Glen Carlou

I've enjoyed wine tasting at Glen Carlou a few times but never had lunch. It was time for the 3DD to catch up, so nothing suited us better than a afternoon of Sauvignon showers and delicious food.

Glen Carlou is situated near Babylonstoren on the Klapmuts road. Perched up on a hill it give you majestic views of the winelands and Paarl Mountain.

It's a very cosy space and reminded our group of a game farm/ski resort cabin. For the art lovers there is a Hess Art exhibit with the works by Andy Goldsworthy, Deryck Healey, Alan Rath & Ouattarra Watts to browse around before or after lunch.

They have a set course menu where a 2 course is R260 and 3 course R340. 

We were first greeted with a complimentary soup. Unfortunately it has slipped my mind what is was but I remember it was delicious, especially as it was a cold wintery day outside.

Some went for a starter and main combo and the majority for a main and dessert.

The starter that we tried was a braised pork cheek served on pineapple and black pepper relish with carrot kimchee, shaved radish and daicon. This was served as a cold dish but I would have preferred that the pork cheek was served warm. The accompaniments I feel would still then render a fresh and crisp flavour. This was an underwhelming dish.

The mains we tried were..

Rack of lamb served with grilled aubergine, coriander spiced beetroot, horseradish crème, sweet potato fondant andstar anaise jus. This was the dish I had and loved. The lamb was cooked perfectly pink and the strong horseradish sauce complimented the meat without overpowering it. I wanted to smear it on everything!

Others had the ....

The beef sirloin served with burned onion puree, souse vide baby vegetables, chickpeas fries and smoke bone marrow.

Ostrich fillet served with apple celeriac puree, fig salsa, duck fat carrots and a fig jus.

Those of us who had dessert received a complimentary strawberry mouse and the "starter boys" had to be fought off us :)

My favourite dish was my dessert. It was a nice big slab of valrhona chocolate honeycomb bar served with vanilla marshmallow, orange blossom ice cream and chocolate crumbs. I appreciate when restaurants don't try to be all fancy with desserts and deliver something of substance. Glen Carlou delivered with a very sweet ending. Three of us had this dessert and we did not regret it. A moment of the lips, lifetime on the hips YES PLEASE :)

The other dessert that was enjoyed was the hazelnut meringue  served with saffron and red wine poached pears , hazelnut sorbet  and hazelnut cream. It was a very attractive dessert but I preferred the chocolate nemesis :)

Glen Carlou delivers with special touches and their Sauvignon Blanc((R70) was a very refreshing and easy drinking wine, too easy actually  :)

The prices for their set menu was a bit steep but if you are in mood to splurge do pay them a visit.

Happy diners :)

Look at that view!

Visit them for lunch 11:00 - 15:00 Monday-Sunday
Contact them at 021 875 5528 or restaurant@glencarlou.co.za
Like them on Facebook
For more information visit their website

For wine tasting
Monday-Friday 08:30-17:00
Saturday-Sunday 10:00-15:00

Take note the restaurant will be closed until 20th of June for repairs and the wine tasting room until the 13th of June.