Upper Bloem is brought to you by the team from the much celebrated La Mouette Restaurant in Sea Point with former sous chef Andrew Hill firmly at the helm and also co-owner of this new venture.
“I’m getting to cook the kind of food I grew up on. I hope that what we’re doing will make other young chefs from Cape Town proud of their food and their abilities. So often we’re looking beyond our shores for culinary inspiration, but we have everything we need right here,” says Chef Andrew Hill.
This consistent and well executed focus on quintessentially Cape Town and specifically Cape Malay ingredients, textures, spices and flavours, is really what sets this restaurant apart and makes it truly magical.
The eatery takes over the space that previously housed the Lifestyle Food and Banting Cafe and is tucked between a coffee shop and a nail bar. Don’t be fooled by the unassuming exterior though as the interior boasts a contemporary and slick, yet somehow ‘70s inspired orange and brown tiled stretch of a space, with the aim of offering a fine dining terroir experience yet in a relaxed urban setting.
And man was it fine! Upper Bloem ticks all the taste boxes in my books: exciting ingredients, unique techniques, beautiful plating, well-balanced flavours and textures, and above all so darn delicious you want to lick the plate.
Upper Bloem offers a three-course set menu for lunch and dinner with the option of a wine pairing for each course and an additional course option in the form of the dessert board. Each course offers three small sharing plates and the dinner menu also offers the addition of a tasty bread board with buns, roti, seaweed butter and a butternut chutney. Gluten-free and vegetarian menus are also available upon request.
The menu is seasonal and the courses do change, however, you can look forward to outstanding dishes such as the flavorful smoked snoek pâté with samosa crisps and apple puree, the fresh cured kabeljou in a sago crisp with pickled radish, curry and raisin, the triple cooked and decadently crunchy potato with Muizenberg sour figs, curry sauce, burnt chard and bhaji powder or little bites of Cape Malay-style pickled aubergine served in caramelized onion shells.
However my ultimate outstanding dish went to the Saldanha Bay mussels in a sea essence broth and garnished with spekboom, samphire, and parsley oil. Juicy plump mussels and charred leeks resting in a subtly sweet broth with unexpected bursts of sour spekboom made for a supremely satisfying dish. A close second goes to the Tandoori carrots served on whipped goat’s milk yoghurt and moreish candied black rice. Spicy, earthy, sweet crunchy goodness.
Honorary mention goes to the dessert board and if space exists this is must taste. This mini Willy Wonka spread of intriguing treats includes the After School Fruit Tin, a tin of coconut milk and chopped fresh fruit reminiscent of canned peaches and pineapple but waaay better, the cute milk tart doughnuts, a MySugar rice crispy log, sour strawberry lollypops (that taste like actual strawberry) and a fragrant and juicy mango and jasmine pate de fruit.
I couldn’t recommend Upper Bloem more; great service, wonderful wine, a relaxed atmosphere and the most amazing food, it’s the perfect place to impress out of towners with a uniquely Cape Town menu, spoil a loved one or just plain treat yo self.
Upper Bloem is open for lunch and dinner from Wednesday to Saturday and on Tuesdays for dinner only.
An opening lunch special of R195 pp for six tapas plates to share is currently available from Wednesday to Saturday 12pm to 3pm till September. The dinner menu is R395 pp for nine plates to share and the dessert board, which is recommended for two, is R195.
For more information, visit the Upper Bloem website: www.upperbloemrestaurant.co.za
Restaurant bookings can be made via:
Email: az.oc.tnaruatserbu@snoitavreser
Tel: 021 433 1442
*Ruth Cooper was a guest of Upper Bloem.
