All Roads Lead To… Dunes

When it comes to buffets, it’s all about the game plan. How long you’re staying, how much you’re eating and how many hours you should starve yourself in preparation to truly push the limits of the phrase ‘all-you-can-eat’.

At Avani Hotel’s Dunes restaurant, the eating is easy.

We swan in for their Mother’s Day evening buffet, pick up some complimentary scented bath salts and take our seats at a plush table neatly decorated with pink roses and striped runners.

Though the décor is a delight, the buffet which is available every day is even better. Best in fact when you eat your way through a starter of cold meats, assorted cheese and crackers and find yourself in front of Victorine.

Guardian of the seafood station and a wizard when it comes to grilling fish, Victorine presides over oceans of fresh kingklip, sole and mussels which she douses in lemon, spices or flour then flings on the grill with a flourish.

As for us?

We watch.

Victorine, the stirfry station or the carvery where great cuts of lamb sizzle on the grill and the accompanying apple sauce is heaped onto the most succulent meat in thick delicious heaps.

Missing prawns and perhaps oysters with regard to a complete seafood experience but offering a variety of curries, carbs and carvery, Dunes’ buffet wins in its perfectly grilled kingklip, solid wine selection which includes my mother’s beloved 2014 Kanonkop Kadette as well as lamb sliced or stewed.

Run-of-mill when it comes to ribs and with chocolate cake served staler and not as chocolatey as one would like, Dunes, like most buffets, is hit and miss with its hits well worth a second helping.

With staff friendly across the board though not averse to leaving the reception desk as the phone rings endlessly over the sound system for all to hear, Dunes, while pleasant enough, could do with a touch more attention to detail including a closer look at the serving pots which, at times, looked a little less than four star.

Offering ample seating as well as a terrace overlooking Independence Avenue, this hotel restaurant is a must for something easy on time and your wallet.