Kipling’s Sunday buffet relaunched

“My kingdom for a horse”, the saying goes, but on a dreary Sunday afternoon, all I could think was “my kingdom for a potato”.

The potato-less place I was dining at was the very chic Kipling’s Brasserie restaurant at the Boardwalk and potatoes aside, the spread in front of me was without a doubt magnificent.

But back to kingdoms and horses, or in this case potatoes.

The old saying is meant to show just how important a smaller item can be, depending on the situation in which you find yourself.

This famous phrase was originally uttered during William Shakespeare’s play, Richard III, when the king yells out loudly: “A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!”

In the middle of a battle the king’s horse is killed, and he wanders around the battlefield for hours, trying to find another and killing everything coming his way.

The king can see that without his horse he may well lose his kingdom and so, since then, the phrase has been repeated ironically, when someone needs a seemingly insignificant item.

And I needed potatoes to make Sunday lunch complete.

Roast potatoes, to be exact. Kiplings has relaunched its Sunday lunch menu, a three-course buffet-style meal that consists of salads you can “build” yourself, and soups and bread.

Along with the build-it-yourself salads there are ready- made salads, some with interesting arrays of fruit and nuts.

The Greek salad I had was great, with a sumptuous pesto, but it was the soup that was the hero of the course.

I agonised over whether I should chose the tomato or butternut soup and was glad to have chosen the tomato.

It was rich and thick and with the dollop of cream and the croutons you could add yourself, most satisfactory.

The main meal is packed with options, so much so that you really can’t get to try it all so I settled for some roast pork, chicken, veggies and no potatoes.

I threw in a small serving of beef potjie, something I am glad I did as it was delicious. On the whole, the main meal was good but I do need to whisper in chef Darryl Brussow’s ear that close to the bone the chicken was a little pink.

It’s something I am sure he will remedy quickly as I saw him tucking into a hearty plate as we were wrapping up dessert.

Speaking about dessert, that’s a veritable treasure trove for those wanting a sugar rush.

From brownies to eclairs to tarts and fruit salad, it’s a diabetic’s worst nightmare.

The venue itself is elegant and cosy and as the day on which we had Sunday lunch was a little overcast and cold, it was warm and inviting inside and the live music was an added plus.

All in all, it was a most satisfying experience. But I still stand firm on the fact that roast potatoes are a must.