SERVICES, SERVICE and SOME FOOD

(If you are here only for the food bits, skip to the end for a good tip.)

Cape Tonians are much like Londoners, in the sense that they love complaining about services. Have you heard Londoners go off when the Tube is three minutes away? As tourists, especially from South Africa, the London Underground never fails to amaze us – it runs, it is pretty much always on time and it is clean and mostly graffiti free.

Now listen to Cape Tonians discuss municipal services – they would have you believe that nothing works, ever!

As a recent immigrant (from Gauteng), I have to disagree. For example, we have a bin cleaning service at home – they come around every Friday between 10 and 11 AM, wash and disinfect the refuse bin. The only reason that this is possible is because the municipality comes round every Friday morning between 7 and 7:30 AM to empty the bins.

This service would not work in Pretoria, there you don’t know for sure which day your bin will be emptied, never mind what time! The norm there is also to mix up the bins as much as possible, probably in an effort to give homeowners some exercise walking the streets searching for their bin.

Don’t get me started on traffic lights, just listen to the Gauteng traffic reports in the morning and note how many traffic lights are still not working, often days on end. My experience in Cape Town has been different – I have never seen a traffic light out two days in a row, mostly on my outward journey, the one light (at most) that is not working is fixed by the time I return. This has happened within an hour, more than once.

We, I include myself here, complain about service in restaurants, we even warn out of town guests not to expect good service. Yes, sometimes it is slow and not up to the standard we’d like to expect, but is it any worse than anywhere else in the country? I think not, if we are led to have certain expectations, they will often be met – expect slow service, and it will seem slow. If you don’t believe me, try it.

Go with a positive attitude, order with a smile, relax, you are in Cape Town after all, and you will be pleasantly surprised.

To end on a foody note, we recently discovered Blue Wave Fisheries, Main Road, Wynberg. Absolutely the best take-away fish and chips we have ever tasted! Fresh Hake or Yellow Tail, battered and fried when you order (not pre-fried and sitting around waiting) with the best chips this side of England. I am not going to give away the prices as this may mean they run out and we can’t get any (self preservation).

Trust me, it is cheap and the portions are huge! (We normally share one portion between the two of us…)

SOCIAL CAPE TOWN

When we moved to Cape Town two years ago we were warned that Cape Town is very much made up of cliques and it is very difficult to break into a social group or to make new friends.

I can now emphatically say: NONSENSE!

We have found our Cape Town to be very social and we have made more new friends here than we did in Pretoria in fifteen years!

Like everything else in life, it depends on your attitude. Move into an area in Cape Town and lament the hustle and bustle of Gauteng, you will be marked as a recent “immigrant”, not shunned, but pretty much left on your own. Remember, this is not Jo’burg, you are allowed to chat to strangers in the pub.

We are animal lovers and have two dogs and two cats, so we looked for places where animals are welcome. Yes, Gautengers, Cape Tonians love taking their dogs to the pub, and surprise, surprise, there are a lot of places that welcome dogs.

I have mentioned our local, Caffe Verdi, before, but it is worth another mention as our regular Monday evenings have grown somewhat, more people and more importantly, more dogs. This past Monday, at one point we had six dogs there, our two, Ted, Madeline, Max and Olive. All getting along just fine and letting their owners imbibe in their favourite beverages.

Anti-social Cape Town, not where we are!

We will return to more food and places to visit next time…

EATING CAPE TOWN

It is no secret that I love food, eating and cooking it, therefore I think it is time to devote more space to the culinary stuff in and around Cape Town.

One of the things that surprised me was the selection of fresh fruit and vegetables available from the local supermarkets – somehow I had the typical inlander view of Cape Town being so far away from the major production areas. Yes, I admit, I was wrong. Then, of course, there is the fresh fish. Real fresh, caught-this-morning, never-been frozen fish!

An absolute must do if you are into food is the Saturday morning market at the Old Biscuit Mill. Two halls with the freshest local produce you can imagine, yummy breads, fresh herbs and spices, seafood and even a variety of fresh mushrooms. Most of the produce can be tasted before you buy.

Plan your morning around this market – get there early (they open at 09h00), have a light breakfast at one of the stalls, anything from omelettes to rostis, then do your shopping. Stock up on bread, cheese, wine, beer, pate (look out for the snoek pate in the corner), even flowers and vegetables – everything you need for a casual picnic or classy dinner under one roof.

Late morning grab a roll from Steve Jeffrey’s The Chaucuterie (and some excellent cold meats to take home), a craft beer, my favourite is Jack Black’s India Pale Ale, and soak up some sun while enjoying the best of local food.

Some years ago we got into a habit of meeting friends at our local pub on Monday evenings, we have no idea how this started, but like all good things, it being a regular event. Sort of breaks the week after Monday, which is usually a hectic day. We brought this habit to Cape Town with us and we are usually found on Monday evenings at Caffe Verdi, Wolfe Street, in the Old Wynberg Village. Apart from being a pub, they do very good burgers and pastas as well as excellent pizzas (no pizzas on Mondays, though). A bonus for us is their large outdoor smoking section (yes, we have vices). I just wish they would stock some local beers… We must also not forget that Ivan has been the head car guard there for many years and he definitely looks after the cars and will even park your car for you if you are in a hurry to get to a cold beverage! Certainly safe parking!

The Hussar Grill in Main Road, Rondebosch is also worth a lunchtime visit. The last time we went, they offered a three-course lunch for R 50.00, and it was delicious! Beat that!

If you are into reasonably priced, good quality pub fare, try Pirates in Main Road, Plumstead. Weekdays, ask for Fuzzy and tell her we say Hi. Excellent service and value for money food.

In a somewhat different vein, if you have not been to Jou Ma Se Comedy Club at the V&A Waterfront, get a group of friends together and book a table. It is guaranteed fun with a good menu. Get there early, eat and sit back and laugh at the best of SA’s comedians.

Talking about live entertainment with food, visit the Alma Café in Rosebank for good music, good food and a stunning atmosphere. We had the pleasure of seeing the Weirs, Christine and Graham performing there. You remember them from Not The Midnight Mass, don’t you?

If you happen to be in the Woodstock area, pop into the Ocean Jewels Deli in the Woodstock Exchange for a fresh seafood lunch, or some fish to take home and cook your favourite way.

The Brasserie in Tokai’s Sunday lunches are a must – real Sunday lunches prepared with love and so much better than mother used to make…

One of our all time favourite restaurants in the world is no longer one of Cape Town’s best-kept secrets – Anatoli. Real Middle Eastern/Turkish food, authentic and delicious. Our favourite way is to order two or three mezze at a time from their large selection, with, of course, fresh bread, and slowly munch our way to bliss in good company. Booking is essential.

The point is, when in Cape Town, try different places, no matter how unlikely they may seem, you will be surprised, mostly, pleasantly!

We are always on the lookout for new, interesting places, so let me know your favourites and we will try to get there and give you some feedback on our experience.

A Retrospective

It is winter in Cape Town and as expected it is mostly wet and cold, but the temperatures are not nearly as freezing cold as it is in Gauteng and other inland places.  The wet weather do, however, seem to inhibit going out and making staying at home under the covers very appealing…

So, as requested, this is going to be more of a reflection on some of the highlights of the past nine months, in no particular order.

One of our favourite places to pop into has become Caffe Verdi in the Wynberg Old Village, in fact, we have become part of the Monday evening regulars. Like most places in Cape Town, it is dog friendly, and Ted is usually here and will more often than not lie with us (don’t worry, he keeps an eye on his owner, Pete).

Another highlight since we’ve been here was a visit to Robben Island. What made it particularly poignant was that we booked the trip a week in advance and when we woke up the morning to get ready, we heard the news that Nelson Mandela had passed away. It made the day so much more meaningful and our guide let us stay at his cell as long as we wanted, to pay our individual respects. Everybody in the group was glad they had extra tissues!

The relatively new Craft Market in Hout Bay Harbour is a must, even for locals. A wonderful collection of local clothes, food, collectibles and crafts. Just what you would expect in Cape Town. Of course, a day there just has to be topped off with Fish and Chips at Fisherman’s Wharf – a real “touristy” thing, but still excellent!

Talking about Fish and Chips, Mitchell’s Brewery at the V&A Waterfront still makes a mean one, proper beer batter and nothing better to wash it down than a pint of Bosun’s Bitters, fresh from the tap. Certainly on my “To Do” list when I get to the Waterfront.

A wonderful discovery was Silvermist Wine Estate, just over the neck, ten minutes from our house towards Hout Bay. They do a small range of organic wines, red and white, but they do them exceptionally well and the place is just stunning!  The guy that helped us the day we were there reflected the passion of the estate, he could not stop, in the nicest way possible! We will go back, on the next warm day…

Craft beer is big in Cape Town and most liquor stores carry some, Jack Black’s Pale Ale has become a favourite of mine. I feel really sorry for those poor “inlanders” that are denied this pleasure (well, not a lot of sorry). Gerda has developed a taste for Everson’s Cloudy Cider – roll on summer!

I had a chat here with a committed Gautenger recently and he complained about the winter weather – I just had to point out that in summer in Cape Town, you can actually PLAN a braai, the chance of rain is not even contemplated. Try that in Jo’burg, there always has to be a Plan B.

About braais, fresh fish on the coals, absolutely yummy! Even our local Pick n Pay has a larger variety of fresh fish than any store in Pretoria – and it is fresh, when you ask for it, they ask you whether you want it skin on or off, then they take the scales off in front of you! Sushi quality fish over the counter at the local supermarket!

The Saturday morning market at the Biscuit Mill deserves a blog of its own – breads, veggies, beer, meat, spices, pickles…the list just goes on and on…

The Oceanarium at the Waterfront (twice), taking the cable car up Table Mountain, a visit to Stellenbosch and selected wine farms and the Cheetah Sanctuary in Somerset West are also what would be termed “touristy” things to do. Still, one has to do them and they are so worth it, just don’t do them at the height of the tourist season, unless you love standing in queues!

A Culinary Reunion

Unbelievable! We’ve been in Cape Town for almost eight months and are still happy with the move.

During this period we did a lot of the touristy things – went up Table Mountain, took the ferry to Robben Island, toured the Winelands around Stellenbosch, had Fish and Chips at Mitchell’s at the Waterfront, visited the Hout Bay Craft Market (and had Fish and Chips), did the Saturday morning market at the Biscuit Mill…

And that is just a few.

Cape Town, however, has the way of making it very easy to just stay at home and have a glass of wine… Fearing that we may fall into this bad habit, decided to visit at least one new place every week and guess that this will keep us busy for the next couple of years – there is just so much to do in and around Cape Town. Every Cape Tonian has his or her own list of favourite places and things to do.

I am going to try and write about all the interesting experiences and places and, hopefully add some photos now and then.

The first one is about the most recent event, a reunion on more than one level - dinner at La Pentola Hermanus. We’ve known Chef Shane Sauvage for around eighteen years and were regulars at the original La Pentola in Pretoria where we enjoyed many a memorable meal and attended a number of Gourmet Evenings where Shane pairs food with wines from wine farms.

He has an incredible talent for picking flavours and smells from wines and coming up with dishes complimenting the wine!

Shane moved to the Cape more than three years ago and then opened a La Pentola in Hermanus.

Yesterday (Saturday 14 June 2014) we popped in unannounced just to say hello and it was like we’d last seen each other weeks ago, as it goes with true friends. We then heard that he was going to have the second Hermanus Gourmet Evening last night and we realised that we could not miss this!

If you have never been to one of these Shane dinners, put it very high up on your bucket list – right now!

Iona wines, Sophie Terreblance Sauvignon Blanc, Iona Sauvignon Blanc, Iona Mr. P Pinot Noir and One Man Band were the wines served with what Shane described as “comfort food” to go with the weather. We were comforted, filled and left with an incredible sense of well being – we had forgotten what Shane’s food does to not only the palate, but the soul!

As I said, a true reunion of friends and tastes!

A bit more on the menu:

The Iona Sophie Te’blanche was served as an arrival drink and was followed by the Iona Sauvignon Blanc served with Shane’s take on the classical shrimp cocktail – a hollowed out bun filled with shrimps, mushrooms a beautiful sauce and fresh avocado on the side.

Next up was a parma ham parcel with a port reduction perfectly complimented by the Mr P Pinot Noir.

With the One Man Band we had lamb shank – falling off the bone soft, tender, succulent, certainly the best lamb shank I’ve ever had!

The finale was an old favourite, the Triple Choc Terrine – three layers of chocolate ice cream, dark, white and milk that is so smooth it has to be a sin!

I know that Hermanus is not strictly speaking part of Cape Town, but it is only ninety minutes away and a visit to La Pentola Hermanus is a must. Plan to visit during whale season, the restaurant on Beach Road has the best view of the bay and what could make a day better than excellent food, good wine and watching the whales at play?