I was invited to the Ocean Basket branch on Kloof Street to review their new menu that has just been launched. And that is where this review will need to start. The menu doesn’t follow the usual ‘description-picture-price’ format you would expect to see when dining out. Instead, the emphasis is on showcasing Ocean Basket’s most popular dishes. Seeing the dishes displayed on the menu, just feels right for some reason.
The starters available at Ocean Basket have a resemblance to a tapas menu which most new trendy restaurants offer these days (oysters, halloumi cheese; scampi with tzatziki; garlic & feta prawns, etc.). I love the selection. They recommend to pick a few starters, to eat with your hands and to share around the table. While I agree with that statement in principle, I don’t think it applies to the dishes that we ordered. 🙂 To start, we had the seared salmon salad and a calamari starter.
My favourite dish by far: I absolutely loved the seared salmon salad (R65). The seared salmon came with avocado and a Ponzu Sauce,which is a mixture of soy and citrus. The sauce adds a wonderful, zingy flavor to the entire dish and it pairs incredibly well with the salmon. But I can imagine using it for meat and vegetables as well. The salad was fresh, tasty and full of flavour!
I love calamari and this was delicious as well. For the calamari starter (R39), I didn’t order the standard boring rings. In most places, you end up tasting only the oil that has been used. Instead, I went for the calamari tubes Cajun-style. They were tasty and also very soft with the rustic style of cuisine coming through nicely but not overpowering. The only down-side was that I decided to order this as a starter. I wanted more!
The starters were pretty much on the mark – nothing could be faulted. For our main courses, we ordered the grilled kingklip fillet (200g) and the sole.
The sole (R96) was delicious. Very tender and moist! The simplest ingredients often make some of the best tasting food. I haven’t eaten sole in a long while, but this dish reminded me that I should order it more often. The grilled Kingklip fillet (200g – R80) was a little dry but packed with good flavour as you would expect from the most uncommon common fish in South Africa. Each main also accompanied with spinach and butternut on the side.
The two stars of the day were the salad and the sole. I would recommend those two dishes to anyone planning to go to Ocean Basket. The new menu at Ocean Basket offers incredible value, while the quality, freshness and portion-size is not being effected at all. Ocean Basket surprised me. In a very good way!
I will see you again soon.
P.S. Ocean Basket only include sustainable seafood choices on their menu. Read up more about SASSI and their commitment to sustainability on their website.
P.P.S. Finding parking on Kloof Street can be difficult – especially in the evening; but Ocean Basket have free parking during the evening at the school opposite the restaurant. Problem solved.
P.P.P.S. The sushi platter for two (R150) looks like great value. I need to go back to try this.
Directions to Ocean Basket Kloof Street
75 Kloof Street
Cape Town
021 422 0322
