Phantom Forest, Knysna, South Africa (Part 1)

Mid-way along the Garden route, just west of Plettenberg Bay, there is a little mountain-side forest. Within this there is a spectacular get-away. Phantom Forest Eco-Resort is made up of a dozen tree-top luxury lodges in the midst of natural beauty. Each is beautifully decorated with natural, renewable materials and aside from a spa, the retreat also features a top-notch restaurant.


Each night they serve a gastronomic feast with 5 courses of creative dishes. In fact the first dish is fixed, then there is a choice of four starters, followed by a sorbet palate cleanser, choice of four mains, another fixed dish which I can only describe as a pre-pudding pudding, and finally a choice of four desserts.

Here’s what we had between us on the first night:

A cream of cauliflower soup with mustard seed butter and three cheese tortellini.

The cauliflower soup was a bit too salty and the tortellinis a bit bland so they struggled a bit with balancing the flavours on this one. It was so strong in fact that it took away from the delicate polenta cake which followed, although the juicy veal escallop made up for this disappointment. If it wasn’t for the soup, this starter would have been excellent, with the truffle oil and parmesan balancing well with the light fluffy polenta.

Thyme Polenta Cakes with escallop of veal, truffle oil and parmesan shavings.

Moroccan-inspired quail and smoked duck spring rolls with pomegranate dipping sauce, fresh coriander and sesame seeds. These were nice and crispy with a meaty filling (but a touch dry), and the dip was a very good accompaniment.

Coconut, lime and lemongrass sorbet palate cleanser.

Pan-seared Angus beef fillet topped with gremolata, served with a mélange of beans and sweet potato gnocchi and sage butter. The steak was ordered medium rare but came out well done. A huge let down. Besides I wasn’t too sure about the gremolata either (both in terms of it’s presentation and it’s blandness).

Grilled line fish with roasted garlic spinach puree, cardamon rice and barley pilaf, almond curry sauce. The fish very good though but once again the chef was a bit heavy on the salt when it came to the sauce. The desserts were probably the best part of the meal.

Mini Malva Pudding with Amarula almond roast peaches and apricots, cinnamon anglaise and almond caramel shards. The crispy caramel and soft spongy pudding balanced well, as did the richly sweet amarula and crème anglaise against the slightly sour fruits.

Dark Chocolate Nemesis with ginger

The picture of the chocolate duo probably speaks for itself!

To be continued…