Azure, Twelve Apostles Hotel, Camps Bay, Cape Town: Restaurant Review

Azure
Victoria Road, Camps Bay, Cape Town

Category: Fine Dining
Open for: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Under review: Lunch
SA Blog recommends? It’s Perfectly Decent Fare

Snippet
I finished my meal with a dark bitter chocolate fondant, served with Turkish delight ice-cream and crunchy almond brittle. I wish I could have taken a picture of this dish, with a small scoop sitting atop the naked pink fondant, brittle elegantly displayed.

(See full review below.)

Price range: High
Fare: International
This meal cost: R240 per person
Including tip? No
Including wine? Yes
Food score (out of 10): 6
Service score (out of 10): 8
Reservations? Recommended
Corkage? N/A

Booking Information
Tel: +27 (0) 21 437 9000, Fax: +27 (0) 21 437 9055
Email: N/A
Website: www.12apostleshotel.com/restaurant_cape_town

Also reviewed in: N/A

Review
There is one thing all Capetonians agree on when it comes to Azure: it certainly has one hell of a view.

Located inside of the prestigious Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa, the restaurant boasts excellent ocean viewing from both the patio and the restaurant.

My lunch there started off with the seafood avocado salad of prawns, mussels and baby clams topped with a crest of avocado slivers and grapefruit dressing on green oak leaf lettuce. The prawns were lightly battered and served on skewers, with a side dish of reddish sauce. The whole production was topped with crisp flat bread and sprouts.

The mussels were fine (I am, as previously mentioned, not a fan), but the skewers made for awkward eating, as the shrimp did not want to move off the sticks. The sauce they were served alongside was delectable. I don’t recall seeing any clams in the dish and the green oak lettuce was a little soaked for my liking. The avocado was a little young. Quite simply, there was too much going on in this dish, and it was hard to parse the flavors.

My main consisted of medium black tiger prawns – nine grilled prawns served with lemon butter sauce, Lorenzo Marques piri-piri, garlic butter sauce and tomato rice. I scolded myself when I saw the full prawns, as I did not feel like working for my food. However, they had been expertly sliced, so the heads came off with a touch, and the shells were easily removed.

The prawns were not very flavorful and needed the strong sauces. The piri-piri was intensely spicy, and I cringed as sweat broke out on my forehead. The lemon butter was standard, but the garlic butter was my favorite accompaniment. Rich and soothing, the only drawback was the fact it started to congeal upon cooling.

The tomato rice with peas seemed like an afterthought and tasted like one too.

I finished my meal with a dark bitter chocolate fondant, served with Turkish delight ice-cream and crunchy almond brittle. I wish I could have taken a picture of this dish, with a small scoop sitting atop the naked pink fondant, brittle elegantly displayed. Points were certainly given for creativity on this dish. It should be noted that the centerpiece chocolate had the consistency closer to a cake than the dense torte I was expecting.

Service was attentive and helpful. The little things – outstanding bread, artfully displayed salt, pepper and chilies, a tray of olives – signify that this is a high class restaurant. However, given the prices, I would have expected a better melding of flavors.

Up to ten wines are available by the glass during lunch and dinner. You can ask your server for tastes before committing. Their wine list is lauded as one of the best in the city.

Price listed also includes a glass of dessert wine, review of which is below.

Wine: Nederburg Noble Late Harvest 2001
Wine score (out of 5): 3
Wine notes: Enjoyable dessert wine that lacked the complexity of some of the others I have tried. One of two sweet dessert wines sampled (no muscats are available) – would recommend this one for a stronger, more syrupy taste.