Tapas deliciousness at Dalliance in the V&A Waterfront

The V&A Waterfront may feel a bit touristy to some, but it’s always been one of my favourite spaces.  Shopping wise I way prefer it over cAnal Walk. 😉  And a roam around while taking in the pretty harbour views is always something that puts a smile on my face.

But with so many dining options (think 80 eateries!) it can be a bit overwhelming, particularly when trying to find something that’s good value for locals.

My former favourite used to be Willoughby & Co, but their prices have become a bit crazy of late, and on my last two visits the service wasn’t very good.  Another favourite has always been Sevruga for their half price sushi & cocktails special & beautiful view…  But now I’m happy to report that a new tapas restaurant has moved into pole position.

The restaurant is called Dalliance and it’s located upstairs in what they call the “golden mile” of the V&A – the passage where Louis Vuitton, etc. is.

Decor wise they’ve gone for warm brassy tones and a bit of a nautical theme.  You kinda feel like you’re inside a luxury cruiseliner in a way.  Love it.

There’s some seating right at the window which means you can eat with a lovely breeze on your face, and then you also get to see the chefs in action over at the bar area.

Open for lunch & dinner, 7 days a week, the menu is split into seafood, meat, vegetarian & sweet plates to share.  Then they also have a really nice cocktail, craft beer & wine list:

As far as pricing goes, I thought their tapas plates were very reasonably priced.  Tapas dishes are quite pricey in general, then add in the V&A factor and I was definitely expecting to see higher prices.

Everything sounded so good, which made it hard for Kim (my dining partner in crime) and I to choose.  So we had to ask our waiter to make some recommendations in the end.  BTW – you should definitely ask your waiter about the special dishes for the day which aren’t on the menu…

To kick things off we went for some cocktails & some seafood dishes to share:

Then we moved onto some meatier things:

And for dessert, we shared the Iced Nougat (R55) with exotic fruit & mango sorbet:

I really loved both the Kingklip dishes, the garlic prawns, the beef short rib and that beautiful dessert.  The salmon tataki was also good, just a bit on the small side, and the peppered beef fillet was also nice, but certainly not as succulent as that beef short rib.

On a return visit this past weekend I also tried the Butter Chicken (R55) which was delicious too.  The calamari is tasty, but won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.  And then the only thing I’ve hated so far was the coconut vanilla rice pudding.

But back to our dinner…  Overall I was really impressed with the food.  I also love the decor & views and the service was attentive, friendly & lighting fast.

For all these reasons, I’m going to give Dalliance on my Miss K Kiss-o-Meter scale.

For reservations, you can contact them on:

• Tel: +27 (0) 21 418 1037
• Email: info@dalliancerestaurant.co.za

Or simply wing it and swing by the next time you’re in the V&A… And I highly recommend that you do…

xxx