Our waiter recommended a minimum of three dishes each and after much dithering, we chose the special salmon tataki, scallops, and famous forbidden risotto, served with tempura prawns. Veggies are also well catered for, and we supplemented our seafood with creamy shitake mushrooms and fresh spinach.
The salmon was superb and generously portioned, the seared scallops beautifully plated and unusually topped with crunchy bacon, while the slippery shitake mushrooms, submerged in their sauce, were a pleasure to slurp up. The spinach, sprinkled with peanuts, proved a little underwhelming but only in comparison to the sumptuous black rice and turmeric risotto, which had us scraping every last morsel from the bowl.
Izakaya comes to Cape Town
If you’ve had the best of intentions to visit Cheyne’s in Hout Bay, but never quite made it around to the other side of the mountain, then we have some good news
SHIO — the third restaurant by chef Cheyne Morrisby, creator of Cheyne’s as well as Lucky Bao — has just opened in De Waterkant, which is a more palatable distance for city dwellers.
The izakaya — Japanese for a relaxed eatery akin to a pub — is on the ground floor of the newly revamped The Grey hotel. The décor is pared down and minimal, the opaque interior punctuated by two main features ripe for Instagramming — the first is the quirky red neon bar sign that reads ‘Drink Sake, Stay Soba’, and the other, a mural on the opposite wall of a warrior-like geisha painted by model-come-artist, Ana Kuni.
Much like its sister in Hout Bay, SHIO offers an Asian menu focusing on Japanese tapas dishes designed (if you can bear it) for sharing. The menu is concise and broken down into four parts: Umi (seafood), Tochi (meat), Chikyuu (veg) and Amai (dessert). They also have a separate drinks menu with an alluring list of cocktails, wines and the harder tack. We opted for a Musgrave Pink Gin and Raspberry Cocktail, which proved a winning choice — the flowery, rose-scented gin complimented by the tang of the muddled raspberries.
As the food is seasonal there were a variety of substitutions and specials on the menu. The crayfish (now on the Sassi red list) has been replaced with a prawn dish, which is great to see as so many restaurants still stock endangered seafood.
Our waiter recommended a minimum of three dishes each and after much dithering, we chose the special salmon tataki, scallops, and famous forbidden risotto, served with tempura prawns. Veggies are also well catered for, and we supplemented our seafood with creamy shitake mushrooms and fresh spinach.
The salmon was superb and generously portioned, the seared scallops beautifully plated and unusually topped with crunchy bacon, while the slippery shitake mushrooms, submerged in their sauce, were a pleasure to slurp up. The spinach, sprinkled with peanuts, proved a little underwhelming but only in comparison to the sumptuous black rice and turmeric risotto, which had us scraping every last morsel from the bowl.
While the portions are small, the dishes are rich and filling, sadly leaving us little room for dessert. I’ve vowed to return to try their tuna tacos, chicken yakitori and matcha cheesecake.
SHIO is also open for breakfast, so once you’ve worked your way through their dinner menu, do try their banana bread French toast served with crispy bacon and miso butterscotch sauce.
Before taking our leave, we wondered up to The Grey’s Sky Bar where we whiled away the breathless evening happily trailing our toes through their heated swimming pool, second cocktail in hand.
To book:
Visit SHIO’s Facebook page and use the ‘Book Now’ button or call 064 661 7474.
Opening times:
Monday to Saturday
Breakfast: 7am – 10am
Lunch: 12pm – 3pm
Dinner: 6pm – 10pm