Win Lunch for Four at the Bistro at Brookdale Estate Worth R3 500

Brookdale Estate is a world apart: a secret valley in a fold of the mountains above Paarl, its restaurant perfectly placed to soak up serene vineyard views. Against the backdrop of a canvas wall mural, reaching to the high, peaked ceiling and depicting tall pine trees and woodland that echoes the view from the wide verandah, the chic bistro is an unostentatious yet elegant setting for a leisurely lunch in the country.

All you hear is birdsong, and perhaps a tractor in the distance – this is a working wine farm after all. It opened in February 2023, and has already claimed seventh spot on the Dineplan Reviewers’ Choice Awards, the country setting and delightful sense of discovery all part of its charm.

Chic bistro fare

Chef Gary Coetzee and his wife Yvonne (the GM) are warmly welcoming and have been immersed in the life of the farm since they joined owner Tim Rudd here in 2020. Serving beautifully presented, unpretentious dishes that you could happily eat day after day, Gary calls his approach “chic bistro”, and says “I’m curious. I want to be on a food journey with my guests: changing the menu often and reflecting the farm setting.”

His mastery of full-on flavour makes the ingredients sing on the seasonal menu, your only dilemma being how to decide… perhaps a starter of fresh gazpacho, or rabbit galantine with apricots, pistachio and citrus Mesclun salad; a trout tartare; charcoal-fired prawns or a mushroom risotto. On the main menu are equally hard choices: tandoori lamb rump with baba ganoush, cumin curd and tomato sambal; venison loin with braised red cabbage and saffron-poached pear; seared linefish with fat-cut fries; or a firm plant-based favourite, the chargrilled miso-glazed aubergine with sorghum salad, gingered cashew-and-carrot purée and homemade kimchi. There isn’t a separate kids’ menu, but the kitchen is happy to adapt any dishes on the menu to suit children.

If this sounds like your idea of lunch heaven, enter our competition below and you and three dining companions could win a delicious lunch at the Bistro at Brookdale Estate, exploring global flavours and the local produce of the Paarl Winelands.

How to win your lavish lunch experience

Enter your email address in the competition widget, and you could be the lucky recipient of this awesome prize. (You’ll also be subscribing to our free weekly newsletter.)

Ts+Cs

The winner’s name will be drawn on Tuesday, 13 May, and the prize is redeemable from 13 May until 31 December 2025 (subject to availability). The total prize is valued at R3 500, and includes your choice of lunch for four from the à la carte menu to that value.

This competition and its prizes are being offered by the Bistro at Brookdale Estate, which is solely responsible for ensuring that the winner receives his/her prize. The Inside Guide shall not be liable to entrants of this competition for any prizes, loss or damage whatsoever and howsoever arising from the running, or otherwise, of this competition. The winners will be notified by email and should reply within 24 hours. If you do not respond within 24 hours, you will forfeit your prize and another winner will be drawn. The prize is redeemable from 13 May to 31 December  2025. Once we have received your email, we will put you in touch with the organisers to arrange your prize. Please note prizes are nontransferrable. Ts & Cs apply.

Competition has ended