On a Monday night in February, when many other restaurants in Stellenbosch were closed, our guest house owner recommended having dinner at the Wild Mushroom. It was close by - so much so instead of giving us directions he pointed at the two tall palm trees in the Wild Mushroom garden. We dumped our bags in our guest house room and then made our way to the Wild Mushroom.

Arriving at the Wild Mushroom, still in shorts I was a little concerned to see sign showing 5 stars, a 5 start restaurant in shorts - surely not! Our minds were put at rest as we welcomed to the Wild Mushroom by the Chef Tiann wearing bright yellow Crocs.

The dining room only has about 6 tables and seemed to mainly cater for those staying in the fantastic rooms at the Wild Mushroom, do not be put off however if you are not staying there as I do not think that we have had as genuinely a warm welcome in any restaurant ever.

The meal was commenced with fresh homemade bread and also an excellent wine from the extensive wine list.

The meal was a set menu of 3 courses for R250. There was a choice of 3 options for each course.

The starter of small beef cubes, in soy sauce with potato croquettes and courgette ribbons was exceptional, followed by Crispy Skin Duck breast and a delightful dessert of chocolate pavlova stack. My wife had 3 alternate dishes and was equally impressed.

Between each course the Chef Tiann came to the table to establish what we thought of the food and he gave us some very interesting insights into his food.

Both the presentation and the taste of the food were superb -the service was incredibly friendly and suitably attentive.

At the end of the meal Tiann very proudly showed us a couple of the bedrooms in their Guest house. The bedrooms, all named after mushrooms are decorated to reflect the colours and characteristics of that mushroom, they are very well appointed and are sumptuously luxurious. The grounds of the Guest House are stunning with a discreet swimming pool for guests.

We will very happily return to the Wild Mushroom and will next time stay at their Guesthouse.

A trip to South Africa can be justified by just spending a couple of nights at the Wild Mushroom - it really is that good. Tiann keep up the good work - don't let me down now that we have recommended you!