Cape Town, My City.

Valentine’s Day was, of course, amazing. I may not be the most romantic man in the world, but I had organised the most romantic dinner for my girlfriend and I. For legal reasons, I won’t reveal her name, so let’s just call her Miss Sunshine. A work colleague of mine passed an email on to me, revealing this amazing dinner for two at the Synergy Restaurant, located on the seventh floor of the Nelson Rhodes Place in Cape Town. The price was fantastic as well, as it was only under R500 for a five course meal for two. I could hardly resist. I called a moment later to book our place and confirmed reservations for 7pm on February the 14th.

Flash forward three weeks. Miss Sunshine and I were smartly groomed for the night ahead. We scooted over in style, as the night was warm and inviting, welcoming all of its patrons into its inky black fold. We parked on the lower level and squeezed ourselves into the world’s smallest elevator to reach the prestigious seventh floor. What greeted us was a spectacular sight. A sparkling bar, with ebony white features as the main greeting station and rows of comfortable seating lined the restaurant up and down its entire length. We were greeted by another patron of the night, a tall blonde waitress who showed us promptly to our table.

The tables themselves were lavishly decked out in a splendid romantic theme. Little hearts decorated the crisp white table cloth and a heart was also drawn into the plush seating of our high-back chairs. Miss Sunshine was given a single red rose and we were both privy to a Strawberry Daiquiri. As we sat and watched the light slowly fade over the elegant pool (many guests live directly above the restaurant), our enthusiastic waitress greeted us with a friendly smile and our menus for the evening. Also, there was to be a draw (which we would not win). This was another highlight of the already splendid evening.

And so dinner began. We were asked of which one of the main dishes we would both be choosing, as the options were either the rack of the lamb or the pan-fried Norwegian salmon. We both chose the lamb, as we had eaten salmon for supper the night before. And with that, the menus were taken away and the Amuse-Bouche was placed in front of us. I am at a loss to explain what the meat exactly was (my girlfriend wagered ostrich, I bet on biltong) but it was presented in such a way that it did not matter. A tiny drivel of meat, splashed with glass noodles and a delectable sauce, it was a most appetising snack. We made the mistake of telling our waitress to take her time with each meal, as our food only came in 30 to 45 min intervals. After a substantial waiting period, and two drinks later, the Tomato Consommé was delivered to our table. Synergy is known for combining eclectic ingredients to create extra ordinary meals and this one was no different.

A sliver of tomato, with salmon mousse crammed inside and a quarter of what can only be described as a prawn rootie, floated gently in a tomato broth. It was a taste sensation and one that I can remember through thought alone. After another lengthy wait, the salad arrived. It was designed by the hands of an artist, as each leaf, and each cube of cheese was so expertly placed that it was almost a shame to eat it. But eat it we did.
After the longest period of time yet, the Rack of Lamb had finally arrived. It too, was handsomely decorated and wonderfully prepared. The meat was soft and moist, dripping of the bone at the slightest touch of my cutlery. This alone made up for the outright lack of service we were experiencing. It was served with a delicious potato bake concoction on the side. After berating our waitress slightly for the lack of attention, the arrival of our dessert snapped us out of the foul mood her attitude had placed us in.

The chocolate malva pudding with a twist was an unbelievable sight. Like art nouveau, the dessert was designed to shock the eyes with a unique and otherworldly sight. A ribbon of crystallised sugar jutted out of the plate, with a wafer supporting the malva pudding on the bottom. And inside the pudding, there was a scoop of ice-cream which contained a parcel of wild berry sorbet. My friends, it was the greatest dessert I have ever had, or will ever have. This marked the end of the evening, and Miss Sunshine and I did not decide to stay for coffee, it was already 10:30pm and it was time for the evening to end. Synergy was an amazing restaurant to spend our special day at; it is a pity about the poor service. I can understand that they were busy, but they could have compensated for this by having more waiters on staff. Overall, this was an amazing experience and well worth a visit. No tour in Cape Town is complete without having visited this restaurant in the sky.