I first read of Mosaic when it stormed to the top half of the annual Top 10 list of restaurants in South Africa. The restaurant is the real attraction of the Orient Hotel, and its relative remoteness means that staying over after a long dinner is preferable.
Mosaic was definitely the best fine dining experience I have had. Compared to Test Kitchen, I found the food more playful, interesting and yes, more tasty. Compared to Harrford House, the experience was warmer and more intimate. The decor keeps with the hotel's overall theme, with many intimate booths instead of tables. The service was excellent- managing the right balance of being always available to fill the glasses, and giving enough space to enjoy the experience.
The dining experience starts even before you enter the restaurant - a small tart with black truffle and a vegetarian wrap in rice paper. Deceptively simple, yet an amazing start.
Together with the freshly baked bread, the first of the appetizer courses appeared - a line of biscuits/breads with a few different mouses; and the highly memorable butternut macaroon. No really, even after the full meal, the butternut macaroon comes up as one of the highlights. This was followed by "corn on the cob" - a playful take that forever mars any future corn on the cob.
The chef, Chantell Dartnall, then personally came around to go through the menu and the highlights. To give a measure of how good the service was, not only did she remember that M is a precatarian, she also went through the rest of the menu to ensure that there were no issues with any of the other items. The current menu - Roots & Shoots - is itself a work of art, and in addition to the main menu, there are additional pages detailing individual items such as the components, the inspiration behind the menu item and and even the source of the key ingredients. There are actually two menu options on offer - the Market is approximately 6 courses while the Grande is approximately 9 courses. We had the market and it was just over 3 hours; not sure I will ever have the appetite for the Grande!
The last of the appetizers was the beautifully presented Tuna ceviche topped with salmon roe. It was the best ceviche I have had outside Peru.
The first course was a beetroot course in approximately 5 different preparations. M absolutely raves about this course - and the beetroot mouse was amazing. The salt crusted beetroot, which was sliced tableside, was equally impressive - and was the first of a few playful menu elements.
The second course was my favorite - not only for the amazing presentation but also for its incredible taste. Fava beans, courgette and peas have just never tasted better.
The next course featured an amazing contraption. A repurposed coffee percolator, with some fresh vegetables was used to heat up and infuse a seafood broth which would eventually go over a scallop dish. The hot broth made some of the drier ingredients on the scallop dish perk up, bringing the dish to life. The broth was amazing - the preparation even more so.
Apparently the scallop dish was not suitable for precatarians, so M had a langoustine with tomato dish.
Next was a palette cleanser, of a carrot sorbet and candied carrots. M loves carrots, so this shot up to the top of her favorite courses for the evening.
For the main course, I had the roast goose breast and goose liver, while M had the butter poached halibut. This was my least favorite course - it was not bad, just not as memorable as the other courses.
The desert course had two options and featured a spork. The first option was a chocolate course with a cake, ice cream and other chocolate pieces. It was a good desert, but not as spectacular as the "Recipe for Desert" - a deconstructed almond cake, together with a side of mango and passion fruit jelly (in the eggshell), almond milk (in the bottle) and rose essence (the love potion). Put it all together and eat - absolutely spectacular!
There was offcourse petit fours and coffee to end off the spectacular meal.
Mosaic was an amazing experience, and a great meal. To paraphrase the words of the sommelier, "anyone can make amazing food with great ingredients, true skill lies in making amazing food with humble ingredients". Mosaic was an experience that I want to repeat- again and again.
