Overture

Overture Hidden Valley Winery, Annandale Rd, Stellenbosch, Winelands

Tel | 021 880 2721

Hours | Lunch Tues-Sun and dinner Thurs and Fri

Style | Sophisticated

Features :

Alfresco

Groups

Romantic

Views

Guests

Cuisine :

Website | www.dineatoverture.co.za

Email | info@dineatoverture.co.za

Rossouw's Review

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From the Restaurant...
Overture is a restaurant by chefs Bertus Basson and Craig Cormack. We live and die by the saying: "perfection is often strived for but never achieved." We push the boundaries of our creativity and knowledge to create experiences for our patrons. PLEASE NOTE: ONLINE GUEST RESERVATIONS WILL ONLY BE VALID IF CONFIRMED BY OVERTURE

Scores

Avg Critics

? / 5

Avg Readers

? / 5

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Reader Reviews

Overture Stellenbosch, Winelands

Bertus Basson and team rock! \| By Karine \| Saturday, 05 May 2012
This restaurant is simply the best in the Winelands. We were treated to a "chef's choice" of menu and the courses kept on arriving, more delicious the next than the previous, there is just no fault to report. My personal favorite, the pickled sardines, absolutely amazing and surprising. Service is very efficient and friendly.

Overall Rating: 5

Food:

Service:

Ambience:

Yes, I would return!

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Overture Stellenbosch, Winelands

Great and innovative | By Thian | Thursday, 23 June 2011

I’ve tried to book a table at Overture twice over the past year and on both occasions they were fully booked. I was therefore very excited when my third attempt was successful.

We walked into Overture and were greeted by total confusion about our booking. On our way to the table I could see the maître d’ and our waiter still trying to make sense of it. Once seated, we were again asked for our surname to check the booking. This was a very big hoo-ha for a very simple task.

The service did improve, but overall the staff seems to lack experience.Throughout there is no lack of effort, but the execution was often lacking.

It was fantastic to be able to see the kitchen in action. A well oiled machine! Also, the view is great. Apart from that, the ambience wasn’t great. Not even the fireplace could warm up the feel of the place.

The food simply saved the day. It was great. We opted for the four course menu with wine pairing. My wife started with a duck and beetroot starter followed by a gnocchi and mushroom dish. The duck was just the way she likes it – cooked through, yet moist and crispy on the outside. The gnocchi was velvety with the mushroom adding a deep richness to the dish, perfect for a winters’ day. I started with a simple prawn cocktail presented in a very interesting way. All the usual elements were there but with a twist – the dish was arranged on an open plate with, for example, the lettuce in the form of a jelly and an avocado purée. This was followed by sweetbreads (from the throat) and bacon which was fantastic. It was a first for me and one I’ll recommend.

We both had the lamb for mains that was exactly “like grandma used to make it”. It was a perfect match for a cold day. The lamb was drop-of-the-bone soft and had loads of flavour. We finished with a rhubarb soufflé which was the only dish that missed the mark slightly. We both hoped for more rhubarb and less soufflé.

Overall the wine pairing was very good. However, we did swap wines for our second dish. I had the Hidden Valley Pinotage which just had to be joined with the mushrooms in the gnocchi dish. Whereas my wife had the Pinot Noir which went much better with the sweetbreads I had. The rest of the wines were all a pleasant surprise and matched the food very well.

All-in-all the restaurant more than delivered on what’s really important – good food and innovative flavours. Definitely worth a visit!

Overall Rating: 4

Food:

Service:

Ambience:

Yes, I would return!

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Overture Stellenbosch, Winelands

Big Aspirations, largely achieved | By david | Friday, 04 March 2011

We lunched here on a blazing summer's day. The ambience is superb and the pretentions of the grand scale service are well met by some charming people. We had the 4 course menu with paired wines and the whole caboodle for 2 with coffees freebies, etc came to R926. Highlights were:-

The wines- ery well chosen, well matched and knowledgeably presented.

The Cheese Mousse dessert. I've always yearned for a dessert that is sweet ut not too sweet and this was it. Cheese and pears seem to be the fashion in the Winelands this year . This one had a perfect smooth goats cheese mousse, really tasty celery streamers, pear granita and candied walnuts. Savory or sweet course? I couldn't tell but it was wonderful and way ahead of a similar concept we had at LQF's Tasting Room.

Weak spot:- A Entrecote main course, though well cooked, was such a tiny portion it made us laugh out loud, especially as it and it's delecate garnish came also with a hearty bowl of baked potato, creme fraiche and ox hearts!

Taken in the round though, great meal in a great place.

Overall Rating: 4.5

Food:

Service:

Ambience:

Yes, I would return!

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Overture Stellenbosch, Winelands

A standing ovation | By Motor | Tuesday, 01 February 2011

Bertus Basson must be one of the nicest, humblest men that i have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He is also an incredible Chef. A few weeks ago, I had a less than pleasant meal at Overture.

My review was posted on this site.

A few days later, I received an email from JPR stating that Basson would like to contact me via email. After exchanging emails, and Bertus informing me of the problems they had at the restaurant on the night in question, there was no doubt in my mind that I should try it again.

My second visit was a completely different experience. The quality of the food was simply superb. My partner and I started with a port poached foie gras, served with a peach reduction and toasted brioche. It was rich, smooth, melt in your mouth delectable and certainly set the tone for the courses that followed. It was faultless.

Raw marlin with marlin tartare lightly flavoured with truffle oil with avocado was light, elegant and was a perfect course to follow the richness of the foie.

Fresh cape salmon – slightly salty for my taste, was served on perfectly cooked risotto accompanied with squid, fennel and a delicate saffron sauce.

By this stage my hunger assuaged, the sun setting behind Lions Head, the 4th dish of the night arrived. Gnocchi with a cauliflower sauce, were light and fluffy accompanying them were a selection of shitake mushrooms which provided a beautiful nutty flavour.

The coup de grace was the perfectly done roast suckling pig with a crispy skin together with a sweetcorn veloute, sweetcorn, kale and mustard croquettes. It was accompanied by a side dish of bacon and cabbage, which unfortunately was slightly too salty.

Dessert was a light, coffee soufflé served with a vanilla sauce and chocolate ice cream.

It was pleasure to eat Basson’s creations, but also to experience his passion and commitment to world class customer satisfaction

Overall Rating: 5

Food:

Service:

Ambience:

Yes, I would return!

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Overture Stellenbosch, Winelands

What a disappointment | By Motor | Monday, 17 January 2011

Friday night, last minute decision to travel into winelands, spectacular summer's night, wonderful drive into the Stellenbosh winelands, expecting a wonderful meal from such a highly acclaimed restaurant but sorely disappointed.

2 people having 4 course tasting menu, each choosing seperate items from each of the courses.
1st course - 2 choices, choice 1 - salmon served as a terrine & smoked which was nothing extraordinary, choice 2 was beetroot served with mozzarella looked pretty, but mozzarella was decidely inferior, with the choice available of excellent mozzarella in Cape Town today, why did they choose a rubbery, tasteless variety?

2nd course - thai style soup which was best dish of the evening, well flavoured and lovely to eat, 2nd choice of hake was tasty.

3rd course - 2 choices, both disasters - 1st offering of chicken, supposedly from Spier farm just down the road consisted of a tiny breast fillet and leg which judging by the size couldn't of been from a chick of more than a few weeks old. (considering i use the spier chickens at home, these must of been the tiniest of the batch), moreover it was under seasoned and poorly presented with cabbage salad & underdone new potatoes which is more in keeping with KFC than fine dining. 2nd choice of lamb was tender, tasty, but served with mash potatoes on the side which was the consistency of Purity Baby Food rather than mash.

To add insult to injury, we waited about 40 minutes between 2nd and 3rd courses only to be informed by the waiters that the kitchen was very busy and had decided to put out all the 1st courses before serving the 3rd courses irrespective of the time patrons were seated. Bizarre to say the least, especially considering how small the menu is.

4th course of desserts - to make up for their poor earlier service we were each given a 4th & 5th course of desserts viz. tomato sorbet with pesto, tomato foam and parmesan cracker which was innovative and interesting as a dessert. Prune souffle was well executed.

Overall Rating: 3

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Service:

Ambience:

No, I would not go back.

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Overture Stellenbosch, Winelands

Almost amazing | By Alice | Friday, 05 November 2010

I had a very enjoyable lunch at Overture last month and would definitely recommend it to others. Although I left with a smile, however, I couldn't help feeling that it is a restaurant that is almost but not quite as good as it could be.
On arrival, we were given a complimentary glass of Colmant Brut - a very nice touch. The selection of nibbles on the table was nicely presented in little jars (points for presentation), but nothing really stood out in terms of actual flavour.
After some internal debate, I decided to go with a 3-course menu option, paired with wines. My starter of asparagus with salmon and shaved fennel was truly superb - the perfect balance of textures and flavours. My risotto main, however, was less successful. It was by no means a bad dish, but needed salt and some acidity to lift it from an average dish to being something memorable. This was followed by an espresso soufflé with chocolate sauce, which was nice, but a touch sweet even with the dark chocolate sauce poured into it at the table.
The wine pairings were all on point, but information about the wines as well as explanations for the choices had to be requested with each serving. The service was very friendly, but slightly hesitant.
All in all, it was a very good meal and the only aspect which truly bothered me was the industrial pink soap in the bathroom. How any fine dining restaurant can have the same strong smelling pink sludge in their bathrooms that you find in the local Spur is truly beyond me.
The question I ask myself when I leave any restaurant is… would I go back? In this case, the answer was definitely yes. The venue is truly exquisite, the prices are reasonable for that level of cuisine, and the view is stunning - it is the sort of place where even sawdust on your plate would taste good!

Overall Rating: 4

Food:

Service:

Ambience:

Yes, I would return!

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