In between the walking tours around Cape Town’s varied districts and the ferry trips to Robben Island one can develop quite a hunger. The best thing about this city is the plethora of good restaurants and cafes. We also had a really great hitlist thanks to John’s cousin Aidan and Karen’s friend from work.
La Mouette (Sea Point)
http://www.lamouette-restaurant.co.za/
Set in the affluent sea-side district of Sea Point, this French Style restaurant was amazing. Set inside a beautiful original feature Tudor Building on Regent Road that used to be the Cape Town Mayor’s family home it mixed style with substance to produce a great meal.
The Chef Patron is Henry Vigar who had settled as head chef at Kensington Palace in Notting Hill. In 2008 he met Mari Vermaak (now Vigar) and with 2 years they had bought 2 One-Way tickets to Cape Town to begin a new venture based on their shared culinary passions.
Lucky us.
Pre-Requisite: Sundowner cocktails on Beach Road – looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean
Black Sheep (Tamboerskloof)
https://blacksheeprestaurant.co.za/
The owner Johnny cultivated a love of gastropubs in Dublin (Chapter One) and The Blue Print Café (London) to create a unique dining experience. A huge room sized blackboard (think Wall Street circa 1910) – invites you to choose your meal (or if that’s not your forte they have a smattering of ipads available).
The Chef – Jorge uses his experience in South Africa and South America to fill that blackboard with amazing dishes.
Here is the best thing – the menu changes everyday!!
Clarke’s (Bree Street)
http://www.clarkesdining.co.za/
Nestled between the CBD and Bo Kaap is this trendy bar and restaurant that would not look out of place in Melbourne’s Fitzroy District or Sydney’s Surrey Hills.
Great for a coffee or sandwich and they have fully bought into the South African custom of serving wine with optional ice!
Café Paradiso (Tamboerskloof)
http://www.cafeparadiso.co.za/
Rustic Mediterranean Café covered in vines and with a courtyard setting. Great spot for lunch.
Mezepoli (Camp’s Bay)
Located on Victoria Road and looking out onto the beach at Camp’s Bay – Mediterranean Tapas style cuisine in your standard holiday setting – all white linen, ocean themed paintings, azure cushions and glass tables drapped in white linen. Very friendly staff – in between tzatziki and hummus we helped our waiter plan his trip to Sydney.
The restaurant opens out onto the busy Victoria Road so people watching is a must. It also introduced John to the delight of Elgin Cider.
Lion’s Head
With all that amazing food we felt the need to go on a hike. Nestled between Table Mountain and Signal Hill is a single peak 669 Metres tall. Climbing it would be the perfect trek.
The shape of the mountain combined with Signal Hill resembles a Sphinx (crouching lion). The resemblance inspired the Dutch as Leeuwen Kop (Lion’s Head), much like Cape Leeuwen in Western Australia with Signal Hill named as Leeuwen Staart (Lion’s Tail).
The route up was very hard in high humidity but the views were worth it – Table Mountain, 12 Apostle Peaks, Camp’s Bay, Cape Town, the Atlantic Seaboard and much more besides.
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