Chill & Grill
Where: 190 Brand Road, Glenwood
Open: Monday to Saturday 11.30am to 8pm, Sunday noon to 6pm
Call: 031 001 5507
Where else can you get fish and chips for R45, or a seafood platter for one at R99, or a 300g rump steak at R110? And it’s great food. It seems remarkable. And it’s available on Mr D.
I’m about to let Glenwood’s little secret out the bag. A visit to the Chill & Grill last week saw it gain two new fans. Opened early this year where Mooki Noodles used to be, we soon meet and get chatting to its number one fan, who eats there four to five times a week. “I can’t cook it myself at home for that,” she says.
The Chill & Grill is the brainchild of Frank Sykes, of Westville’s Fat Fish fame, a keen angler who catches much of its line fish himself. He was hoping to have tuna in later in the week but tonight it was rock cod and Cape Salmon. Well, I knew what I was having for dinner.
Little has changed in terms of the look of the restaurant. Decor is minimal and most of the action is confined to the deck and its brightly painted wooden tables, every one occupied when we arrived.
The menu too is no frills but takes in everyone's favourites, predictably with a leaning towards seafood. There’s hake and calamari, and hake and prawns, and the seafood platter takes in all three. Eight grilled prawns come in at R140, and when available six langoustines at under R200. Rump and fillet feature for steak lovers, with options including a mad peppercorn rump with a brandy and green peppercorn sauce, and rocket and Brie, or a Casablanca rump with bacon, Camembert, avo and caramelised onions ‒ and yes, both were R140.
Starters include mushroom bruschetta, salt and pepper squid, Portuguese steak strips and peri-peri chicken livers (R39). We opted to share the Camembert spring rolls (R45) with cranberry jam which were hot, fresh and delicious, served with a bit of salad and a special of a seafood hotpot (R60). This was a spicy, rich “stew” of mussels, prawns and calamari that was generous with the seafood and served with toast triangles. We mopped up every last morsel.
My Cape salmon (R130) came simply cooked with some good chips which I really enjoyed. If one wanted to add to it, a side salad or slaw comes in at R20. My friend went for the prawn and vodka chicken (R95) ‒ grilled chicken breasts topped with prawns cooked in a tomato, red pepper and vodka sauce, served again with decent hand-cut chips. He enjoyed it although would have preferred the peppers to be cooked into the tomato sauce.
As we finished our beers, we cast our eyes on Lolly’s Brownies (R45). Now I don't know who Lolly is, but she’s certainly found her forte in these rich, fudgy chocolate squares. Ice cream and bar-one chocolate sauce completes the dessert line-up.
Food: 4
Service: 4
Ambience: 3 ⅓