if you're looking for an excuse to dress up and treat yourself to a dinner that will knock your socks off, then look no further than the grill room at the oyster box hotel. classy, sophisticated and food that will leave your tastebuds begging for more, this restaurant really does deserve a place under one of my favorite restaurants.
we experienced grill room's cuisine two nights in a row during our weekend in umhlanga to celebrate my 21st birthday. the first night we ate in the main restaurant, and the second night we were treated to a private dinner in their wine cellar (located underneath the oyster bar).
let me start with our first visit... we'd gone for afternoon tea earlier in the day, so we weren't all that hungry. so we decided to order only a starter and mains, skipping dessert. when you arrive, the table is set with crispy bread snaps and a trio of butters - plain butter, a sort of fish pâté, and biltong butter. the bread snaps consisted of melba toast and some sort of seeded health bread. i wasn't too mad about the health bread, but the melba toast was nice to taste the butters with. however, personally, i prefer actual bread to bread snaps, so it wasn't particularly satisfying for me. before starters, they brought us a amuse bouche from the kitchen - a lamb "parcel", which worked wonderfully to tempt the tastebuds.
we ordered starters - the prawns for me, and the cold starter trolley for my better half. on this particular night, the trolley consisted of a selection if salads - creamy prawns, leafy greens, broccoli mash, salami and other cold meats, smoked salmon and other types of fish, a selection of other vegetables... really more than enough to choose from and a very generous portion! in fact, if you're looking to eat something light, this would be the ideal thing to order. and the report back was that everything on the plate got a solid 5/5. my prawns were out of this world - thee most delicious prawns i have ever tasted! by far! wow! and the white sauce they came in was simply delicious, i could literally have licked it off the plate.
before our mains, they brought us a unique palate cleaner that i've never heard of before - a jelly sorbet. beautifully presented inside an orange slice, this made for a great refreshment between courses. this night, it was a mango jelly. mains consisted of the fish "pie" and the duo of lamb. now the fish "pie" isn't really a pie at all - it's two small fish fillets placed one on top of the other, layered with a pea mash and served in a white sauce. i can't remember what the fish of the day was, but it was melt-in-your-mouth quality - no bones, crispy skin, silky soft meat. and the pea mash worked perfectly with the fish and the sauce. delicious, simply scrumptious! i thoroughly enjoyed each and every single bite. my better half complained that his lamb cutlet was a bit tough, but the boneless lamb shank was delicious. it came wrapped in some sort of crispy crust and from where i was sitting, it looked mouth watering. even though i'm really not a huge fan of lamb, that dish gave me serious food envy! and it was so beautifully presented, with a sort of "flower" coming out of the plate. very creative and original! very beautiful!
we really enjoyed our first experience, so our second dinner in the private cellar had high expectations to meet. for this private dining experience, you get your very own waiter and sommelier to guide you throughout the dinner. you dine alone, with gentle, romantic music playing in the background and the racks of wine around you giving an antique feel, cozy atmosphere.
as an amuse bouche, they brought me a mini lentil soup (because i had ordered the vegetarian options for both starters and mains, so the chef must've thought i was vegetarian) and for my better half, they brought a beef tartare. both were, once again, magnificent ways to get the tastebuds going. to start, we had the vegetarian starter (which had some strange name that i can't remember) and the tandoori chicken. we decided to share, so i had a taste of both. the vegetarian dish... wow, who would've thought they could make a vegetarian option taste so good?! it was a delicious mushroom tart, beautifully presented with caramelized orange slices curving around the plate. but the winner was the chicken, which was also beautifully presented in a crispy onion "nest". the flavors were awesome, a taste sensation! with just that little bit of extra curry flare to keep it true to its authentic indian roots.
for mains, we ordered the vegetarian dish, which was a vegetarian ravioli with chickpeas, artichoke, olives and grapes, and the chicken and mushroom roulade. i think my vegetarian ravioli took the cake - even my meat-lover sitting next to me said he enjoyed it, with the texture of the pasta giving it the illusion of being meaty. the chicken was also great, i would say about a 4/5. perhaps a bit dry.
before dessert, they brought us a generous slice of cake with a "happy birthday" written on it. and for some reason, they happened to have gotten it right to serve me their coffee mousse cake, which is the one i enjoyed most at their high tea the day before. coincidence? after this, our dessert came, which was a plate consisting of an array of mini desserts - orange cheesecake, strawberry mousse served in a white chocolate shell, a shot of sprite with apple pieces (interesting combination, but not to my taste), and 2 types of macaroons. it was a real treat and very unique!
special mention must also go to the service during our private dinner. wow, the oyster box staff really go above and beyond to make your evening special. and i must say a great big thank you to henry who i believed played a key role in making the night successful! well done and thank you! you are all stars in my eyes!
finally, the wine pairing on our private dinner night was fantastic! we matched a bosman white blend, which worked so well with all of our dishes. an extremely versatile wine! we also had the opportunity to taste 2 other wines (a sauvignon blanc and a chardonnay) just to taste the difference it would make to our food. this was very interesting, and really added another dimension to the whole eating experience. best of all, we were only charged for the bottle of bosman, not the glasses we tasted!
i can do not better than give this restaurant a solid 5 star rating. by far one of the best restaurants around! thank you, thank you, thank you for 2 nights of being treated to the finest cuisine around! highly recommended! i will definitely return in the future!