On Monday eve I met up with a couple of friends for dinner at a relatively new spot in town, Valora.  It’s on the corner on Loop & Hout St and is quite a cosy little spot with a rather cool look:

It looked even cooler once they dimmed the lights a bit and lit up the bar area:

I had heard quite a lot of buzz about this place.  So I was really excited to try out the food.  The menu is packed with tasty sounding Mediterranean style dishes.

For starters I had the Calamari (R40):  Lightly battered Patagonia rings deep-fried and served with either lemon or garlic butter sauce.

It was pretty tasty.  I especially liked the dipping sauce.  Then for mains I had the Ravioli Bolognaise (R75):  Bolognaise filled ravioli drizzled with napolitana sauce and gratinated with parmesan cheese.
I can’t say I enjoyed this.  The bolognaise sauce was OK.  But the pasta was really chewy and way undercooked.  I didn’t finish it.   But at least that meant I still had space for dessert!

We decided to share the Truffles (R45):  A pyramid of assorted chocolate truffles with chocolate dust.

Did you see that… a PYRAMID of truffles!!!  In my mind, I had pictured something like this:

Expectation...

But sadly, reality was a far cry from that dream:

Dun dun dun... you lose...

What is that!?  They didn’t even attempt a pyramid.   Dont’ get me wrong, they were yum, but nothing could make up for the disappointment I felt when they put down this plate in front of me.  The R45 price tag should have been a sign I guess.  But I clearly totally zoned in on the pyramid part…  It’s like asking Father Xmas for a Malibu Barbie and then getting one of those knock-off Cindy dolls from Checkers. A total let down…

Soooo… My Miss K Kiss-o-Meter ratings for Valora would be:

• Vibe: 
• Price:
• Food:
• Service: 

I think it would be a nice place to have drinks after work or something.  But I clearly wasn’t blown away by the food…  And now I’ve become totally obsessed with finding a real pyramid of truffles! haha

xxx