My girlfriends and I recently popped into Bree St to try out Latin American dining spot, Orinoco.
Because I had heard good things about their tapas, I was particularly keen to hit up their half price tapas special which is available every Tuesday from 6pm to 9pm. (I do love me some tapas yo… now add a half price deal to that and I’m pretty damn happy)
You’ll find Orinoco towards the bottom of Bree St (Foreshore side), on the corner of Prestwich & Bree, and it’s a cosy little spot with a very relaxed look & feel.
There’s some seating outside which I imagine is a big hit in summer, then inside there’s a couple of tables at the front of the restaurant, then a bar area, followed by some more tables in the back.
They also have a little deli section where you can buy things like chilli sauces, pestos, roasted bell peppers & Chimichurri.
My friend Liegh and I decided to do some tapas to share while the other two ladies opted for dishes from their dinner main course menu. The dinner menu covered items like a South American Streetfood platter for 2 (R100), fish tacos (R90), confit duck tacos (R110), beef/chicken/lamb/veggie fajitas (R100 – R120), shredded pork (R110), a seafood hotpot (R120) and enchiladas (R95).
On the tapas side there were 12 options covering vegetarian options, seafood, beef, pork & chicken tapas with prices ranging from R55 to R80 (but remember, if you book for a Tuesday eve, those prices are cut in half). Tapas are always a bit of a wallet killer, aren’t they? Your eyes just seem to want everything, and that usually comes at a cost. But looking at the dishes below we saved a good R132. So a big high 5 to that.
Leigh and I settled on the following tapas:
Clockwise from top left: Taquitos de espinacas (toasted corn tortillas, spinach, ricotta & caramelised apple – R55), Sopes cochinita (crisp tortilla wafers topped with slow cooked pork & fried beans – R70), Roast beef tapas (bread croutons with rare beef slices in onion marmalade & Dijon sauce – R80) & Calamari escabeche(crispy calamari, guacamole, pickled beetroot & red onions – R60)
Then the two main dishes at the table were:
On the left: Prawn & calamari Cazuela (seafood hotpot with spicy sauce served with quinoa – R120) and on the right: Roast veg fajita (stir fried with onions, peppers & coriander and served with tortilla, guacamole, re-fried beans, cheese & tomato and onion relish – R100)
My only complaint would be that the ambience was lacking a bit. I felt our table was stuck in the dark and our table itself was quite wobbly. We were seated at one of the tables towards the front of the restaurant and I thought that maybe being seated towards the back would be better, but then one of my friends mentioned that she had been there before when they sat at the back and they found that area to be far too bright again. So dunno…
That aside, even though the tapas were a little hit-or-miss for me personally, overall the food was really tasty, the service was friendly and I think particularly with the half price Tuesdays special, it’s a nice place to get out of your food comfort zone and try some different flavours.
I’m therefore going to give Orinoco an all round 
on the Miss K Kiss-o-Meter scale.
If you want to join them for their half price Tuesday evenings, you have to book. So give them a call on 021 418 4544 or drop them an email on info@orinocoflavours.co.za
Orinoco is open Monday to Saturday:
- Open for lunch on Mondays / 12am-10pm [Tuesday – Friday] / 5pm-10pm [Saturday] / Closed Sunday
And their address is: 17 Bree Street (cnr Prestwich & Bree streets)
xxx