When you think of Shimmy Beach Club, you probably think of some kind of a party happening there or maybe think of it as an awesome live music venue but we know you don’t think of it for food. Neither did we.
Until, that is, the good folks from Shimmy Beach Club invited us in to taste a sampling of their new Winter 2015 menu and we were more than pleasantly surprised. Already live in the restaurant, the winter menu features a solid balance between seafood, meat and vegetarian options so there truly is something for everyone.
Not being much of a seafood eater personally, I only nibbled on the incredible chess board calamari and the herb encrusted linefish we were served and gave the fresh black west coast mussels a skip but from the guests around me, I could tell they were delicious and looked just beautiful – especially the calamari!
I did, however, indulge in more than a few of the meat options and I can say without a doubt that Shimmy is going to quickly become known for good quality, delicious food this winter. We were fortunate enough to have been presented with a platter of mains and I can tell you that I was seriously impressed. Chef Adrian Cook has been hard at work in the Shimmy kitchens putting together a hearty, filling menu for winter and it shows. Among my favourites for mains were the lamb shank pot pie with candied butternut (yum!), the slow braised oxtail tortellini with pumpkin puree and sage beurre noisette and the surprisingly delicious smoked salmon and curacao ravioli with pea shoots. Now, I know what you’re thinking – he just said he doesn’t like seafood but this was incredibly tasty…even for a non-seafood lover like myself.
The standout winner for me on the mains was the balsamic and rosemary marinated rib eye steak with celeriac puree, salsa verde and spicy potato wedges. Maybe it was the wedges, maybe it was the salsa verde or maybe it was just the fact that the steak was cooked to perfection but, wow…it was delicious.
If you’ve never had a Shimmy pizza, you’re missing out. We (sadly) didn’t get the chance to sample them on this afternoon but I’ve had them before and I couldn’t write this little review without mentioning how friggin’ delicious these pizzas are. Truly, I think the pizzas could rival any of Cape Town’s top pizza joints. That said, it’s kind of impossible to make Shimmy your local pizza spot so I’ll be sticking with Bacinis as my personal neighbourhood pick but these pizzas are seriously yum if you’re looking for something a bit lighter.
For dessert, we indulged yet again on a sampling of the menu and, to be honest, there was a clear wow for me here – the pistachio and honey panna cotta with figs and toasted pistachios. It was the perfect balance of flavours and a great way to end a filling meal. Chef Adrian was even nice enough to give us the recipe which you can find here.
On the menu, Shimmy also offers a dark chocolate fondant with narrtjie ice cream, a ginger and orange steamed pudding and a guava cheese cake with macadamia nut crust and peanut butter ice cream which my mouth is watering for just typing that sentence!
Don’t worry though, Shimmy Beach Club is definitely still an insane music venue bringing some of the best local and international talent to the stage week in and week out. In fact, they’re launching a series called ‘Winter Glow’ that on Fridays puts artists in the restaurant entertaining diners between courses and really focuses on the food and on Saturdays, they’re more focused on the music and the artist. We don’t have much information on Winter Glow yet but you can keep up with Shimmy on their Facebook page or their web site to find out all the details and artist line-ups as they become available.
On one final note, Shimmy is one of the only restaurant / club venues in all of South Africa with its own mobile app. If you’re a skeptic at heart like I am, you’re probably thinking why does a restaurant / club need an app but once you’ve downloaded it, you’ll change your tune. It keeps you updated on what’s happening with the artists and, most importantly, they push out all of their news and special VIP offers via the app first and foremost so I’d say it’s probably worth the download.
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