Review: Five Flies Restaurant

You’ve got to love winters in Cape Town if your a foodie.  All of the top restaurants jump on the winter specials band wagon with deals that are well worth taking advantage of. 

I went to Five Flies last night for the first time in almost two years, which is disgraceful considering it’s one of my all time favourites in Slaapstad. 

Their 2 course menu which is usually R185 is reduced to R125, and the 3 course from R235 to a measly R150, and both include a glass of wine - you can’t even go to the Spur for a 3 course and glass of wine for R150!! 

I worked with the infamous Alex Van Ness at Five Flies many moons ago, where I learnt some really invaluable lessons in running a fine dining establishment from the master himself.

The service as usual was fantastic.  I love it when waiters can balance the art of being professional yet still be themselves, without the pretentiousness often found with fine-dining restaurant staff.  The emphasis at Five Flies has always been on team work among staff, so you will often have different waiters serving your drinks and food, therefore never waiting too long for anything. 

The fact that the menu has not changed much over the last decade speaks for itself - “if it aint broke, then don’t fix it!”

I had the foie gras for a starter (there is a supplement charge for certain things on the menu, which your waiter explains before you order and is quite self explanatory on the menu itself) which was a decent portion and cooked to perfection.  Still nice and pink on the inside, served on a corn fritter, roasted baby beetroot and a balsamic syrup.

For mains I ordered the Springbok Wellington with mushroom duxelle, roasted butternut and foie gras, with a truffle jus!! Oh so yummy, and not at all dry as one could expect from venison done in this style.  My guests had the mussels and smoked salmon for starters, followed by the duck and the lamb shank special.  All delicious, except for the confit duck which was a bit over cooked.  We informed the manager who promptly took it off the bill without a second thought!

The Five Flies is located on Keerom street, right opposite the legal fraternity of Cape Town, and is well worth a visit, even if just to experience the beautiful building in which it resides for an after work cocktail.  If you have always dreamed of marrying an attorney or a judge, pop in after work and you may well meet your match!

Our bill for three people, two of whom had a two course meal, and one a three course, plus extra glasses of wine all round, came to R725 including a generous tip.  Seriously good value for money!!

Trading Hours:

Lunch: Monday to Friday 

12H00 - 15H00

Dinner: Monday to Sunday

18H00 to 23H00

021 424 4442 - booking essential 

First For Woman “Hot Man Chef” Competition

To promote Mothers Day, First For Women ran a competition for all their clients – “WIN A HOT MAN CHEF FOR A WEEK”.  Yip, you guessed it, I was the “hot” man chef – I really think I should update my pics on my website!

Upstream Advertising and Black River FC conceptualized and coordinated the competition, which was advertised countrywide. 

The winner was Johannesburg based Agnieszka Plaskocinska’s (I dare you to pronounce that after a couple of glasses of wine), who opted for a 3 course dinner for 8 people over three nights as apposed to four people over a week.   

Agnieszka and her family were an absolute pleasure to cook for – always full of compliments and gratitude.  I suppose when you are use to cooking dinner everyday after a hard days work, it becomes so habitual that you don’t even consider what it must be like to come home and just relax while dinner is prepared for you.  And I seriously doubt that many families cook a three-course dinner every day, so it was quite a nice prize if you ask me!

Some of the meals Agnieszka had cooked and served to her were:

Cauliflower and parmesan soup with truffles & croutons;  Line fish on chorizo and black olive risotto, saffron cream and crispy basil;  Tripple Lindt brownies with hazelnut cream and vanilla pod ice cream.  Each meal was paired with a local wine.