One of the things I love most about going to Tashas is buying cakes to take home. First, you peruse the luscious display where everything is under bell jars.
Salivating, you make your choice and it’s beautifully packaged individually and presented in a smart heavy paper bag. It’s very classy and just the thing to be swinging from your arm in Constantia Village.
On this occasion we took home a mini lemon meringue tart, four pieces of Turkish delight and two slices of cake.
Both were flourless and made with xylitol instead of sugar so guilt-free for dieters and safe for gluten intolerants.
The chocolate cake, studded with almonds, went to my dad and I didn’t even get a sniff of it as he inhaled it, pausing only long enough between bites to exclaim how good it was. Mine was crumbly coconut and orange and later enjoyed with a cup of tea.
My night owl mom said the lemon meringue was “particularly good at 2am”.
Tashas countrywide has a classic menu with all-day breakfasts, salads, sandwiches, pastas, quesadillas, kilojoule-conscience/conscious dishes and main meals, as well as an “Inspired By” menu exclusive to each branch.
This means you can either have your favourite no matter where you are, or try different dishes not found anywhere else.
For the purposes of the review we chose from the classic menu and even that took ages; there is so much from which to choose and Mom and I whiled away at least half an hour discussing options, going back and forth, making up our minds and then changing them.
Mom eventually went back to the one that caught her eye right from the beginning: the Rodeo Drive sandwich (R88). Served open on rye or seed bread, it’s topped with chicken, avo, bacon strips, mustard mayo, with lettuce on the side. You simply cannot go wrong with that combination of flavours.
There are a few salads available in half or full portions, but the Smoking Salmon (R118) is not one of them. It’s a plate of smoked salmon trout, cottage cheese, fresh basil, rocket, micro greens, tomato, onion, caper berries and asparagus, drizzled with olive oil and served with melba toast.
Mom enjoyed her sarmie and my meal was good too, although it’s really not that difficult to place a bunch of ingredients on a plate.
I wished I had chosen something else. Like tagliata, lamb cutlets with feta spread and olives or lemon chicken with the option of added sundried tomato, olives and capers. If I had, I might not have been hungry later either.
From the wine list, Mom had a generous goblet of D’Aria blush rosé (R32), and our bill with all the cakes came to R396 without a tip. Our waiter Linos – as well as all the other staff who helped out and answered questions – was friendly and efficient. His kind of service gets more than a 10 percent gratuity and there is no need for the restaurant to indicate suggested amounts on the bill.
TASHAS
Where: Shop 55
Constantia Village
Constantia Main Road and Spaanschemat River Road
Constantia.
Phone:021 794 5449
When: Mondays to Thursdays 7am till 9pm, Fridays and Saturdays 7am till 10pm, Sundays and public holidays 8am till 9pm