It isn’t nearly as far as I thought it would be and I arrived in time for Saturday lunch. I’d reserved a table at Whaling Station under a pseudonym for dinner so we decided to lunch at The Harold Porter Botanical Garden’s as the other places we looked at were closed and the artic wind made running from car to restaurant door unpleasant.

The Restaurant was full of German or Dutch-looking tourists wearing sensible shoes and yellow rain jackets. Apparently not bothered by the weather they had taken a walk in the Botanical Gardens before settling down to lunch.

Ethan, saving himself for dinner, ordered a three-egg omlette with onion and tomato (R31). I imagined Escoffier (or some other great French chef) turn in his grave when Ethan asked for his omlette to be cooked dry – the equivalent of a culinary Philistine ordering steak tartare “well done”.

I ordered the house specialty which was beef and mushroom pie (R36) and served with astoundingly good carrots, sweetened with orange and chili, and boarding school-style cauliflower and white sauce. The pie itself was smothered in a chutney which meant that the crispy pastry I had hankered after could well have been used to apply wallpaper.
At the price, the meal hit the spot but lacked finesse which, I suppose, would have been out of place anyway. Service was sweet and efficient just like the botanical-print tablecloths. Ethan enjoyed his omlette from the breakfast menu which came with fruit juice, toast with jams and tea or coffee.

The cake fridge distracted me away from the view through the picture windows of the gardens and water feature. Our waitress recommended the cheese cake which, like all the cakes in the fridge, looked fabulous. I opted for the Knysna Forest cake which is the Garden Route answer to the Black Forest served with a coffee and brandy sauce. Delicious. Even Ethan picked at the butter icing.

By dinner the weather had worsened but there was fortunately parking right outside the Whaling Station.

I opted for a sherry to beat away the cold and we were seated in front of the fire which, although reserved for us, the host offered to move us if it was too warm. Within moments, I had stripped down three layers and was toasty by the time the roving menu arrived.

In chatting to Gaspard after I’d paid the bill, he said that he had worked for Interbrew – the Belgian beer company – while living in Namibia. This made sense because our waiter (who turned out to be his son) was an expert on the Belgian beers they offered. Ethan opted for the Cherry beer Kriek while I ordered one of the Trappist Monk beers.

Years ago, Denis Bouckaert, the owner of Den Anker Belgian Restaurant at the V&A Waterfront, a former client of mine, had invited he to visit him in Belgium and took me to a spot in Ghent that “served the best mussels in town”. There I learned to eat chips with mayonnaise and mussels using the shell as a tweezers instead of a fork. The kilo mussels (R75) at the Whaling Station were as good, perhaps even better. It was a truly exciting dish to eat as I marveled at their size and freshness. I could have done with more chips and certainly more home-made mayonnaise.

To start I had the Salmon Tartare (R30) which I expected to be a fine dice of raw salmon served in the same way as Steak Tartare is. What I found though was beautifully smoked salmon with tartare sauce (think chic Sandwich Spread) on stunning greens with onions and capers while Ethan ordered the cream of Roasted Tomatoes with gin soup (R22.50). The gin works very well with this rich tomato reduction giving it a light, clean taste.

Ethan’s main course was Thai-style Tuna on top of Mie noodles (R75). He couldn’t finish his portion so I helped myself to half of it and the dish was so well crafted that when Gaspard admitted that he didn’t have formal culinary training I was amazed. As much as I enjoyed the mussels I should rather have ordered the Tuna. It was exceptional in every way.

While waiting for my Death By GaBoLi (R30), a chocolate cake with melted chocolate insides that ooze when sliced, I asked if I could taste the chocolate chili sauce served with the Tornedos of Ostrich (R72) I’d first had chocolate chilli at Madame Zingara’s in Cape Town and was smitten. Gaspard’s sauce was very meaty, with a demiglace as its base. I would have enjoyed the Ostrich dish too.

We finished our meal with Rombout’s coffee (R10) – DIY percolators and home-made chocolates.

I found the Whaling Station a bit on the pricey side but I will certainly visit again when in the area. Even locals we met at the bakery raved about it which says a huge amount about its quality. As a family affair, Gaspard in the kitchen and his wife and son in front of house, you can be assured of warm and attentive service that will make the foulest Betty’s Bay weather seem bearable.