Jean-Pierre Rossouw MOVEABLE FEAST IT seems there’s a rule that applies to seafood when you move=20 away from the coast: the emphasis is no longer on the fish. At the=20 Cape coast, seafood generally refers to those swimming things=20 restaurants call linefish. Perhaps it has something to do with the=20 fact that crawling things need less water, but it is clear that=20 shellfish tend to replace fish on menus up here in Gauteng. This dawned on me as I stared at another list of appetisers on the=20 sealess reef. The restaurant is called Pescador, and I came here to=20 quell a desire for a well-prepared piece of linefish. Being inside this restaurant makes you feel as though you are=20 sitting in the hold of a trawler off the coast of Algarve. Wood=20 panelling, rope nets and crusty floats, along with the odd porthole=20 and heavy oil painting of a Portuguese lass staring into the=20 distance, about to break into a fado, all recreate the maritime=20
So I felt like I had come to the right place for seafood. The=20 placemat menus are a sign that this is a no-frills emporium. Mine=20 also revealed that was very little to be had in the line of fish, but=20 there was a variety of shellfish and some calamari/shellfish=20 combos. One the starters list, there are a few items that don’t=20 swim, like the ubiquitous snails. But it’s the seafood lover that’s=20 catered for here, so I won’t dwell on inessentials. The wine list is not very exciting, especially after you’ve worked=20 through those that are not currently available. Someone has=20 decided that all white wines cost R38, while all reds are R42 –=20 which seems rather flattering to some of the mundane wines on=20
Third time lucky on the wine, we selected our starters from the=20 specials of the day. Deolinda elected to try the avocado and crab –=20 halved avo with shredded crab meat covered in a thousand island=20 dressing. It was tasty enough, and the texture of the crab worked=20 well with the creamy avo flesh. My choice was the Portuguese=20 salad with grilled calamari. The calamari that crowned the salad=20 was tender, and had been prepared in a well-judged peri-peri=20
Our main courses arrived after the healthy delay that we had=20 requested, since the starters were pretty solid. In my desperate=20 search for linefish, I ended up with a choice of two: steenbras or=20 baby kingklip. I opted for the kingklip, and was given the=20 alternatives of having it grilled with lemon butter, olive oil and=20 * emon, or blackened in the cajun style. Sticking with the=20 Mediterranean flavour, mine was grilled in olive oil and arrived=20 in the most outrageous glass plate in the shape of … you guessed=20 it, a fish. There was nothing wrong with the kingklip; it was well=20 grilled and served with creamed spinach and delicious baby=20
It must be stressed: the fare here is straightforward. Not even=20 parsley stands between you and your meal. Deolinda chose a plate=20 (also shaped like a fish) of calamari and prawns. This came with=20 chips, plus a lemon butter sauce on the side, but unfortunately no=20 garlic butter. The calamari was the same as in the salad, while the prawns = were succulent and firm-fleshed. There aren’t many desserts, and none are unusual — but then,=20 these are probably considered mere garnish. There were fresh=20 strawberries on offer as a special, but I settled up with one of the Portuguese ports. Pescador is not the place to go if you want to overload your=20 senses. It is all about concentrating on the basics, which the=20 restaurant does well. But I would have liked more to choose from=20 in the linefish category — glass fish aside. As we left the trawler, laden with victuals, I noticed, across the=20 parking lot, another emporium of seafoods with the promising=20 * ame of Fishmonger. Now that sounds hopeful. I may grow to like=20 this straight-talking. Pescador: Grayston Shopping Centre, Grayston Drive, Sandown.=20 Tel: 884-5554 or 884-4429