A thoroughly modern meal

Moderna

Where: Palm Court, Gateway Theatre of Shopping

Open: Sunday to Thursday 8am to 8pm, Friday and Saturday 8am to 9.30pm.

Call: 031 210 0612

The Poet found it. It was a recommendation from her book club. A smart new restaurant had opened in Gateway. And so the whole extended family decided it was time to give things a whirl for Sunday lunch.

Called Moderna, it was certainly modern with comfy banquettes and light Swedish ply and plenty of plants, it spilt out effortlessly onto a wide verandah in the Palm Court. The food style is Mediterranean with most stops in Italy. I had wondered if it was supposed to be a reference to the Italian city Modena, home of Ferrari. But no, it’s obviously Moderna as in modern with an a.

We found a nice spot on the terrace because I think inside would have become slightly claustrophobic. The is a distinct thrum that rumbles through big shopping centres that eventually would make me want to get up and say goodbye. I usually avoid them whenever I can, and if I can’t I always visit early on a Monday morning. Gateway is no different. In fact I think it’s one of the reasons one rarely finds a top restaurant in a shopping mall.

Would this be different?

While waiting for Arjun to join us, The Advocate and I shared the peri-peri chicken livers served with sourdough toast (R99). These were enjoyable, the sauce not overly hot but very rich and creamy. Other options take in Parmesan coated mushrooms, cheese croquettes or spanakopita. An antipasto board might be interesting and naturally there’s calamari. A small range of salads include smoked salmon with boiled egg and spinach, or Parma ham and Parmesan shavings.

For mains the Poet wanted a pizza. There’s a classic Marherita (misspelt), siciliana or four seasons but also options like bacon and brie, malanzane, olives and cherry tomatoes, or beef short rib with caramelised onions and peppers. Naturally there’s a Hawaiian and Mexican option.

The Poet chose the hot  honey chicken pizza (R179 - for a pizza!). It came with chicken, chorico, feta, mixed peppers and hot chilli honey.  It was pleasant enough but certainly didn’t set anything alight. Personally I don’t believe chicken belongs on a pizza. But then there’s a lot of pizzas I would never order - like anything with chilli con carne, or bolognaise, or anything loaded in peppers - or pineapple.

There’s a full range of sandwiches and wraps for light meals, and burgers, plus steaks and grills in sizes to order. The Advocate and Arjun both chose the half, deboned chicken peri-peri with chips (R159) and found it absurdly bland. Vivek instead went for the osso bucco on creamy polenta (R285). This was a good rounded casserole of beef - rather than the normal veal - shank with plenty of slow cooked flavour. He enjoyed it. It’s not quite my osso bucco but was certain;y the dish of the day. I naturally would have preferred it with mash rather than polenta. 

There is also a slow braised beef shortrib that looked interesting.

A small selection of pastas include a pescatore, chicken and chourico, lemon zucchini and, horror, cajun chicken Alfredo. Well I suppose at least someone is trying to spice up the world’s blandest pasta. 

I spotted a prawn risotto (R185) which was generous and which I enjoyed. It had some nice deep bisque flavours added to the risotto. 

For dessert we shared a plate of nice crisp cannoli stuffed with a lemon ricotta and dusted in pistachio nuts (R80) which was good. Options include tiramisu, panna cotta, baklava cheesecake and Dubai mille-feuille (also misspelt as millefoglie). The coffee was good, and the Poet enjoyed her cappuccino.

Food: 3

Service: 3

Ambience: 3

The Bill: 1853 for five