Restaurant Review: Marion on Nicol

Written by Angus Mc Ewan
Monday, 19 December 2011 11:09

If you like elegance, style and a bit of class, then you’ll enjoy dining at Marion on Nicol. Providing its patrons all these qualities in a thoroughly modern way, the Marion on Nicol represents a clever mix of the traditional and contemporary, allowing us to feel at home.

The restaurant forms part of the Marion on Nicol Boutique Hotel, which brands itself as “a boutique hotel of distinction”, is situated just off William Nicol close to Sandton and Hyde Park. The restaurant provides a suitable option for business diners as well as a beautiful setting for a romantic, discrete dinner for two.

The kitchen is run by executive chef Michael Colling. The menu opens with a few words on its philosophy, “This menu can best be described as a combination of old classics with new innovations and techniques that are simple and honest.”

Highlights from the starter menu include oysters served with gazpacho and caviar, beef consommé served with oxtail ravioli and herbs, a mushroom cappuccino, a vegetable tower (a must for our next visit), and a tomato and bocconcini dish. But we opted for the salmon plate – a very tasty lemon-cured salmon remoulade, salmon mousse, and a salmon lasagne with pickled cucumber and lime jelly – and springbok carpaccio. We came to the table quite hungry, and the salmon plate’s flavour, lightness and depth provided ample reward. The carpaccio was light and subtle in flavour.

Now we had time and space to consider a formidable selection of main-course options. Chef Colling offers some traditional options for mains – including beef fillet, lamb, oxtail, salmon and duck – and interpreted in a creative way. The results are quite appetising, we’ll have you know. There’s springbok wrapped with spinach and mushroom in phyllo pastry, set on potato and turnip mash. There’s also an ostrich skewer that is finished with a soya and berry glaze. The salmon is Scottish, marinated in lime, set on pea and dill risotto and served with seasonal vegetables with a lemon aioli and saffron beurre blanc. This was not our choice for the evening, but we’d love to try this next time.

We chose Asian duck breast, served with soya, ginger, stir-fried vegetables and potato fondant set on bok choy. We especially enjoyed the richly flavoured, slightly fatty skin of duck as part of the mix, and the stir-fried veggies were a fulfilling combination of texture and taste. We also picked the lamb plate, an appealing mix of smoked lamb loin set on potato fondant, lamb shank pie, pea purée, baby vegetables and port jus. What appealed to us with the lamb plate was the variety on offer. The shank pie was slightly dry, but the overall dish delivered pleasingly, and we enjoyed its variety.

In the dessert department the crème brûlée deserves a mention, not only for its flavour but for the dish it’s served in – imagine the long open funnel of a flower supported by two stiletto-like legs, with the burnt cream treat acting as the flower’s nectar-like content!

The service was warm, professional and relaxed, making for a thoroughly elegant and enjoyable dining experience.