in 2018 at Marble, we did not hesitate to maximise on an impulsive weekend to Jozi to make a turn here again. Our previous booking, also on a whim, got us seats at the counter by the kitchen. Dinner and a show, we called it. Marble has arguably one of the most theatrical kitchens of any restaurant we've ever been at and watching the team work a busy Friday night dinner service was magical. This time around I booked with a little more notice, and booked a table. We arrived approximately 7 mins early for our 8 pm booking. The hostess assured us our table will only be a few minutes, and invited us to take a seat at the bar. Except the bar was full. We stood around for a few minutes, expecting the hostess to collect us at any moment. When she didn't return, we went back to the reception desk. A new hostess promised to check on our table. Hostess A returned and was surprised that we're still standing there, referred to me as Carol (laughed it off when I corrected her) and rushed back to the dining room to check on the table, again. By now I was sitting down on the ornamental chair in the foyer. This jumble of a welcome put a slight damper on my very excited mood. This was not what I expected. We were eventually seated at a table near the kitchen, and from this point forward I cannot fault the service. Our waiter and wine waiter were both attentive, professional and non-intrusive. The Marble experience we expected, once again returned to us. Our food was sensational. We ordered a Carprese salad and Prawn Nachos for starters to share. The burrata was spectacular and the prawns perfectly cooked. We defaulted to our favourite dish, the ribeye steak, for mains. The meat was incredible. Great quality, well aged and perfectly cooked and seasoned. What was slightly confusing was the crisps on the plate, accompanied by a ramekin of French fries with what the waiter referred to as the "secret spice". Not so secret was the presence of sugar in this spice, which gave it a bit of a strange taste. Perhaps just not to my palate. But the potatoes two ways was a little weird for us, to be honest. The ribeye was the hero. It really didn't need all this window dressing. For dessert we shared a choc chip ice cream cookie sandwich which was everything we expected it to be. Rich, homemade ice cream and a fresh, rich, buttery biscuit. The perfect ending to this sensational meal. Marble is a beautiful space, with a fantastic atmosphere. I really buy into David Higgs's food philosophy and will return to his restaurants as often as I can. While my previous experience at Marble made me believe they fully deserved the spot on the top 30 as they had that year, Im wondering if our experience with the hostesses this time round was an exception, or not. I really hope so, though. That ribeye is just sensational.