The Black Sheep

20 Oct, 2015

The friendly Jorge has put together a magic formula that has the flock baa’ing for more and jostling for position at the trough. From trendy and frisky young lambs to greying muttons, it seems there is something for everyone at The Black Sheep. Securing a table can be as challenging as finding hen’s teeth so some forward planning is a good idea.

The menu changes frequently along with seasonal trends. There are however some firm favourites and fans have been known to call ahead to check for their presence on the chalkboard menu. The smoked paprika butter baked sardines with black olive crust and red onion tomato salad alongside pear and chicory salad with toasted pecans and gorgonzola are favoured starters that get the flock bleating blissfully. The lentil coconut curry with cherry tomato, chard, roasted butternut and grilled haloumi is one massive hit for all categories of foodies. This is a dish that you wish had no end, that you could lick the plate, bottle the sauce or marry the chef. Many eating houses are famous for their pork belly but here it is slow cooked in sherry and star anise, served with bok choi and gets starry-eyed accolades. The hanger steak is for the meat-loving connoisseur and the uninitiated are given a quick lesson in anatomy. What it loses in tenderness, it makes up in chunks of taste. Add mustard sauce and thick cut chips and you have a simple sensation. Sea food lovers will find much to hook as it is not unusual to find two or three varieties of fish on a night. Catches netted range from santer with asian greens, kingklip with dill crusted potato and rainbow trout with roast beetroot, spinach puree and sautéed potatoes. It is rare to find a restaurant that can simultaneously be a pescatarian’s paradise, a carnivorous crowd pleaser and naturally veggies dare not walk past that lentil curry. And then, of course as one would expect, there is a lamb, delivered in a state of slow roasted deliciousness that befits it’s namesake status. This signature dish feeds six and must be ordered three days in advance (assuming you have had the foresight to make a booking in good time).

The hydration options allow for the familiar, the interesting and the affordable whether you are a crafty beer drinker or a lover of viticulture. Wine choices offer the chance to indulge with old friends or speed date some newly discovered hotties. Enjoy the reliably quaffable Anura chardonnay or take your palate for a spin with the Gabrielskloof Viognier from Botriver. In the red arena chat animatedly with the Sutherland Syrah or laugh out loud with the Newton Johnson Walker Bay Pinot Noir. Happily for the those not fond of grape juice, the bar has a comfortingly wide array of spirits and the latest in artisan-brewed lagers.

Dolly the sheep was the first clone in the world. The Black Sheep is the first restaurant that gets my vote to be dropped into a test tube and cloned for all to enjoy.
www.blacksheeprestaurant.co.za

104 Kloof Street, Cape Town
Ph: +27 (021) 426 2661