The Kitchen at MAISON Wine Estate

On our last trip to Cape Town we had a long lazy lunch at The Kitchen at the Maison Wine Estate in Franschhoek. The whole time we were there it felt like we had travelled to another country (us Joburgers aren’t used to the mountains yet you see). In our day dreams we could have been in France or California.

At first it feels like you’re stepping into a sweet Parkhurst house… but you walk in to a huge bustling restaurant with a rolling wine estate for a back yard. I loved the wood panelled interiors and sophisticated simplicity of everything.

We arrived a bit early for lunch so we had a walk around the vineyards, tried to sneak a peek into Chris Weylandt’s house which is on the property and settled for a pre-lunch snooze inside their suspended nest bed (see below!).

Now for lunch.

With such an amazing chef, and such interesting things on the menu we decided to be a bit adventurous with our meal choices.

We shared the Octopus and the crab for starters. I wasn’t sure what to expect but the flavours were delicious.

For wine we had their Chenin Blanc (You get a complimentary bottle with your meal if you’re a WOW (World of Weylandts) member). Perfect for summer lunching.

The mains. We shared the Moroccan roast lamb (which fell off the bone, it was so good). The sides: A butternut dish and possibly my favourite part of the meal – the white chocolate cauliflower!

The full description to make your mouth water: Wood roasted cauliflower, white chocolate creme fraiche, pancetta and shitake mushrooms.

So much rightness in it’s wrongness (sorry Tim Noakes)! This side dish is the ruler of all side dishes. The sweetness is perfectly complemented by the saltiness of the pancetta.

I would have licked the plate clean if we weren’t in such a nice place ; )

It was a beautiful day (the kind of day where you don’t want to wear any shoes and feel the grass beneath your feet) so we took our full bellies back to the nest, kicked off our shoes and eventually ordered coffee and dessert in there. Full, happy and sleepy.

So before you go (because I know i’ve pretty much convinced you to go!) make sure if you’ve signed up for WOW (so easy to do here or in store), as you get a complimentary bottle of Chenin blanc with your meal (weekdays only).

WIN A MEAL AT MAISON (worth R700)

Yes guys i’ve been in a very giving mood lately and would love for you to go out and try this place for yourself, so i’m giving away a meal for 2 (worth R700) at Maison.

I’m making it super easy too, just leave me a comment below (I love comments!).

Competition closes next week Wednesday.