FLAMES RESTAURANT REVIEW - FOUR SEASONS WESTCLIFF JOHANNESBURG

If you haven't read my full review of Four Seasons The Westcliff, what are you waiting for? During my stay I also visited the acclaimed Flames restaurant at the hotel. Here's my experience of the dinner and breakfast at Flames.

 

RATINGS

AESTHETIC: 5/5

SERVICE: 4/5

FOOD - BREAKFAST BUFFET: 5/5

FOOD - DINNER A LA CARTE: 4/5

MY VERDICT: PERFECT VENUE FOR A BABY SHOWER/BIRTHDAY BRUNCH/COCKTAIL WITH THE GIRLS

THE SIGNATURE WESTCLIFF BREAKFAST

The Four Seasons Westcliff breakfast is a celebration of the finest in locally sourced, sustainably farmed, seasonal produce, brought to life with the contemporary flair of Chef Daniel Payne and his exceptional team. From the sumptuous comfort of The View, overlooking Johannesburg’s most iconic vista, patrons are invited to while away the morning whilst indulging in a magnificent spread of freshly cut fruits, local artisanal cheeses, cured meats and smoked fish, viennoiserie, boulangerie, crêpes, Belgian waffles and adorned oatmeal as well as an exquisitely plated, decadent hot main accompanied by freshly pressed juices, Illy coffees and Ronnedeldt teas. 
 

The breakfast buffet was fantastic and no doubt one of the best breakfast buffets in Johannesburg. Breakfast is served atop The View, overlooking the beautiful Johannesburg suburbs. You could either choose what you want from the menu or select your food from the buffet. 

Your options were broken down into: Cold Selection, French Selection, Cereal Selection, Plated Hot Selection, Breads, Healthy Pressed Juices, Ronnedeldt Tea Selection and Illy Coffee Selection.

I indulged in a little bit of everything, starting off with a plate of oysters (Treat yourself?!) and the delicious pressed juices - the Immune Booster and Vitality. I was so pleasantly surprised they had pressed juice on the menu and not just standard fruit juices.

Afterwards I ordered the Eggs Royale off the menu, which consisted off English Muffin, Poached Eggs, topped with salmon (I favourite thing in the world!) and Hollandaise sauce. 

I finished off with the French crêpe with Nutella and berry compote and some more oysters because why not.

DINNER

Executive Chef Daniel Payne’s menu expresses a refined South African approach to Nouvelle Cuisine. It is an intricately curated ode to the Modern-day Braai, incorporating elements of live fire and only the best in sustainable seasonal ingredients: Oysters, Caviar, Wagyu beef, Karoo lamb, extravagant shellfish, and lavish vegan fare alongside a host of our signature mains. 

The previous night during my stay I opted for dinner at Flames. It was a fantastic excuse to dress up for date night. We ordered a golf cart to take us from the room to the restaurant. Once we got to the restaurant, we took the glass elevator to the top, and enjoyed the beautiful night time views. 

The restaurant truly comes alive at night with celebrations all round. It's definitely a very popular venue for birthday celebrations and as there were a few happening that night. 

Albeit more on the expensive side given its fine dining status, the a la carte menu provides a large selection of dinner options for you to craft your 3 course meal of choice. Before your food arrives, you are served with a complimentary plate of bread.

For starters we chose the Salmon Ceviche (Seaweed salsa | Citrus | Chili | Avocado | Coriander ) and the Silent Valley Wagyu Fillet (Potato crisps | Szechuan Pepper Sauce). I definitely preferred the salmon option as a delicious light and refreshing starter, while the wagyu fillet was a bit dry for my liking (However, it was covered in the pepper sauce which did make up for that slightly).

For mains we opted for the Norwegian Salmon ( Mussels | Green beans | New potatoes | Broccoli | Basil pesto | Lemon butter sauce)and the Salt and Pepper Pork Belly ( Mussels | Green beans | New potatoes | Broccoli | Basil pesto | Lemon butter sauce). Both were exquisite and we thoroughly enjoyed mains. 

Flames had so many delicious sounding dessert options and choosing dessert was probably the hardest decision. For dessert we opted for the Dark Belgium Chocolate Torte (Blond chocolate cream | Nutella hazelnut gelato | Cacao crisp) and the Personification of Winter (Fig | Raspberry | Allesverloren port | Phyllo pastry | Gold chocolate | Sorrel | 22k Gold leaf) . With a name like Personification of Winter, I had no idea what to expect! I was definitely surprised at this refreshing dessert and even preferred it to the chocolate torte (Although that was delicious too!).

We ended off taking a cart back to the room, and that helped because I was way too stuffed to walk at this point. Flames restaurant, I will be back - this time to try out the brunch.

You can find the Flames restaurant menus here.