Ryan's Kitchen recently moved to it's current location. It was given a make-over which included a redesign of the menu which now comprises lots of 'small plates'.
This theme is certainly one we’ve seen popping up all over the foodie scene at the moment as food becomes even more social and sharing dishes is the flavour of the day. The menu even states 'when ordering, think “we” and not “I”'.
When it came to ordering my mind was racing, reading through all the different dishes with their exciting combinations but then a wave of relief came over me when I realised so many of these dishes did not have to go untouched, untasted. This new menu style completely eliminates the need to choose one out of many. Now, you can have it all! Food envy is a thing of the past.
Lana, Ryan’s wife and front-of-house manager suggested between seven and nine plates to share and we greedily agreed. We chose a few from each section of the menu, which is divided into 'salad and vegetables', 'fish and shellfish' and 'meat and poultry' so we could see what Ryan was getting at. The artisanal bread box came first as did the waft of fresh warm breads served with citrus pepper butter and earthy hummus. Beautiful presentation in a box with a different types of bread in each drawer. If this was in lieu of the normal roll in a basket we figured we were in for something unforgettable and we were spot on.
Our first dish was a simple sounding grilled goat cheese, apple and fennel salad and granita. This dish made us both laugh out loud it was so good and simultaneously we felt foolish for never having combined these flavours before. The warm salty cheese with the tangy crunch of the apple and the cold green acidic granita was outstanding. This was closely followed by the magical mushroom tapioca 'pudding'. Ryan sautés the tapioca bullets with exotic mushrooms and transforms this childhood nightmare (my granny used to make tapioca) into a fairytale; think risotto with an awesome twist and with a glass of shiraz, nothing can go wrong.
Our fishy options were the tandoori cured cape salmon, tomato and chili "snow-eggs", again literally bursting with flavour, colour and finesse, a big and bold dish. The angelfish, light and moist with a coconut and lemongrass sauce. Both are local and sustainable SASSI friendly fish, transformed by Ryan's obvious adoration for cooking and experimenting with flavour. At this point we were more than impressed, we were actually humbled into silence as we picked every dish apart with our forks.
The duck parfait peri-peri, lemon jelly and green bean chutney was rich yet light, an edible oxymoron I haven't come across before. You have to try it to believe it. These revolutionary dishes should be at the forefront of everyone's minds and tummies.
Eight dishes was certainly enough for us and actually 6 or 7 would have been less gluttonous. Saying that we did sneak in a dessert to share. The chocolate-cardamom marquis with caramel crunch and a spicy poached plum and tart plum ice cream was everything anyone could want from a dessert. Sweet, rich, bitter, tart, spicy, cool and crunchy. I was amazed and I cannot wait to go back, I only wish I had heard about Ryan and his ambrosial kitchen sooner.
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