From the moment you arrive your breath is taken away and you really need to go slow and be constantly conscious of taking it all in. Climbing the meandering, tree-lined driveway, you are flanked by lush, manicured gardens, bright flowers and sporadic sculptures. But wait… you haven’t even got to the top! Once there, the mind-blasting views of the Franschhoek valley on one side and the Stellenbosch valley on the other will no doubt, leave you speechless.
Whether it is the winery, the hotel, diamond shop or one or the two restaurants that you’re looking for you… you will no doubt be blown away! For us… it was a mouth-watering meal-of-a-lifetime at the Delaire Graff Restaurant!
Before we get there though… we managed to get a sneak peek of the awe-inspiring sunset from the Delaire Graff Hotel deck – a real treat for sore eyes! So if you are lucky enough to stay in the hotel make sure you spend lots of time basking in the sun beside the rim flow pool… I can promise that you will never want to leave – especially when the sun sinks slowly behind Table Mountain!
We then took a wander around the winery – an architectural beauty with the biggest peach pip floor in the world, cascading water fountains, overgrown oak trees and some of South Africa’s most renowned works of art – oh just so much to take in!
Finally we returned with our delicate (fish-bowl sized) wineglasses of the smooth but spicy Vuurberg Red to our final destination – the Delaire Graaff Restaurant. The restaurant is bistro chic and it serves fresh, vibrant flavours made with only the finest ingredients. I challenge you to make it through all three courses! We very nearly got there and enjoyed the following delicious dishes:
Beetroot Gazpacho
Goats Cheese Starter with Beetroot, Walnuts and Pickled Apple Jus
Trio of Beef
All of these dishes were out of this world and not a drop was left on our plates! I would love to say that we had sampled one of the desserts perhaps the Strawberry Cheesecake Gelato or the Frozen Peanut Butter Parfait which I definitely had my eye on… but we just quite honestly couldn’t eat another morsel. The service was world-class and could not be faulted once. To the whole Delaire Restaurant Team we take our hats off to you – you certainly know how to make a couple feel on top of the world. Thank you.
The entire experience was out of this world and one that I hope to repeat again in the not too distant future. Delaire Graaff really is decadence on another level and comes highly recommended by Iconic Africa.