A dash of fine dining goodness over at Dash Restaurant & Bar

I recently had the pleasure of trying out the beautiful Dash Restaurant & Bar which is situated within the Queen Victoria Hotel in the V&A Waterfront.

Now if you’re going “Oh yes… The Queen Victoria Hotel is that one by…”  You’re probably thinking of the wrong one, because the Queen in this instance is quite well hidden.

To get there you actually have to use the Portswood Hotel entrance in Portswood Road, then go past the Portswood hotel towards the back where you’ll find a little winding path that takes you past the Queen Victoria Entrance.  Uber for example also gets confused, because their pin stops kinda at the foot of the hill outside that circle by the Victoria & Alfred Hotel.  You can actually take the stairway from there up to the top of the hill to get to the hotel as well…

Anyways, our Uber driver was a bit confused, but we got there in the end…  And by “we”  I’m referring to myself and my partner in crime for the evening, Janine from Being Brazen.

Now just as a bit of background – Dash’s Executive Chef, Sam Wasserman, does a French-inspired menu that changes every few weeks based on what’s freshly & seasonably available.  There’s also a lovely bar area where you can enjoy a cocktail (or three) before dinner.

The décor is elegant, the feel is intimate (in fact there are only 36 seats), and the walls are covered with artwork loaned to them by their neighbour, the Everard Read Gallery.

Let me show you around:

I’d say it makes for the perfect romantic date night spot if you’re looking for something with a little less hustle & bustle, or for that special occasion meal with friends.

The menu is an easy one-pager, but I actually prefer a smaller menu.  It usually indicates that everything is made with extra-special care.

We deliberated quite a bit, because there were a few things I really wanted to try, and in the end we settled on sharing our dishes to get a taste of everything.

From the bread to dessert, the plating was just so incredibly beautiful – each dish I felt deserved it’s own showcase… So here goes:

Now onto starters, mains & desserts…

Price wise, starters range from R95 for a Caesar Sald up to R180 for seared foie gras.  Mains range from R130 for a vegetable terrine to R295 for grilled crayfish tail.  And then desserts range from R70 for a coconut panacotta to R125 for their cheese board.

We decided to go for the following:

I have to say that I really enjoyed everything.  Both the venison and the fillet of beef were perfectly cooked.  My beetroot cured salmon starter was super interesting flavour wise.  The tempura prawn starter I’d say was maybe just too big.  They can definitely cut down on the amount of veggies on the plate.  And then both desserts were beautifully rich & indulgent.

We both left there with very happy tummies…  But there are also some other notable mentions:

Plusses:

• The service was impeccable.
• The food was creative, beautifully presented and really flavoursome.
• The ambiance was elegant without being too stuffy.

Negatives:

• This is a splurge meal.  If you tallied our starters, mains & dessert together, it came to R400 per person.
• The wine options are quite pricey.  The cheapest bottle we spotted was R180, and the bottle of Eagle’s Nest Shiraz we ordered was R560 (this wine sells for R225 at the winery).  So I would suggest that you bring your own favourite bottle and just pay the R85 corkage.  It will definitely save you quite a bit.

They are however running a winter special still until 31 Aug where you can get a 2 course lunch or dinner for R275.  You can choose to have either a starter & main or a main & dessert.  I’d say if you can, try and get over there while this special is still available.

For their beautiful food & amazing service, I’m going to give Dash a score of  on the Miss K Kiss-o-Meter scale.

To make your reservation, you can call them on 021 418 1466.  They are open Mon – Sun for breakfast, lunch & dinner.

xxx