A tale of tastes and tackles at Grid and Grill

“For a starter, the snails would be a sight for sore eyes now, but crumbed Camembert cheese with currant jelly sounds like some composition between 1940s Jazz and Andy Warhol.”

Snails (R49) with a creamy garlic sauce it would be, he decided and followed this with Surf and Turf (R108) after his mother proclaimed it as her choice for the evening.

Although a lover of food, the man in question, a young introvert, was by no means an expert in the fine craft of cuisine.

He had been tasked with producing a critique of a local watering hole and restaurant, the Grid and Grill Pub and Restaurant.

“I think the sauce with the snails could have had a little more garlic,” his father, an avid enjoyer of the onion, suggested to the manager.

The food lover himself gulped down the snails without a thought, reminding himself of some ancient barbarian, as both knife and fork played second fiddle to hands for the appetising feast.

After enjoying the company of his parents and grandmother, along with a tasty beverage to wash down the delicious starter, the main meals arrived.

As mandated, the food lover took photographs of each meal, before everyone dug in.

With a juicy beef steak, golden deep-fried calamari and three Queen prawns, the photographer was in a heaven his lips had never known.

“The prawns are dripping with lemon butter, how do they get it like this, mine always comes out dry,” he remarked.

Each part of the meal begged for constant attention from the photographer, who, at the time, didn’t know which of the four was more euphoric in his mouth, even the potato chips were delectably indulgent.

“That was unbelievable, you’d better give them a good review,” his mother hinted, though he still hadn’t the foggiest on what form it would take; how do you match the quality of such culinary artistry with mere words?

During the interview with Karen Davel, a part-time manager of the establishment, he learned they offer a multitude of weekly specials, which she listed:

•  Mondays: 500g Spare Ribs
•  Tuesdays: Chicken Cordon Blue
•  Wednesday: Eisbein
•  Thursdays: 12 Queen prawns
•  Saturdays: 600g T-bone
•  Sundays: Oxtail

Davel added that the pub above was abuzz with live entertainment on Fridays.

“During the Rugby World Cup we show the games on the big screen, offer pizza for R40 and have several drink specials on,” she said.

The restaurant is open from 11am every day and closes late on Fridays and Saturdays.

Upon his return to the table, the interviewer found dessert waiting for him.

The homemade malva (R40), served warm with ice cream, melted in his mouth, the result of a perfect balance between a wealth of flavour and a velour texture.

Although the evening had to come to an end, the taster knew he didn’t want to leave, but a hopeful glimmer of return followed his exit.

Grid and Grill Pub and Restaurant is situated on 80 Pretoria Road.

FvD