Crusoe’s

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Down at West Lakes again, just a few hops down from Zak’s, where I went a few days ago.

New view of the same small lake.

I’m in the West Lakes Hotel here. The place is fairly fancy, and there’s no one in the restaurant other than me and one other table.

Chicken Tagine
6/10

Free range chicken breast stuffed with dried apricots and sultanas, served with a pearl couscous, confit tomatoes, almonds and natural yoghurt.

Forgot to ask for no coriander. Time to pick it all out.

Ten minutes of surgery later, it’s time to begin feeding.

The chicken is soft, but cooked chicken doesn’t seem to vary all that much. In its centre is a stuffing that’s like minced chicken, but it presumably contains apricot and sultanas too, as listed. I can’t detect any sultanas here.

The giganto-couscous is slightly on the hard side, and its combination with tomato and zucchini isn’t all that interesting.

Pineapple Tart Tatin
9/10

Served with a coconut gelati and a rum and mint syrup.

I’ve had a tart tatin before, and it was very tart. That was rhubarb, and this is pineapple, so I’m happy to try again. :)

I peel off and eat the crispy pineapple sliver from the top, while I inspect the rest of the dessert.

The gelati itself is nice, with a strong coconut taste, but a slight grainy texture. The flaky pastry base is chewy and sweet, and is infused with a very potent and tasty cooked fruit flavour. Even the bits of strawberry and kiwi fruit add flavour when mixed with the rest of the dish.