Restaurant review: Dash restaurant

It is not often that hubby and I get out on our own for a meal (the closest we get to a date night these days seems to be on school parent evenings, ouch!). So we were thrilled to be invited to Dash restaurant for an elegant meal, just the two of us.   

Dash is situated inside the Queen Victoria Hotel at the V&A Waterfront. The first thing I noticed as I walked in was the view of Table Mountain, and what a view it is! After a warm and friendly welcome we settled down at our table to peruse the three course set menu. 

The meal started with some fresh ciabatta and a glass of chilled Dombeya chardonnay while soaking up the views and eagerly anticipating our first course. I enjoyed a starter of smoked salmon salad with grilled pineapple, salsa and asparagus. I would thoroughly recommend this dish as it was so fresh and flavourful, absolutely delicious! I am rather fond of my smoked salmon and this starter did not disappoint. My husband chose the soup de jour which was a creamy mushroom soup served with veggie crisps and toasted ciabatta which he enjoyed. 

Onto the main course, and there were five scrumptious sounding dishes to choose from. After much deliberating I opted for the lamb burger with shoe string fries. The burger arrived with a sesame seed bun instead of ciabatta as per the menu but this was not a problem and I suspect actually made it easier to eat. The burger was topped with halloumi cheese, tzatziki, hummus and tomato jam - a feast! The flavours were great but I was put off by the temperature of the food. The bun had not been warmed and the patty was not hot. The shoe string fries were totally moreish and despite feeling rather full at this point I could not help crunching my way through most of them. Hubby decided to have fish of the day, dramatically presented salmon which was cooked perfectly. The salmon was served with small, crunchy fish cakes which were also delicious and an apple chutney.  

Next up was dessert. I ordered the pineapple and sage tarte tatin with beurre noisette ice cream and decorated with almond praline, and it looked positively sublime when it arrived at the table. The ice cream had an unusual flavour and was not to my taste, but the rest of the dessert was very tasty. My husband's vanilla crème brûlée was gorgeous and incredibly creamy, and was served with a shortbread round and black cherries - definitely a winner.

Overall we had a lovely lunch at Dash. The dishes were beautifully presented with generous portion sizes, and together with the decor made us feel like were having a sophisticated fine dining experience, yet it still felt relaxed. The manager told us that the evening atmosphere is fantastic with the fireplace going, candles on the tables and a pianist. Add the night time view of the mountain and twinkling lights of the harbour and your romantic dinner is complete. 

Dash is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week and you can book a table via their website by clicking here. In the meantime, I am going to be dreaming about that smoked salmon salad... 

Disclaimer: We enjoyed our lunch as guests of Dash restaurant. All opinions and images are my own.