The beautiful ROCA restaurant on the Dieu Donné estate

by Karisa

From the moment you walk up the striking stone stairway, leading you all the way up to the ROCA sign, you just know you’re in for a treat…

The grand entrance…

The ROCA restaurant is located on the Dieu Donné Vineyards estate over in Franschhoek, a wine estate with an incredible position high up on the slopes of the Franschhoek mountains.

The views this restaurant boasts will take your breath away, I guarantee you that.  The elegant inside dining area is one level above ground which means you have a bit more of a birds eye view:

But the outside courtyard area downstairs is definitely where you want to be on a hot summer’s day:

Now let’s talk wine shall we.  I can’t speak for the rest of their collection (I do know however that I’ll need to go back for a full wine tasting), but I really quite enjoyed their unwooded chardonnay:

Perfect for hot weather day drinking…

Then on the food side, their menu is quite extensive.  They do mezze & tapas options, salads, pizzas, pastas, risottos, various styles of snails, burgers, fillets, various linefish options, various chicken dishes and more.  The mezze/tapas range from R25 to R40, starters from R50 to R70 and mains range from R90 to R140.  Pretty standard winelands pricing I thought.

They also have a selection of special dishes for the day which the waiter will carefully explain to the table:

I’m a total sucker for special dishes… I like the fact that they’re only available for a limited time only…

Our table went for a good mix of things as you will see here:

Top left: various mezzes/tapas; Top right: calamares fritos and the fish cakes (which were from the special menu);  Bottom left:  the pork belly & the grilled linefish; Bottom right:  the crispy duck (also from the special menu)

I really loved all the mezze, tapas & starter options.  Their smoked olives particularly impressed me and I don’t even like olives.  Then on the mains side, my duck I felt was a little dry, but enjoyable otherwise.  The other dishes at the table went down with smiles, so that can only be seen as a good thing.

The food standard really is good, but I think the things that really stood out for me was firstly the absolutely beautiful setting and secondly the professional & friendly service.  I could spend many a summer’s day here, happy as a clam.  And I’m guessing that in winter, sitting inside with the fire going is pretty amazing too.

I’m gonna give ROCA the following overall score on my Miss K Kiss-o-Meter scale:

kiss4_smudge

ROCA is open Mon – Sat for lunch & dinner and then only for lunch on Sundays. To make a reservation, give them a call on: 021 876 3384.

xxx

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