Sandton City Square. Picture: Trevor Stevens
It’s not often the entire kitchen staff leave their station to greet you after they have just spoilt you with the most amazing meal, but that’s exactly what happened when chef Mandy and her team served up wonderful cuisine for my wife and I at the Maximillien restaurant in Sandton during our stay at the upmarket DaVinci Hotel and Suites on Nelson Mandela Square.
Smiles and waves from the friendly staff sent us on our way with our bellies full and hearts content after a romantic dinner overlooking Sandton’s streets.
The views from the restaurant at night are simply spectacular, while the food delivers on all its promises. When you think of a quiet getaway, Sandton probably won’t feature high on your list of places to go. However, after spending one night at the DaVinci Hotel and Suites on Nelson Mandela Square with my wife, I don’t see why it can’t.
If you live in Johannesburg, you don’t have to spend hours navigating traffic and non-functioning traffic lights to reach your destination. And once settled in the quiet serenity of your suite after being welcomed by the professional staff, you won’t feel like you are in the city.
Sitting on the patio of our room on a Friday evening, sipping on a glass of champagne and eating chocolate-coated strawberries, courtesy of the manager, is the perfect way to unwind after a tough week. Your troubles quickly dissolve as you relax while contemplating whether it’s warm enough to swim in the crystal clear pool below you.
If shopping is your thing (it’s not mine), Sandton City and Sandton Square are at your doorstep. All the fancy stores are a stone’s throw away, but you won’t find many reasons to leave the hotel as all your needs are catered for. Our patio deluxe king room was modern, spacious and comfortable, and you can feel all your worries fading away with a long bath or hot shower in the lavish bathroom and a good night’s rest behind you.
Back to the food at the on-site restaurant, located a short walk down a flight of stairs, we both had crispy prawns wrapped with kataifi pastry and served with watermelon-infused curry sauce for starters. For the mains my wife had the seared duck breast, served with carrot and parsnip puree, carrot leaves, beetroot, red wine cabbage, truffle granola and duck sauce – a mouthful figuratively and literally.
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I had the dry aged rib-eye steak cooked to perfection with pommes dauphinoise (baked scalloped potatoes), baby carrots, truffle jus, butternut puree and mushroom ragout.
Fancy descriptions, stolen off the menu, but it’s just as delicious as it sounds. I don’t normally have dessert, but for the final course, my wife had pumpkin cheesecake, with cinnamon ice cream and I had the chocolate fondant with Malibu ice cream.
Breakfast is just as good. In the morning, the Harvest Table breakfast has everything, from fresh fruit, yoghurt and tarts to cold meat, juices, coffee and various pastries. For good measure, I also ordered an omelette with all the trimmings and my wife the poached eggs with avocado.
After that you certainly don’t need lunch, and back home, we only had a light supper. Sadly, the stay is out of my budget, but if you want to spoil that special person in your life on an important occasion, then maybe it’s for you.
The new weekend Indulge Package in a standard room, which includes a one-night stay, a three-course meal at Maximillien and a Harvest Table breakfast, will cost a couple R4 060. The same in the deluxe room with patio is R4 460, but you have the option of having your meals served on your private patio and you receive a complimentary bubbly-and-strawberries romantic turndown on the house.
If you want to stay a second night in a standard room, it will cost a further R3 280, including breakfast, dinner, and a couples’ spa treatment, and R3 570 for the deluxe patio room. It’s pricey, but I’m sure your better half will remind you that you’re in Africa’s richest square mile and they are worth it.
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