Showing posts with label restaurants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label restaurants. Show all posts

04 December 2006

stuffing the Ring of Fat - part II: Cape Town, etc.

Just what you've been waiting for! Here's the rest of the RoF food porn report. Again, stay away from this post if you're hungry ;-)

  • Seaforth Restaurant
    Lunch before seeing the penguins at Boulders'. We both had the seafood curry. It was served in one of those Little Black Bottomless Pots of RoF Doom. The curry was quite good; I would have liked it a little spicier but the spices were very nice and complemented the seafood. And the seafood was plentiful – lots of fresh shellfish and fish. Like I said, Little Black Bottomless Pots of RoF Doom...

    We also ate at Seaforth a second time, along the way to our second trip to Cape Point. The second time, we each got the grilled tuna steak with bell pepper salsa. Washed down with a Grapetiser, a carbonated grape juice. Yum. Very fresh tuna, and a huge portion of it too. Obesity on the rise in South Africa. With portions like what we've been getting throughout our whole trip... ;-)

    Oh, this restaurant is right by a big public beach... and the second time we were there there was a penguin on the beach. I wonder how often they show up, to the delight of the beach-goers ;-)


  • The restaurant at the Holiday Inn at Eastern Boulevard (Cape Town)
    No need for links. We only ate here because we arrived so late into Cape Town and it was near our bed and breakfast. Anyway, we had the butternut soup as a starter, which wasn't too bad. It was actually quite nice...

    The main course was "mixed grill" for me and grilled kingklip for boyfriend of feitpingvin. Mine was OK and boyfriend of feitpingvin's was OK but after what we got in Stellenbosch, kind of a letdown.

    I'm not going to say anymore here... not really worth saying too many negative things when for all we know it could have been a very “off” night...


  • Mitchell's Brewery (V&A Waterfront, Cape Town)
    More for the tasty beer than the food. We had fish and chips though. It was OK. Not the greatest in the world, but not bad either. Again, people go here for the beer...


  • Ikhaya African Restaurant (V&A Waterfront, Cape Town)
    We both had the "Go Wild" - a platter with kudu, springbok, and ostrich. It's the house specialty. Mmmm...meat... Oh, and we were giggling ourselves silly over having “argued” about how much we were going to spend on wine. We splurged on a R 150 bottle (the Blaauwklippen Shiraz). You will never get a wine of that caliber for R 150 (the NOK equivalent is about the same) in a restaurant. NEVER!

    This would be the last time we both had wine with dinner... we took a taxi to Ikhaya. But the whole procedure was kind of a pain and we found it was easiest just to drive to the Waterfront (as there was plenty of easy parking) for most of our dinners and then have wine back at the B&B. Yeah, kind of boring, but, well, what can you do?


  • Alpenstube (Hout Bay)
    After World of Birds, we were desperate for lunch and came across this Austrian restaurant. We got the three-course special of the day, for R 49. As a starter, we got Freittatern soup. It was the typical broth soup with some kind of dumpling in it, just like what we got in Vienna.

    The main dish was a choice of roast pork or roast lamb, so I ordered the one while boyfriend of feitpingvin ordered the other. Served with a proper sauerkraut. It was in all OK – good for a cheap lunch.

    For dessert, we had Apfelstrüdel and coffee. It was also OK but nothing like what I got in Vienna.

    In case you don't like daily specials, you can get a Curry Wurst with a roll and potato salad :-)

    The only thing missing here is yodeling and lederhosen ;-)


  • Constantia Nek Restaurant (Constantia)
    While actually just outside of Cape Town, this is the oldest restaurant in Cape Town. We came across this place on the way home from Kirstenbosch. The restaurant itself was very cosy and welcoming, and smelled good.



    As for the food... we ordered the filet of ostrich with cherry- and port sauce. It was served with mashed potatoes and vegetables. I must say... DID WE GET THE WHOLE OSTRICH? The portion was huge. It didn't look that big when we got it, but we each got three big chunks of meat. Very tender, tasty meat too. And the mashed potatoes weren't exactly something one would throw out either... dang!



    This place was so good we ate here a second time. The second time I ordered the linefish of the day, which was Yellowtail. Boyfriend of feitpingvin had the prawns. Again, big RoF-approved portion, excellent meal. We also got dessert – I got the Cape brandy fruit cake, boyfriend of feitpingvin got the apple crumble. I want to make a fruit cake like that... mmmmmmmmmm...

    Oh, and our waiter, Winston, is a really cool guy, so if you're ever at Constantia Nek, you have to say hello from us. Our second time there, he remembered us from the first time and was very happy to see us again :-)


  • lunch before the Robben Island tour
    Pizza at a fast food joint. Not only did we get a big-ass slice of pizza (and good pizza too!), we got a big serving of fries/chips/pommes frites on the side. We also had a choice of drink and got orange juice. To be healthy and all ;-)


  • Cape Town Fish Market (V&A Waterfront, Cape Town)
    We wanted to compare this one and the one in Stellenbosch ;-) I got the stacked kingklip...



    Boyfriend of feitpingvin got the "sizzler" - fish and seafood in a piri-piri sauce.



    Can't say I could complain about my meal, or boyfriend of feitpingvin's ;-)

    We both had some kind of peppermint-chocolate mousse dessert which was OK but a bit on the overly sweet side for my taste...



  • Krugmann's Grill (V&A Waterfront, Cape Town)
    We both got the grilled kudu. Very tender and flavorful (just can't get enough of the wonderful game here), and again, a very huge piece of meat. Mine was a bit more rare than boyfriend of feitpingvin's (what sound does a kudu make when you sink your fork into it?) hehe... This time I just couldn't finish my meal. It was just too much, even for my abominable RoF. The most amusing part of the dining experience here was after ordering our meal, our waiter came with a box of knives and we got to select the steak knife we wanted to use for our steaks. We had the choice of three different sizes, the largest being rather huge. I chose the medium-sized knife ;-)



  • The Orchard at Elgin
    We had some breakfast at this very charming farm/farm stall along the way to Cape Agulhas. We each had the Orchard Breakfast – eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast with homemade jam, orange juice, and coffee. Very tasty and RoF-friendly.


  • Paulaner
    This was a meal we really, really wanted, as we had not eaten since the (huge) breakfast at The Orchard, except for a few oranges. I'm not sure how I managed to not have a severe blood sugar crash... maybe because of all the protein and fat... anyway...

    We each had a very large duck breast with red cabbage and a potato dumpling on the side. It was very tasty. And probably eaten within 10 minutes if anyone bothered to time us ;-)



  • "The Gift" at Imhoff Farm
    We came here after our second trip to Cape Point. We were originally thinking of going somewhere else, but they were closed (we later learned they had gone out of business). We eventually spotted this place on our map and decided to go. It was getting late and dark and the place looked kind of isolated... but lo and behold, the restaurant was indeed open! And it looked like a nice cosy place, even with the screaming peacocks in the yard (beautiful birds – though they make noises like cats being strangled), so we ventured in...

    We had escargot as a starter. The snails weren't as large as the ones we had in Stellenbosch, but they were tasty all the same. And very, very garlicky!



    We had the duck breast with orange sauce for our main course. Yes, we also had duck breast the evening before. I don't care. I love duck breast. And this duck breast was enormous, juicy, and very yummy... I barely had room for the vegetables and potatoes on the side... urk ;-)



    This place was kind of "special," more for the owner than anything else. He was a bit of character, though in a good way. He came over to our table several times, to chat with us. Already when we first arrived, he was on the phone, and while apparently on hold, he asked us if we were the ones he saw walking near this township... but then he was back on the phone again. When he came to our table the first time, he asked us again if we were the couple he saw walking near a township. We said no, we were driving... he stated the obvious – as a non-black you just don't go into townships unless you know what you're doing, where you're going, who you're going to see, etc.

    As he came over to our table back and forth, we talked about a lot of different things. Just pleasant smalltalk. Eventually, a conversation turned to wine. He asked us what we thought about the wine here, where we've visited, etc. We told him that the wine was excellent here, and very cheap compared to Norway. He asked us what the most expensive wine we bought to take home was... we answered 170 rand. He suddenly asked us if we wanted a bottle of wine, from the Scarborough region (where the farm is located or something like that). Wow! No way we were going to say no to an offer like that! :-) We were quite overwhelmed with such a gesture. We hope to be able to do something as kind in return some day...

    Information about this wine in the tasting notes...


  • Hudson's at Vredenheim Winery
    We had lunch here before returning to the airport. I had a biltong salad with sun-dried tomatoes and avocado, washed down with sparkling grape juice made of grapes from the farm, and boyfriend of feitpingvin had a “wineland breakfast” - omelette, sausage, bacon, fried mushrooms and tomatoes, a little salad, and bread with jam and cheese, and some juice and coffee.


Darn... I'm really hungry and missing South Africa now... :-/

05 November 2006

stuffing the Ring of Fat - part I: Stellenbosch/Cape Winelands

DISCLAIMER: Food porn coming up! Do not read this report if you're very hungry!

Along with good wine, one must have good food and lots of it. Our Rings of Fat (RoF) demanded it! And the Western Cape does not disappoint in that department! By Norwegian standards, food is extremely cheap. Furthermore, the portions are quite large, like US supersizing, but the quality of what you get typically get in South African restaurants is superior to what you get in the States. The meat and fish you get is out of this world. Don't come here if you're on a strict weight loss diet ;-)

Information on the wines are in the tasting notes posts, either for whites or rosés or sparking, or for reds...

I'll write a separate post on South African cuisine in general.

OK. OK, enough of this boring chit-chat. On with the goodies!

  • The café at the airport. After we got the rental car in order, we decided to get a proper breakfast (the crap we got on our flight just wasn't working for us) and some coffee at the café at the airport, before heading out to Stellenbosch. We had oatmeal with bananas, and orange juice and coffee to wash it down. Very nice. European prices though.


  • Dros Restaurant and Wine Cellar at Stellenbosch. Grilled chicken with piri-piri sauce for me, calamari steak for boyfriend of feitpingvin. The chicken was tender and juicy and the piri-piri sauce gave a nice kick. And of course I tasted the calamari steak, which was tender and tasty. Afterwards, we had a huge piece of cheesecake for dessert, along with a glass of local port and some coffee.

    We had a bottle of wine with our meal (Drostdty-Hof Chardonnay 2005)... and got a second bottle of wine for free! They had this 2-for-1 special going. The bottle that was on special was sold out, and we ordered a different bottle, not really caring that we were missing out on the deal, and ended up getting a second bottle anyway. Very nice. That would never happen in Norway, or most other places in Europe ;-) We took the second bottle back to the guest house to have there...


  • Homemade dinner at the guest house. I made tasty ostrich burgers and salad. We had originally planned on eating out part of the time and cooking with local ingredients part of the time, but we found out that eating out was so friggin' cheap (for us) that it was best to eat out the rest of the time. Let someone else do the dishes ;-)



  • Breakfast at the guest house. We had a self-catering unit, so I always made breakfast. I would do that while boyfriend of feitpingvin was showering. Breakfast ingredients were pretty cheap – I usually made omelettes with free-range eggs, bacon, organic cheese, and tomatoes. Served with bread. Or we would just have slices of bread with peanut butter and jam, or meat and cheese, or whatever else. Washed down with skim milk and coffee made from powder (eek)...

    Oh, and at least in Stellenbosch, we usually had breakfast outside, on the porch ;-)




  • The café at Jonkershoek Nature Reserve. A very simple (but good) lunch, as we snacked on protein bars during our hike. I had a chicken salad and boyfriend of feitpingvin had a sandwich with egg and bacon, I think it was. All washed down with orange juice and coffee.


  • Cape Town Fish Market at Stellenbosch: we started the evening by drinking a Castle Lager. I had been warned that Castle = pisswater. I should have listened to these warnings ;-P

    Starter – escargot with butter and parmesean. The snails were gigantic! I've had escargot lots of times, and I don't remember ever getting snails that were so big. And very tasty.

    Main course – grilled linefish and calamari platter for me. Linefish is the South African term for fish of the day – didn't write down what it actually was and don't remember now). Boyfriend of feitpingvin had the grilled calamari cajun-style. Both were lovely and the portions were huge. RoF was very stuffed and happy. We had the Delheim Pinotage Rosé 2005 to go with the meal. Kind of unusual to have a rosé with seafood, but the combination wasn't too bad...


  • Basic Bistro (Stellenbosch): Mmm...lunch. I had a gypsy ham sandwich on “health bread” with mozerella cheese and gooseberry jam. Very tasty and filling. Boyfriend of feitpingvin had a chicken pasta with Egyptian spices (dukkah?). It was also quite tasty; the spices were wonderful. We both had Windhoek Lager, from Namibia, with our meals. Windhoek Lager is brewed according to German purity laws. It's not too bad for a mass-produced product. We also had some Tafel Lager, also from Namibia.


  • Fishmonger (Stellenbosch): an upscale fish restaurant in Stellenbosch. As our aperitif, we had a Savanna Dry Cider each. It's a popular cider from Stellenbosch and I can understand why it's popular – it's refreshing and tastes great!

    Starter – I had calamari stuffed with salmon, spinach, feta cheese, and garlic. Excellent stuff. Very tender calamari. Boyfriend of feitpingvin had mussels in a very tasty white wine sauce. Mmmm...





    We both had kingklip stuffed with with mushrooms, onion, tomato, and mozerella with paprika, beer, and garlic sauce as our main course. The fish was interesting – a very different flavor and consistency, but very pleasant, and the sauce was wonderful and rich. We had different side dishes though. I had vegetables on the side, as shown in the picture, while boyfriend of feitpingvin had potatoes.



    Our wine was the Della Cia Sauvignon Blanc 2005 (Meerlust).

    Booking is essential here! This place is very popular!

    Oh, and this is what a kingklip looks like ;-)


  • Goederust Farm Kitchen (Franschhoek): This was the lunch stop that was included in our first wine tour. We had bobotie for lunch. Bobotie is a traditional Cape Malay curry topped with custard, and is considered a regional (if not national) specialty. It was pretty good here, but I eventually made it here at home and got a much better result ;-) I'll try to post a recipe later on...


  • Jan Cats (Stellenbosch): starter – duo of crocodile and calamari with homemade tartare. Crocodile meat is light and has a nice, mild flavor. I eventually learned that crocodile meat comes from the tail of the crocodile. I'm surprised it isn't more popular...



    We had springbok with berry sauce as our main dish. The meat was lovely, a “light” (in color) red meat. It was very tender and juicy and tasty. The sauce was also quite nice.



    The wine was the Imbizo Cabernet Sauvignon - a wonderful game wine!

  • The Vineyard Kitchen at Dombeya/Haskell. I had an ostrich, strawberry, and pear salad and boyfriend of feitpingvin had ostrich fajitas. The salad was very nice and had a fantastic dressing. The fajitas weren't too bad either :-)

    We had a bottle of their shiraz with our meal, the one that wasn't a part of the wines they have visitors taste. Again, this is a shame, as the shiraz is excellent, and if people got a chance to sample it, they would be more likely to buy it...

    It was nice and peaceful here, with a nice view of the vineyards and mountains.


  • Sosati Braai Restaurant: this place is across the street from Basic Bistro.

    Starter – "Crocodile Sosati" - crocodile marinated in orange zest and chili. Mmmm...

    Main course – I had gembok (oryx) lasagne made with sweet potatoes instead of noodles. It was a very interesting version of lasagne. Gembok is very lamb-like (at least what I had) and the combination of meat in the tomato sauce, the bechamel sauce, and the sweet potatoes were surprisingly perfect. I'd like to try making something similar at home. Boyfriend of feitpingvin had grilled gnu (wildebeest). That was also delicious – the meat just melted in your mouth. Mmmm...

    Our wine of choice was the Slaley Pinotage.

    We also ordered dessert. I had milktart (melktert), a traditional Cape Malay dessert. It's kind of like a custard pie, but with more milk than eggs, and flavored with cinnamon. Boyfriend of feitpingvin had koeksisters, another traditional dessert, a sort of doughnut-like thing drenched in syrup.


  • La Petite Ferme: we had a very lovely lunch here after our trip to the language monument and the crocodile farm. They only serve lunch, from what I understand.

    Anyway, we had the Franschhoek rainbow trout served with tomato- and coriander-braised baby fennel gratinated in parmesean, diced potato with caramelized onion, rosemary, celery, white wine, and sherry. Oh my Flying Spaghetti Monster, the fish was absolutely perfectly prepared! It was amazing! And the portion again was huuuuuuuge!



    RoF also wanted dessert so it got dessert. I had the limoncello-doused polenta cake served with lemon ice cream and candied lime.



    Boyfriend of feitpingvin had the Aztec chocolate and chili pot lavished with coffee marscapone cheese and Marula nut brittle.




  • De Volkskombuis: my starter was "wild salad" – carpaccio of three different kinds of game wrapped in goat cheese, served on a bed of salad.



    Boyfriend of feitpingvin's starter was a crispy duck spring roll. We shared all of this – everything was absolutely delicious in each their own way.



    I ordered the pork loin stuffed with prunes and apricots for my main course: This was served with sweet potato mash and lots of vegetables. Tender and tasty meat. Mmm...pork...



    Boyfriend of feitpingvin had lamb curry, served in a potjie - a Little Black Bottomless Pot of RoF Doom. What's a Little Black Bottomless Pot of RoF Doom you ask? Let me tell you... you get served this cute though seemingly little black pot of food. And then you take a big serving of food, eat it up, and then get some more food out of the pot, eat it, get more food out, eat it, get more food out... it never seems to end...




  • We had the Rainbow's End Shiraz with our meal here.


The Cape Town food report will come later on, when you're done digesting this one... :-)