1800° hot in Green Point

Luxury hotel restaurant offers steak grilled at 1800° paired with gourmet salts

It’s getting hot in Green Point. 1800 degrees hot to be exact. Opened in the midst of 2008, the focus of the 1800° restaurant at the luxury Cape Royal Hotel is grilling meat. And yes, here they grill at 1800° Fahrenheit.

Paschal Phelan, the Irish owner of the hotel, fell in love with Cape Town after his personal assistant was challenged to send him 'somewhere with a view'. His initial dream was to live in Sydney but he got stuck in Cape Town and now lives in one of his hotel’s penthouses.

Hot from New York

When a grill absolutely has to be imported from New York, it must be something special. The 1800° grill at 1800° restaurant is the first of its kind in South Africa. I had a look at the 1800° oven behind the scenes, inside the Cape Royal kitchen. It doesn’t look as sexy as it sounds, but chef Jonathan Gargan explains what it’s all about.

"Like this, we can grill your steak to absolute perfection. The result is moist, tender, melt-in-your-mouth steak."

I hope he knows what he’s talking about. He certainly sounds as confident as his CV: Silwood School of Cookery, Mount Nelson, Cape Grace, Vineyard Hotel and the Ellerman House.

Let’s try this hot thang...

My starter: green aspargus, broad beans, shaved pancetta and wild rocket drizzled with white bean puree. Looks beautiful, tastes good, plus, very light. I’m here though to taste what this master-grill can do. The proof will be in my main course, a 1800° grilled veal cutlet, served with nicola baby potaoes, mangetout and confit tomatoes. I learn that things from the grill don’t always have to leave you feeling like you can 'never eat again'. I am well impressed. It is all about fresh produce and whole, pure foods, fresh and light. I like it.

The menu changes with the seasons and my main was part of the new summer menu. The philosophy behind it: „keeping it as natural as possible with the meat on the bone and the potato in the skin“, says chef Jonathan.

For dessert I eat honey roasted plums, raw cane syrup, and pistachio-mint ice-cream – the ice-cream I will surely come back for as well as the generous wine glasses, filled with Warwick Professor Black Sauvignon Blanc. There are 99 other wine choices on the wine list, a selection of local and rare international wines.

I love salt

What really sets 1800° apart is the variety of gourmet salts from around the world. Let’s face it: I love salt. I grew up with too much salt in my food due to my dad’s salt-gravings and my grandparents producing a herbal salt. Now this is interesting for me. There’s a choice of three different salts: white and black peppercorns grinded and mixed with salt, beetroot salt and sage and rosemary salt. My favourite is surely the beetroot salt. Everytime you dine at 1800° there are different gourmet salts on offer to enhance the flavour of your meat.

Or fish. Besides the selection of steak and meat offerings, which includes Karoo Lamb, Twice Peking style duck and roasted chicken roast, the 1800° menu also includes imported salmon and shellfish.

The food is good, the chef and the staff are friendly – here, you won’t get a steak-house-feel, but this is a Five Star Luxury Hotel where the hotel guests also eat breakfast. So you gotta keep it simple. Expect a contemporary feel, excellent service and – lots of hot stuff.

by Antonia Heil

1800°

Cape Royale Luxury Cape Town Hotel and Residence | 47 Main Road | Green Point | Cape Town                           

Opening hours: Monday – Saturday 6.30am - 11pm; Sunday 6.30 -11am


For your monthly update on what’s happening in and around Cape Town, be sure to subscribe to our popular Editor's Picks Newsletter.