Situated at the Olivedale Corner Shopping Centre, serving scrumptious contemporary Italian the food at Café Del Sol is “a reflection of a new age Italian family” and I can attest that the love can be seen, smelt, tasted and felt in every plate.
To judge by the amount of glowing feedback from my family and friends, who joined me for a Sunday lunch; it seems that Café de Sol can do no wrong. The compliments come thick and fast (‘incredible food', ‘perfect service') and it's clear this is a restaurant at the top of its game, with a strikingly beautiful, modern dining area with white walls decorated with the most superb quotes about life, love and food.
The diverse menu delivers cracking flavours and as it declares, “seasonally fresh ingredients with swirls of love and just with a pinch of true Italian laughter” are served with a smile and executed perfectly.
Highlights include stunning starters, gorgeous mains and dishes of flawless technique and deep flavours accompanied and delivered with excellent service.
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| Beetroot Carpaccio |
It is not your average Italian place with dishes like Beetroot Carpaccio – thinly sliced beetroot with Dolce Latte gorgonzola, strawberries and orange segments and spouts all drizzled with a balsamic reduction or the Calamari Limoncello with a wow inducing secret Limoncello sauce served with a Grana Padano parmesan salad.
Pastas are especially good. They have bite and a comforting, starchy, slipperiness, which makes the sauce cling to them, like baby koalas to their mothers. They do numerous raviolis. The ravioli of the day is inspired and I absolutely loved the baby spinach and ricotta ravioli with a creamy parmesan and truffle sauce.
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| Baby spinach & ricotta ravioli |
The risottos are also incredible, so good in fact, we ordered two – The Seafood Risotto with Prawns, Falklands calamari, smoked salmon, red pepper, mushroom & baby tomatoes sautéed with garlic & onion in white wine & finished off with a dash of fresh cream & parsley is delightful.
For all the mushroom lovers! Earthy Porcini mushrooms risotto, with green peas & a drizzle of truffle oil is a decadent treat!
The star dish of the day for me was the Porcini roasted chicken – Two tantalizing roasted free-range chicken breasts with a crispy skin, which was moist, served on a bed of tasty Porcini mushrooms, green peas & a delicate truffle oil risotto, with a Porcini mushroom cream sauce. The dish was cooked to perfection, well balanced and had my taste buds doing cartwheels.
The food was amazing the service sublime and the drinks list is peppered with appetizing Italian names. Ask for Alessandro Khojane whose infectious personality and good humored jokes added to our dining experience – he and Café Del Sol are definitely setting the benchmark for Italian cuisine in Gauteng!
Grazie!
