Apprentice, Stellenbosch. | By james | Wednesday, 24 November 2010
With one eye on our budget,two of us landed up at the Apprentice,the practical arm,one might say,of a Boland culinary school. One might expect a fair degree of lack-of-consistency I suppose, but on the night we found good value.
My wife started with traditional French onion soup, with gruyere, parsley and Boccaccio, pronounced to be tasty and substantial.
Skipping a starter myself, my wife had ordered a 2nd starter to arrive with my main – this time a trio of a tasty smoked snoek: a pie, pickled and a Samoa, well flavoured all 3 and neatly presented.
My braised pork neck, lentil mash and sautéed cabbage combined well and was served with a roasted apple cider jus. Fair value at R80.
My wife’s glass of the house sauv. blanc, Hoopenburg sourced I believe, was great at R19, equally so were two R30 glasses of a 2006 Neethlingshof merlot with the pork neck.
Our quietly charming student waitress initially served an amuse bouche of pear and gluwein infused jelly with blue cheese on a tiny brioche.
Sharing a chocolate pudding with balsamic ice cream rounded off our pleasant ‘budget dinner’, which cost around R310 with a 10% tip, and in a comfortable setting in the heart of Stellenbosch.