Sinns review

Sinns at Wembley Square has been around for quite some time. I’ve had drinks at the bar next door and I’ve had snacks there a few times and tried their Spring special last year. I quite like that closed open space in Wembley Square, it has the potential to have an awesome vibe. If the restaurants were all full, the place would become more than the sum of its parts. But it seldom reaches that potential and most times I have been there the restaurants are quiet or closed. On the night I went to Sinns, a Tuesday, it was about half full and the other restaurants in the Square were very quiet.

The decor is modern and colourful, but the wooden tables help to balance it. The seats are comfortable although the tables for two are rather close together. That wasn’t a problem on this occasion as the tables on either side of us were not occupied.

I’m a big fan of soup. I’m not sure why that is, but I love all types of soup. I do have some favourites though and when I spotted the duo of cauliflower and mushroom soup with truffle oil and croutons (R43) I knew straight away what my starter was going to be because I love cauliflower soup and I love mushroom soup. It was served  with a clear line separating the white from brown so one could taste both then combine the flavours. It was amazing, when time came to swop with my partner who was having the tomato and basil soup (R38) I was reluctant to part with it. A consolation was that the tomato soup was also quite nice. The bread they brought for the table was quite nice too, so we chomped a few pieces of that with the soup.

For mains we went for the bouillabaisse (R109) and the ostrich fillet with cashew nut crust, served with mash and shallot & red wine sauce (R125). The ostrich was not bad but we paid very little attention to it because the bouillabaisse demanded every moment of out attention. It was magnificent, with light flavours of fresh seafood. It was packed with different types of fish, mussels, calamari, prawns and vegetables. Even the colours attracted attention, an appealing dish in every way. I highly recommend this dish, and one can use it as something to measure others against.

Other items on the menu that looked interesting were the grilled line fish with crispy bacon (R99), warthog piccata (R95) and chicken lentil pasta (R56) and others.

We only had a glass of wine each, I enjoyed the Boschendal Shiraz at R38 per glass while my partner had the Eikendal unwooded chardonnay at R26. I was quite impressed with the wine list actually. There is a good selection of really good wines, lesser known wines as well as  popular wines all at reasonable prices. A few under R100 then many just over that mark with some stretching up to R550.

The service was attentive and I was impressed with the waiter’s knowledge of the menu. It was a little over attentive but I suspect that was because I was there under invitation and so they knew who I was. Overall I was really impressed, Sinns exceeded my expectations and I will definitely go back. And I think I will order exactly the same thing!

Sinn’s Restaurant
Wembley Square, Gardens
Tel: 021 4650967
www.sinns.co.za