quills restaurant & bar - intercontinental hotel

i attended a lunch with a group of fellow foodies to attend a chefs table lunch, hosted bychefyoshan.

we were served canapés and sparkling wine on the balcony, but soon retired in to the main room, due to the heat outside.

the tables were beautifully set, with an edible centerpiece, delicious rolls of different varieties, including a charcoal one (great for the digestion!) homemade butters, including garlic and herb - very yummy.

after an introduction and welcome from the hotel, the wine sommelier took us through the wine choices made to pair with each dish.

we were then served an amuse bouche of a prawn and baby marrow roulade with a mango salsa, which hit the spot perfectly.

we then got our chefs hats on and made our own starter following a demonstration bychefyoshan. we made our own salmon roulade in teams of two, which was loads of fun.

we then plated these, perfectly paired with a fish cake and a salmon spring roll, on the tastiest curry sauce.

unfortunately i had to leave after that, as i had to get back to a clients offices - but the rest of the group prepared and enjoyed their chicken ballotine and pork belly lardons greatly (so i am told ;) )

very enjoyable day out with friends, and always great to get hands on with my food. i would certainly recommend, and visit quills again.

* my meal was complimentary

we where invited to a chefs table event, with the executivechefyoshan.

the afternoon started off with tasty canapés, champagne.

we were served with a refreshing starter, the theme for the lunch being peaches.

we where in for a real treat as we had the opportunity to cook, we made our very own salmon roulade, this was so interactive and fun to partner up, and plate our dishes.

our wine was paired well with each dish.

the kingklip fish was prepared perfectly, paired well with my chardonnay.

we went onto making our very own pomme william, this is a mashed potato, dipped in flour, egg and bread crumbs, then deep fried. with a sprig of rosemary.

the dessert was cooling, a perfect accompaniment to the menu.

the chocolate truffles, were mouthwatering this was something special to take home.

definitely worth a trip to the airport for this gem of a restaurant,chefyoshan is amazing and the restaurant is the perfect place for a business meeting with someone in transit. classy with an african chic flair, one of my favourite spoil spots. the black bread rolls are amazing and the secret ingredient is apparently not squid ink

this restaurant is trying hard to get that exclusive & 1980s-style service culture. we dealt with a door man, maitre de, hostess, head waiter & manager - whatever their titles, all in all, 5 supervisory people who were constantly in mild panic & only disrupted things. none knew what the others were doing resulting in continuous interruptions with the same questions put to us in brown-nosing style. hardly authentic service.

i'm sure the guys doing the real graft & trying to make it all work (the waiters!!) were just as annoyed as we were.

the food was above average - very good in fact (thankfully the headchefstayed in the kitchen).

but watch out for the prices. unnecessarily expensive for the whole experience - even for an airport venue. when the bill comes you'll be disappointed at what you're paying for.

went for the launch of the new menu and i was absolutely blown away by executivecheftrevor boyd and his team's masterpieces.

we were served a 6 course meal with wine pairings for 3 of the courses.

the amuse-bouche (single, bite-sized hors d’œuvre) was butternut bobotie open ravioli. very flavoursome vegetarian dish. the portion was bigger than anticipated. pleasant surprise for a amuse-bouche.

the starter was a chilled spicy tomato soup with marinated avocado, dressed prawns and sundried tomato pesto oil. this dish was a beautiful surprise. perfect for spring/ summer, with its cool, subtle, tangy flavours.

the entrée was norwegian salmon, study of peas and beurre noisette. this dish disappointed and let the overall standard of dishes down. the salmon was cooked to perfection but very bland. salmon is often best when you experience is rich flavour.

in between the entrée and main course we had a gin and tonic sorbet to cleanse and ready the pallet.

the main course was a beef fillet encrusted with biltong powder, poddadom, potato cake, wild mushrooms and thyme jus. exceptional!!! biltong seasoning worked well; it was my first time tasting the poddadom and it was extraordinary; the potato cake had delicate flavours to it and has changed the way i look at mash potatoes; and the mushrooms added a great twist to the meal.

lastly, the dessert was chocolate mousse, chocolate malva pudding, hazelnut ice cream and white chocolate powder. very different, well presented. i wasn't fond of the chocolate malva, traditional malva tastes better. however, the ice cream-chocolate mousse combination was amazing.

the next morning, we had a 5 course breakfast to choose from. besides the continental and pastry options, the hot breakfast was done in true 5 star fashion. we had the "boerewores wheels" and the "african breakfast", both unique to quills restaurant and both delicious.

overall, sublime food by trevor and the team. the only downfall for the restaurant is you have to be close to or at the airport to experience it, unless you are willing to travel. if you are, it is worth your time and effort.