Taste Test: A meal of many parts

Chefs who dare to serve a tasting menu have several challenges.

First, they have to overcome the perils of diners who are "full" after a few courses, or are ''bored" after a few more. There is also the danger that after more or less the third course, they have usually had too much wine to drink to care about the food.

Second, they have to choose between serving a string of fantastic canapés, like Ferran Adriá and his Albert at 41 Experience in Barcelona, or a menu - which should consist of separate parts but come together as a cohesive whole, fancy speak for saying when you eat a menu you eat one meal with many parts.

So, how do chef Dario de Angeli and his team at the Cube Tasting Kitchen, a small 30-seat tasting restaurant in Johannesburg, stack up to these challenges?

The first course was beetroot (which I love) cooked a few ways: pickled, salad, sweet etc. It was the only dish I thought lacked spontaneity and was somewhat contrived. It was served on slate plates (agh!) and introduced as an amuse bouche, which for me, it wasn't. Granted, my dislike of slate plates is a matter of opinion. But the beetroot was too substantial a dish to act merely as an agitator for the food to come.

The next three portions were pleasurable - ravioli filled with a bisque-style broth served with a variety of fresh mushrooms, followed by a small mozzarella and tomato salad and a warm goat's cheese tartlet. The cheese was really good.

Unfortunately, the chefs then chose to interfere with my happy mouth by serving a chilli-infused sorbet-style ''palette cleanser", a feat repeated later on in the meal with a mouthful of liquorice.

They were quickly forgiven when I found my first real gem on the menu. Braised oxtail and shin served in a casing of nachos on sweet corn, peas and bean crunch with raisin jus and leak ash. I wasn't sure if the ash added much to the dish but in any event it doesn't detract.

The fillet steak with verjuice foam and sticky rice was a good end before the desserts. If I had to pick only one of the two served, it would be the Nutella and brioche toast.

I missed having a menu to refer to. Although the chefs explain each dish, some of the detail is lost at a long table that can be noisy.

The individual dishes were all prepared and served by professionals. However, this is also its weakness - this tasting menu is a series of good à la carte dishes.

• Oberholzer is a graduate of Ecole Ritz Escoffier at Hotel Ritz in Paris and a local cooking teacher. Cube Tasting Kitchen is in Parktown North, Johannesburg. Booking is essential. Call 082 422 8158 or e-mail cubetastingkitchen@gmail.com