Fresh at Paul Cluver

Monday, September 14th, 2015

Reviewed by Leila Reinhard

Saturday was a day to look forward to and boy it really delivered! Or should I say Fresh @ Paul Cluver really delivered. My partner and I planned a sojourn into the country to have lunch with a dear friend whom we hadn't seen for a while. We booked a lunch table at Fresh and arrived around 12h15. We were met on the rolling lawns outside the tasting room by the gorgeously friendly resident Maitre dog called Elvis, who took it upon himself to ensure we knew exactly where we were going and we just humoured him along. Entering Fresh is like entering a friends home. The atmosphere is warm and relaxed, Niki is the best hostess and the smells emanating from the kitchen under chef Damian's keen eye, have you drooling before you are even seated. It was lovely to see that the menu has been updated to include wine pairings. This suited me perfectly, I nestled into my first glass whilst my companions sensibly stuck to drinking beer. We all ordered different starters, one Vichyssoise that was proclaimed to be viciously good, the mussels on my right looked so yummy I just had to steal one and they were, whilst I ordered the Carpaccio of Linefish which was just delicious and reminded me of my sabbatical in Peru, a slight resemblance to Ceviche but not exactly, just delicious. When mains came around the home we call Fresh was reasonably busy with wonderfully happy atmosphere, lots of laughter, with our table being perhaps a little louder than the rest but no one seemed to mind. Once again we all had something different, I couldn't help but order the Karoo lamb, my partner the Gnocchi and our friend the fresh Linefish. Silence practically fell as we tucked in, everything was truly moreish. Fresh is definitely the right name for the establishment as all the ingredients down to the garnish seem to burst with flavour. I was the only one who braved stretching her midriff by ordering desert. The chocolate & blueberry fondant was sensational, albeit the bridge to far, kindly my dining partners who insisted they couldn't fit in another morsel, landed up helping me to the point of scraping fingers across the plate to clean up all the sauce. We all loved our dining experience at Fresh @ Paul Cluver. It was a totally memorable day, made more memorable due to Niki, Damian and Elvis being such wonderful hosts but the food, oh the food, I wouldn't hesitate to go again and again.