Garlingtons Bistro
Where: Garlington Estate, Hilton
Open: Wednesday to Thursday 8am-10pm, Friday to Saturday 8am-11pm, Sunday 8am-4pm
Call: 033 329 5200
At the Hilton Arts Festival last weekend, we were spoilt for choice, both at the festival and in some of the many restaurants around the Midlands town (you can read more about those next week).
But the highlight was going to be Sunday lunch. Ingrid Shevlin and I cleared a schedule packed with interesting shows. No, we didn’t fancy a date with the magician, or Aaron and Lisa for that matter. Not for us the Mamba Madness of John van der Ruit and Ben Voss. Instead, it was a trip to Garlingtons Bistro on the nearby Garlington estate.
It’s a smart modern restaurant with a cocktail bar that was producing a host of dizzying concoctions that day. There’s a wide verandah on both sides which was packed, and tables under the tree looking out over fields. We literally got the last table next to the pizza oven, which was also doing a roaring trade.
Our waiter was super friendly and soon had drinks at the table on what was quite an unseasonably hot day.
Starters were interesting. There’s a retro avo Ritz, and Chevin cigars ‒ goats cheese, black cherries and red wine onions in crispy phyllo drizzled with honey and sesame seeds. Ingrid toyed with the haloumi and artichoke bites with truffle mayo, basil pesto, Parmesan shavings and confit tomatoes. The steak tartare was tempting.
Instead, Ingrid went for the trout blini (R95) with pickled red onion, herb cream cheese, pickled shimeji mushrooms, caviar and cucumber. It was beautifully presented and she enjoyed it, although it needed salt, and the caviar was perhaps a bit of a stretch.
I really enjoyed the duck livers (R88) cooked in a brandy, mustard and rosemary cream reduction on a thick slice of brioche toasted in duck fat. An enormous portion, these were very good. The livers were just cooked and the sauce was deliciously rich, although it needed salt. It was a large portion and would easily suffice for lunch.
Pizzas were obviously popular, the range taking in all the conventionals plus flavours like blue cheese, fig preserve and pecan nuts, or white anchovies, tomatoes, olives, capers and feta. They’re available in two sizes and gluten-free bases are optional.
There’s also an extensive vegan menu that includes a chickpea and lentil curry or a black bean and avo burger. There’s green pasta and red pasta ‒ both filled with a list of ingredients that sounds far too healthy.
And then there’s the kids with a fairly extensive menu featuring things like Dinosaur bones ‒ in reality spare ribs ‒ or fish bits, or panko crumbed chicken strips. The build-your-own pizza option was extremely popular, with most of the kids jumping at this opportunity.
Bistro classics featured a beef fillet, sirloin and T-bone, along with a lamb curry. There’s slow-braised short rib along with pork ribs and pork belly. I looked no further than trout: we were in the Midlands after all (R170). It was served with a white wine and caper sauce on a bed of courgettes with some decent chips. I enjoyed it, although it was becoming apparent the kitchen doesn’t cook with much salt. A little bit of salt in the cooking process goes a long way to improving flavours. That sauce could have had a lot more power.
Ingrid chose Norwegian salmon (R210) served with soft tortilla and pineapple salsa along with avo and, I think, cream cheese. The sesame crusted salmon pieces were enjoyable, but the soft tortilla wasn’t that soft by the time she got to eat it, so on the whole the dish was disappointing. Maybe next time I will try one of their seafood pizzas.
The dessert menu was interesting. There was a honey almond sponge with honey mousse, nougat, raw honey mascarpone and almond tuile, or grilled peaches on gingerbread with vanilla mousse, candied ginger, mascarpone truffle, ginger crumble and cream. Their take on good old Turkish delight was tempting ‒ rose panna cotta topped with strawberry jelly, cucumber and mint GnT sorbet, candied rose and cucumber and mint jelly.
We opted to share the delice (R85), which was chocolate and hazelnut biscuit topped with chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache, salted caramel cream, candied phyllo and hazelnuts. It was a veritable death by chocolate. I enjoyed it, although as by now you’ve probably guessed, the salted caramel required… salt. Next time, I’ll try that peach creation.
Service was super efficient and yet nothing was rushed. We had time to make it back for the award-winning blockbuster show Hansard, a must-see should it ever come to Durban.
Food: 3 ½
Service: 4
Ambience: 3 ½
The Bill: R708
The Independent on Saturday