Fast facts 

Restaurant name: beyond

Address: Buitenverwachting, 37 Klein Constantia Road, Constantia, Cape Town

Contact number: 021 794 0306

Opening times: Lunch: Tuesday to Sunday 12noon to 2.30pm; Dinner: Tuesdays to Thursdays 5.30pm to 8pm; Fridays and Saturdays 6pm to 8pm

Average price of a main meal price: Two-course menu R545 per person; Three-course menu R650 per person

Corkage fee: No BYO

Parking situation: On site

Food type: elegant contemporary dining

Food

beyond is one of three restaurants helmed by the dream team of chef Peter Tempelhoff, service, and beverage director Jennifer Hugé, culinary director Ashley Moss, Jennifer Hugé. The other two are FYN (ranked number 37 in the world) and Ramenhead, which opened late 2022. The bar is set high, and expectations need to be met; beyond does that more than adequately. It is an Eat Out-starred restaurant and has been included on the 50 Best Discovery list, as chosen by the same panel of gastronomes, chefs, restaurateurs, and writers responsible for World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

The food focuses on the procurement of the best possible ingredients from local suppliers, which are transformed into elegant dishes packed full of flavour. The menu begins with three “before your meal” dishes, and a bread course – seed loaf, gloriously golden roasted sweet potato baguette, with house made rosemary butter that tastes almost caramelised, with spikes of salt.

After that, you have a choice of a two- or three-course meal, with an optional wine pairing offered with the latter. These include Chef’s Appetiser – more than an amuse bouche, less than a starter – as wells chocolate fudge petit fours at the end of the meal. The appetiser is a way to try out new ideas; if the guests love it, it might soon find its way onto the menu as a starter or even a main course. This week it’s steak tartare draped with beetroot and topped with a delicate cloud of crispy leeks.

Of the four starters, the burrata with avocado, smoked olive oil “bruschetta” as thin and crisp as Melba toast, tomato espuma and liberally dressed with black truffle dressing is a firm favourite. Holding its ground in the popularity stakes is gamefish (yellowtail on the day) tartare with tomato chilli jam, coal-roasted aubergine, the most scrumptious crispy fried chickpeas, and pine nut dressing. The fish is beneath a layer of Lebanese cucumber, in the style of a dish from that country called makloubeh batinjan, which means “aubergine dome”.

The crowning glory of the main courses is the option to upgrade from Kalahari beef fillet (already good) to a selection of wagyu – interesting lesser seen cuts like hanger, Denver and flat iron as well as ribeye on the bone and rump – from the farm of none other than Ken Forrester. The renowned winemaker supplies beyond and FYN exclusively.

The fish of the day (kingklip) is an island in a sea of lobster velouté served with lobster fumé potatoes, confit fennel, baby leeks and peas, and can cause eyes to roll back with bliss. Pork belly – for a refreshing change, without crackling but still a welcome rim of fat – gets a Cape Malay treatment with spiced battered prawns, coriander pesto, lentils, glazed carrots and a lightly curried bisque.

The ubiquitous South African favourite, peppermint crisp tart, finds itself on the dessert menu but is probably unlike the one ouma used to make. The “flavours of matcha, lime and pistachio” which could, frankly, be anything, turns out to be a medley of those flavours in the forms of cake, ice cream, cubes, whipped panna cotta and crumble. The choux bun, Paris-Brest-style, is filled with Roquefort and white chocolate cream to deliciously balance sweet and savoury, complemented with roast pear and burnt honey ice cream.

With à la carte, it’s easy enough to order around any allergies and what-not but the waiter will check at the beginning of the meal anyway.

 

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Drinks

The wine and drinks menu is several pages long, presented in a booklet. Buitenverwachting itself has several wines listed, and from therconnoisseurs can embark on a tasting journey, ably guided by sommelier Donovan Ravell, who has an interesting history with the farm which he might be inclined to share. For R495 a person, he will present an exciting pairing with your three-course menu choices, often audacious, always meeting their mark.

 

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Service

The best restaurants not only train their service staff on the menu, but have them taste the dishes as well. As they bring each course to the table, Clarence Savier and Jaden Parker confidently describe them in intimate detail, naming possibly every ingredient, which illustrates the care taken in ensuring everyone on the floor is familiar with every plate.

 

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Ambience

For daytime diners, a wall entirely of glass shows a vista of vineyards with the Constantiaberg as a backdrop. Inside it’s light and airy with subdued tones and elegant understated furnishings which whisper seductively: style. A covered veranda in front of the restaurant overlooks a water feature in the tree-shaded courtyard, just perfect for hot summer days when lunch can go on for pleasurable hours until you look around to discover you are the last to leave. At night, expect soft lighting and sophistication.

 

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Eat Out critics dine unannounced and pay for their meals in full. Read our full editorial policy here.