Q. What are the opening hours to have a meal?

A. We are open 7 days a week and start off at 09h00.   Last orders are at 22h30.   It is not very healthy to eat so late so an earlier dinner is recommended.   However in certain circumstances, like after theatre, a later time is acceptable. 

Q. How can I get the latest Menu on offer?

A. Simply contact us by email through the contact us page and we will email you the latest menu and if you need it we can also send you the wine list.

Q. Do I need to make a reservation?

A. Bacchus can accommodate quite a large number of guests and since it attracts very many guests it is always advisable to place a reservation.  It is not unusual, however, for a small number of guests to be around.

Q. Can I order a birthday/anniversary/celebration cake?

A. For HACCAP purposes we do not allow food not prepared by our chefs to be consumed on the premises and therefore we are in a very good position to offer the service of such cakes as a chef pâtissierforms part of our Kitchen gang and all cakes, pastries and desserts are made in house.

Q. Can I bring my own wine?

A. Unfortunately no.

Q: Can I have a tasting of the food I order for a banquet?

A. Once a reservation is made for a banquet a tasting can be arranged in order to ensure that the food ordered is to your liking. 
 

Q: How do I pair Wine?

A. Wine and Food

The perfect match made simple

Planning on enjoying a dinner at our restaurant but feeling overwhelmed by our wine selection or of facing the seemingly daunting task of matching a wine to your favourite dish?

Gone are the days when a restaurant steak meal came with an obligatory serving of baked potatoes and gravy, food and wine matching was then a no-nonsense affair. You simply teamed red wine with red meat, white wine with white meat. It was all a matter of colour coordination, really. Though that useful rule of thumb still applies today - to some extent anyway - our tastes in both food and wine have come a long way. With the veritable avalanche of food and wine styles we have to choose from now, selecting the right wine to accompany a meal can seem daunting. But don't let anyone fool you into believing it has to be complicated.

The basic principles of food and wine matching remain relatively simple even though we as restaurateurs have had to evolve to suit our patrons taste and palate, and strive to conjure dishes that require more time, effort and attention to detail. Food and wine matching shouldn't be put on a pedestal and made to appear elitist. Instead, follow a few basic guidelines and a successful match is almost guaranteed.

Matching intensity

The guiding principle of food and wine pairing: the need to match the intensity of flavours in the food and the wine. So, if you're ordering fine seafood in a light, delicate sauce, choose a similarly delicate wine. Or, if you're going for a roast of full-flavoured lamb, team the meal with a flavor some red full bodied wine. Matching the degrees of intensity in the food and wine creates balance and prevents one from overshadowing the other.

Not sure how to judge a wine's intensity? As a guide, intensity is measured in terms of light, medium and full-flavoured wines. Generally speaking, Riesling and traditional method sparkling wines tend to be light; Sauvignon Blanc and Gewürztraminer lean towards medium; full-bodied Chardonnay and late harvest styles are stronger flavoured. As for reds, Rosé and some Pinot Noir incline towards light wines, whereas Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz range between medium to full-bodied. It always pays to with our restaurant manager for a more specific interpretation of its intensity, however.

Matching sweetness

Secondly, match the sweetness levels in a meal with those of the wine. If a dish has even a hint of sweetness in any of the ingredients you may find it clashes with a dry wine. Conversely, if you pair a food devoid of any sweetness with a sugary wine, it comes off tasting even sweeter.

Remember that pork, crab and crayfish are all relatively sweet, so bear this in mind when selecting a wine.

Wondering what wine to select to partner a dish displaying a just touch of sweetness? Marry it with an off-dry wine.

Matching flavours

And, finally, to the third fundamental food and wine matching tip: pair the flavours in the food and wine to enhance the combination's synergy. Pick out one or two dominant flavours in the food - such as herbal or peachy tastes - and match these with similar flavours in the wine. Here's a good flavour match to try: our snail and mushroom pot pie with Green Point Pinot Noir. Both exhibit earthy, mushroom flavours.

Or Parsley infused Ricotta roll with Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc. You'll find they create a happy marriage of herbaceous flavours

Relax and enjoy!

Don't stress too much about food and wine matching. While it's essential to match the intensity of flavours in any food and wine coupling, accept that it isn't always possible, or necessary for that matter, to fuse all three food and wine matching guidelines in the one meal. You may decide to team Honey-roasted duck with a green bean and hazelnut salad with a Cabernet or a Merlot, which represents a good match of intensity and similar flavours, yet displays slightly inconsistent levels of sweetness. But the combination still works well, regardless.

It's true that some foods prove difficult to partner. Take burning spicy dishes, for example. "The only style of wine that, to some degree, contends with curries' intense flavours is sweet, dessert wine such as the late harvest or botrysised wines. Matching the intensity and sweetness of the chillies has a soothing effect in the mouth, but is not going to be ideal."

As for chocolate, its sweet and cloying nature can suffocate a not-so-syrupy wine. Chocolate especially the dark variant yearns for a similarly sweet, high alcohol partner such as Port.

Steer clear of fish with red wine. In around a third of the population, the tannin present in red wine tends to react with the oils in the fish, giving the wine a metallic taste. If you must serve a red wine with fish, opt for a non-oily fish and a low tannin red such as a Pinot Noir or rosé.

But, remember, at the end of the day, food and wine matching still has much to do with personal taste: it will never be an exact science, nor should it be. Reading the expressions on the faces of your fellow diners may be as good a guide to what works well as any.