à la carte menu

STARTERS (from R36 to R56)

  • Chilli salt squid – Baby squid (tubes & tentacles), tossed in chilli salt and deep fried. Served with mayonnaise and Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce).
  • Carpaccio of Venison – Drizzled with Salami olive oil. Served with Parmesan shavings and brown bread soldiers.
  • Prawns Beurre Blanc – Prawns out of the shell, steamed over lemon grass. With a delicious butter & cream sauce with a touch of soy, lemon juice and white wine vinegar. Served with noodles.
  • Chicken Spring Rolls – served with Ginger soy sauce and sweet Chilli sauce
  • Soup of the day – Homemade soup, see specials for the week.
  • Greek side salad – including feta, olives, salad greens, tomato, cucumber with a vinaigrette
  • Shoe string fries – with homemade aioli or tomato sauce

SPECIALS change frequently

MAIN COURSES (from R73 to R98)

  • Seafood pie (line fish and prawns) – Line fish and prawns in a cream and white wine sauce, topped with piped mashed potato and baked. Served with a light salad
  • Pork Pie (warm) “Piglet’s Commitment” – Homemade Pork pie with 4 cuts of pork – neck, gammon, bacon and sausage baked in thin puff pastry. Served with potato rösti, braised red cabbage and a red wine jus
  • Smoked salmon trout stack with rösti – Potato rösti layered with egg mayonnaise, smoked salmon trout and diced avocado. Served with cream cheese and crème fraiche (with capers and green peppercorns) and mixed salad greens with cucumber and tomatoes
  • Thai red chicken curry – Spicy, not hot. With red curry paste, coconut milk, bamboo shoots, basil and lime leaves and jasmine rice.   Optional extra – with prawns and chicken
  • Thai Prawn curry with homemade green curry paste. Large prawns in a mild coconut milk based curry. With cucumber batons and jasmine rice.
  • Thai Chilli Beef - Strips of rump, marinated in Shaoxing rice wine and soy sauce.. Stir-fried with sweet peppers, spring onions, chillis, Chinese mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms and  egg noodles
  • Melanzane alla Parmigiana – Layers of aubergine, mozzarella and arrabiata sauce (tomatoes, onions and basil), drizzled with cream and grated parmesan and baked, served with a light side salad

SPECIALs change frequently

DESSERTS (from R39 to R44)

  • Homemade ice-cream – served with Langue de chat biscuit
  • Cornucopia of fruit salad – Seasonal fruits with fresh cream and honey flowing from a homemade ground almond cone
  • Cape Brandy pudding – South African favourite served with homemade crème Anglaise
  • Chocolate Fondue – Toblerone and cream dipping sauce with strawberries, homemade marshmallows and Langue de chat biscuits
  • Chocolate truffles – Assortment of homemade chocolate truffles, a sweet toothed nibble to end the meal
  • Cheese terrine – Camembert, layered with blue cheese, crushed nuts and herbs. Served with biscuits and ginger preserve

SPECIALs change frequently

SPECIALs – Beat the rush, sign up for the  Specials Reminder

*****

Fresh ingredients, attention to detail, careful preparation, personal service & consistency. Consistency is key at Cooking Bear. Cathy and Peter are always on duty when we are open, if either of us is unavailable we are closed.

*****

Cooking Bear awarded 2 stars in JP Rossouws 2012 restaurant guide (hardcover, pocket sized).

Rossouws Restaurants

Book cover

Prominent restaurant critic Jean-Pierre Rossouw writes – “A tiny and intimate dining experience in a rustic thatched country cottage set in a lush garden, the interior very homely, with a prominent fireplace. Peter is the hands-on host (with a keen interest in the background music) while wife Cathy cooks. The menu changes monthly and is an eclectic sampling of hearty classics, Asian plates and contemporary ideas. As befits the size of the place, this is tasty and robust home-cooking and very good value. For lovers of the personal and slightly eccentric, and note no children allowed.”

We are thrilled by this award as only 1 restaurant in KZN, 9th Avenue Bistro in Durban, was awarded 3 stars.

We also achieved a score of 80% or more for cuisine. JP also rated Cooking Bear for romance “perfect for intimate meals”.

This review was also featured in Wine Magazine in their top 20 winter restaurants countrywide – June 2011.