Salinas

Salinas

Let’s be completely honest here. If you’re going to go to a restaurant in the Wilderness area for the excellent service you get there, you’re going to be disappointed. A lot. It might be the sea air, but the Outeniqua rust seems to be particularly corrosive amongst restaurant staff in the area. But if you’re going to have to wait 20 minutes for your drink order to be taken, then you might as well do it at Salinas. Spectacular views both over the sea towards Lientjie’s Klip as well as over the lagoon and Wilderness Heights make the deck a perfect place to slowly sip a cocktail while the sun goes down over the ocean.

The menu is a fusion of Creole, Portuguese and Spanish inspired tapas, steaks and seafood dishes with a smattering of local favourites. The tapas menu is extensive – Thai fish cakes, spanakopita, chorizo in beer, humus with pita, chicken satay, prawns done in a variety of ways and much more. The seafood tapas platter was a total bargain, and at R95.00 for a huge plate of calamari, marinated seafood, scampi and fish cakes with crusty bread, would easily feed two people. If small plates are too finicky and  you like to sink your teeth into something more substantial, then you can’t go wrong with the steaks either. I have it on good authority from all the carnivores at our table that they were well prepared and tender. I can’t quite remember all the different ones they had on offer and I’m rather far from home right now, making it impossible to ring up and find out (and thus making this whole review quite pointless really come to think of it) but I do remember that there were some interesting ones! I recall sampling a delicious sauce of mushrooms and possibly rum. Or whisky. Some booze with cream anyway, so good either way! No one had the burgers, but there were a few interesting ones there too. For dessert the chocolate mousse is a winner. Dense and rich the way I like it. The Cuban citrus custard tart could be fantastic, but the pastry let it down. The wine list is extensive and well priced and displays a good understanding of what the locals like, with many of our favourites on offer.

I really think Salinas could be marvelous. It has the enviable views, the cosmopolitan food, the trendy bar with cocktails and sangrias and the voguish decor. But the service is appalling. But they’re new (and we’re starved for somewhere with a view to eat around here!) so we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. It was reassuring that the owner met us at the door as we left and apologised before we had even opened our mouths, so here’s hoping there will be a marathon server training session in the near future.

Read about our follow up visit here.

Salinas, 458 Zundorf Lane, Wilderness

+27 44 8770001

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