Sunday, May 15, 2011

My experience at Die Rooi Granaat……….04-03-2011



We decided to escape the city life for a weekend and get away to the West Coast town known as Yzerfontein. We stayed at this wonderful gem of a spot called Rykie’s Retreat. You can read more about it in my Accommodation section. So not knowing the area at all we didn’t know where to go for dinner that Friday night. We asked the host (Maureen) of our accommodation which place she would suggest. She said there is a lovely little place across the road from them called Die Rooi Granaat. She said they only have a limited amount of seats and only have a few dishes on the menu but they are really good. So across the street we went to go and have a look. They are only open at night so they were busy setting up and getting ready for their night shift as we popped by. There was another couple sitting outside of the restaurant who also started telling us how great this place was. They only had one more table available for the evening. The other restaurant that we wanted to walk to and have a look at was quite far away so we decided not to risk it and took the last table.

Die Rooi Granaat is owned and run by two Afrikaans guys by the names of Evert Smit and Marais Ziervogel. Evert is the chef and Marais is the front of house manager/waiter. They don’t have menus. The evening’s dishes is written up on a black board and Marais is your walking, talking wine list. There is also only a select number of each dish so when that dish is finished for the evening it gets removed from the black board. The décor in the place almost reminds you of your granny’s house. Not the old and smelly type (like some granny’s houses) but because you can see there is a story behind each piece of furnisher and décor piece. I even recognized one of the chairs as the same type my gran used to have in her house. Most of the tables had various styles of chairs. You just feel so at home when you are there.


For starters we had the Rooi Granaat House Salad which was delicious. They could maybe just add a little less salad dressing. For mains my partner had the Fillet Madagascar and I had the Peri-peri indian black tiger prawns as I felt more like seafood. Needless to say they were both delicious. The soft green peppercorns just popped in your mouth as you bit into them and the rice that was with my prawns had the most fragrant aftertaste that we just couldn’t put our fingers on. And of course they wouldn’t tell us what it was either!

Overall it was a great experience and it felt like you were visiting a good old friend while sitting there. We were so excited about having discovered this place that we can’t wait to take some of our friends there so that they can experience this amazing one of a kind dining experience. As I previously mentioned they are only open in the evenings, except for Sundays when they are closed for the whole day and they also do private functions. They don’t have their own website but you can go and check out their ever changing menu at the link below.

Yours in fun & food,

Elly D

Shop 17a, Villa Fontana Centre
Lutie Katz Avenue
Yzerfontein, West Coast
Cape Town
022-451 2143

My Experience at Sevruga..........13-05-2011

I usually go to Beluga (the sister restaurant of Sevruga, for those of you that don’t know) for sushi as they have such great sushi. This time we felt like something different so we thought we’d try Sevruga. Unfortunately it was a cold evening so we couldn’t enjoy the view out on the patio, but opted for a table inside. We were seated inside next to their wall or red wines, which is such a nice idea for a restaurant’s decor.

I started the evening with my favourite Blood Orange Coconut Mojito. It was as good as usual but this particular one had so much crushed ice in it that it was finished in just a few sips!

For starters I decided on their oysters. I used to LOVE oysters until I had an extremely bad experience where I got food poisoning from some oysters that knocked me out for a whole day! So since then I have been a bit wary about ordering oysters. I neglected to ask the waiter (Chad) where these oysters were from but oh man, were they good! So fat and meaty! A cute touch that they added to the oysters was serving them with Tabasco jelly. I have never seen that before but it is a brilliant idea!

I am such a sucker for a seared tuna steak so whenever I see that on the menu the chances are pretty big that I am going to order it. So needless to say I had the Sesame seared tuna steak, roasted vegetables, and balsamic reduction. Of course I had it medium rare and it was absolutely delicious! The sesame seed crust rounds off the soft texture of the fish perfectly. Even the veggies it was served with was divine.

My partner had the Fillet rouge, pommes purée, sautéed mushroom, and beef reduction seeing as he couldn’t have the tuna steaks like he wanted to initially as I was having it.  Oh my goodness, this fillet steak was heavenly! My favourite thing in the whole wide world is mushrooms so I should have actually known that this dish would have been a winner when I saw it was served with sautéed mushrooms. The combination of the mushrooms and the beef reduction complemented the taste of the meat perfectly.  The accompanying slightly sweeter taste of the pommes purée dampens the saltiness of the beef and the mushrooms which prevents the meaty flavour from overpowering the dish.

Even though we were stuffed and extremely satisfied we decided to be piggies and have a dessert as well. While looking at the menu for mains we already spotted this dessert, so we knew from the beginning what it was that we were going to have for dessert. The Chocolate fondant, with soft oozing centre, and white chocolate ice cream. The description alone is enough to get you drooling and it definitely lived up to its name. It was amazing! So much so that you savor every bite of it! Slowly letting it melt even further in your mouth and allowing it to drip down into your throat as oppose to swallowing it. This dessert was so good that I didn’t even feel guilty about having it at all!! :-)

Overall I am very glad that we decided to go to Sevruga for a change and not our usual visit to Beluga. The service was outstanding as well! They will definitely see us again soon!!

Yours in fun & food,

Elly D

Shop 4, Quay 5
V&A Waterfront
Cape Town
021-421 5134



My Experience at Rykie’s Retreat..........06-03-2011

We were looking for a little romantic place to go away to for the weekend. We had only decided by the Wednesday that we wanted to go away that weekend so we weren’t too hopeful on finding much that was still available. We didn’t feel like driving too far as that would just be time wasted that could’ve been spend relaxing. Luckily the weather was still quite nice as it was in the beginning of March.

Therefore we decided on the West Coast. We contacted the tourism info of Yzerfontein and explained to them exactly what it was that we were looking for. They suggested Rykie’s Retreat.

It was amazing! I think for the first 30 minutes after arriving there I just couldn’t stop staring at the view! No matter where in the flat you are (expect for maybe on the toilet) you can see the ocean! You can’t escape it! The flat is at the bottom of the owner’s (Maureen & Judith) house and that always puts me off, but you didn’t even know she was there. Beforehand she “warned” us that the only time we would see her is at 18:00 when she has to come down to put the sprinklers on. The property in front of the house is also owned by them. Or so I think. The erf that the house is built on is much higher than the open property (which is basically just a massive garden with a little path leading down to the beach road) so there is absolutely nothing that can interfere with your view. Because the flat is so high up no one from the road can see up into the flat either. So you can keep the curtains open all the time to enjoy the spectacular view from the massive windows. Well so we hope because we hardly ever closed the curtains! J 

Even while you are in the shower you look out over the ocean. The best thing is falling asleep at night to the sound of the breaking waves and having the seagulls wake you up in the morning. Everything is extremely tidy and new. You have your own TV and DSTV as well as well as a little braai area would you want to have a little afternoon or evening braai. Although the fridge in the flat itself is only a small bar fridge there is a separate room that you can lock with a massive fridge in to keep your supplies.
For those of you that have been to Yzerfontein before knows there is not much to do. That is why this is the perfect place to go relax and spent lazy afternoons lying on the beach. We also discovered this awesome little restaurant called Die Rooi Granaat which had the most amazing meals. It is literally across the road so you can just walk home to the flat after having an amazing meal. You can read more about this great little place under Restaurant Reviews.
They really do go the extra mile here. Maureen leaves a bottle of really good Darling Sauvignon Blanc, milk and mineral water in the fridge for you. Lekker rusks, muesli, fruit and of course the usual coffee and tea. They also have free WI-FI internet, but I suggest you switch off completely when you come here. The pier is just around the corner from Rykie’s as well. You can take the little path thru the extended garden to the beach road and walk to the pier. We went there both nights with a bottle of wine to watch the magnificent sunset while sitting on the rocks watching the waves break in front of you. There are really little words to describe this. You will just simply have to experience it for yourself!


Yours in fun & accommodation,

Elly D

Yzerfontein, West Coast
Cape Town
022-451 2221

Sunday, May 8, 2011

My Experience at Taste of Cape Town……….06-05-2011

Since I went to the Taste of Cape Town for the first time two years ago I have been hooked ever since. It is the easiest way in which to taste so many different dishes from so many different restaurants. It is also a great way to discover a new restaurant, which is exactly what happened when I went there two years ago when I discovered Il Leone. Needless to say, I was as excited as ever to go again this year. The venue this year was definitely the best one they have had so far as well.

Signal at Cape Grace

Confit duck tart with preserved ginger and pickled shimeji mushrooms
This wasn’t too bad. A little bit of a sweet taste due to the preserved ginger, but duck is mostly associated with a bit of a sweeter taste. The pickled shimeji mushroom added very little to no flavour to the dish. It didn’t compliment the duck. The tart was a little bit oily but one can expect that from a pastry.  
Confit Duck Tart

Cape Grace Paella
Cape Grace Paella

I had never before had raw Norwegian Salmon in paella before so that was a bit different. To be honest, I have had better paella’s. The rice tasted a bit smokey. A little bit of chorizo sausage might have done this paella wonders.


Il Leone Mastrantonio

As I previously mentioned, two years ago when I went to the Taste of Cape Town I discovered Il Leone and since then we have been going there regularly. They have the best pasta by far! Therefore I was really looking forward to seeing what they would have to offer at the TOCT this year. Unfortunately they were not that impressive this year!

Insalata al tonno scottao – Cubes of seared tuna served with cherry tomatoes, avocado, caper berries, olives and basil and tossed in an olive and lemon vinaigrette
This salad was very fresh and tasted lovely. The tuna cubes were done to perfection and the salad was very flavourful!

Classic Italian clam pasta
I was really not impressed with this dish at all! The clams were tiny and there was hardly any meat inside the clams. The pasta was also very oily and lacked taste. Definitely not something I would rush back to Il Leone to go have.
None the less, Il Leone still stays my favourite Italian restaurant.

Bistro Sixteen82

Sticky five-spiced free-range pork belly. Served with salted caramel and apple celeriac espuma
I am not generally a fan of pork belly as I immediately think “extremely fatty” when I hear the name, but this one was surprisingly good and succulent. It was also not fatty at all.

Societi Bistro

Chicken liver parfait on toast with pineapple chutney
 This was surprisingly good! Something so simple yet the taste was amazing! Extremely delicious liver parfait which was complimented well by the pineapple chutney!
Chicken Liver Parfait
 
Seared squid, chilli, mint and rocket
This squid wasn’t too bad but definitely not mind blowing. The chilly and mint was a good combination.
Seared squid

Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine

 I have never really heard of Jordan before, but after what I tasted that night I will definitely be going there more frequently!
Aged Chalmar sirloin and foie gras bourguignon
If I was on death row and they asked me what I wanted as my last meal, this would be it! OH MY WORD! I don’t even think there are enough descriptive words to explain the way this dish tasted! The sirloin was so so soft you could tear it with your bare hands. The creamy, cheesy like texture and taste of the mash it was served on was incredible! I really took my time eating this one, savouring every bite! This was definitely my favourite meal out of everything I tasted that night.

  
Barrel-smoked kingklip fettuccini
This dish was also extremely tasty. Not as wonderful as the Sirloin though. The picture doesn’t do it justice. It was topped with grated cheese and had a lingering Pernod aftertaste.    
Barrel-smoked kingklip fettuccini
Overall I had a good experince and am so excited about having discovered Jordan Restaurant. I am already looking forward to next year's Taste of Cape Town! :-)

Yours in fun & food,

Elly D

http://www.tasteofcapetown.com/


Monday, May 2, 2011

My Experience at Penelope’s Guesthouse..........30-04-2011

My boyfriend and I decided to go to Stellenbosch for the weekend and needed a place to stay. One of the places that we came across was Penelope’s Guesthouse. It didn’t have too many comments from previous guests, but from what we could tell from the pictures it looked good. Later, we realized that the lack of comments was because it had only opened its doors in December 2010. Seeing as it was cheaper than all the other quotes we had gotten and because it looked really nice we decided to go.
As we arrived we got welcomed by Penny, the owner of the guesthouse, and her vicious beast Cindy! (Just kidding Penny J) We were the only guests there that weekend so we got to choose which room we wanted to stay in. All the rooms are basically the same except for the slight difference in view. The rooms are spacious enough to fit an extremely comfortable king size bed in. The room also has an aircon which can be used as a heater during those colder nights, new television with your own limited package DSTV channels and, the part I liked the most, your own PRIVATE balcony. There is nothing worse than wanting to share a glass of wine or a cup of coffee with your partner while enjoying the magnificent view, when you have to share it with some stranger. The view we had from our bed was amazing! Perfect Mountain View. Seeing as we went in autumn all the leaves had already turned red and orange so the view was truly amazing!
The location is quite central and close to most of the attractions. The five bedrooms share a common open kitchenette area with a mini fridge, coffee and tea facilities and the most amazing rusks (home-made) you will ever eat! The five rooms have their own separate entrance to the main house. The guest rooms are upstairs while the host family lives downstairs so your room is private enough. In the morning you have breakfast downstairs which is made to your order, while sitting peacefully and reading the paper. We felt so at home that we actually wanted to go and eat breakfast in our pajamas! Seeing as it was cold we didn’t get to have breakfast outside on the stoep and we didn’t get to use the pool either. The downstairs area also has an indoor braai facility which is also separate to the main house, so if a larger group hired out the whole guesthouse they could make use of these facilities as well.

We really had a lovely stay and would definitely recommend it to friends looking for accommodation in Stellenbosch and would stay there again next time we visit Stellies. Penny is extremely welcoming and lets you get on with your own business. I was forgetful enough to leave my pillow behind and before I had even realized that I forgot it, she had already send me an email letting me know. She even offered to bring it to me seeing as she visits Cape Town regularly.

Yours in fun & accommodation,

Elly D

21 Speciosa Street
Stellenbosch
Cape Town
Hosts: Dries & Penny Malan
021-880 2148
082-412 1445

My experience at Basic Bistro……….29-04-2011


My boyfriend and I decided to go away for the weekend to Stellenbosch. We stayed in this lovely Bed & Breakfast called Penelope’s. Check out its review under Accommodation.
We don’t know the area that well but we knew that there are so many little cozy restaurants in Stellenbosch that we decided not to book one beforehand. Instead we decided to park our car in Church Street and take a walk to find the perfect restaurant. At first I was a bit nervous about doing this but it turned out to be the right choice!

We looked at the menus from quite a few places but when we popped our heads in at Basic Bistro, we knew that this one would be the winner. Even though it was quite chilly outside we choose a table outside on the patio were we could take in a bit of the busy street as the night was coming alive. While cuddled under our brightly coloured blankie to warm up, we feasted our eyes on the menu. With our mouths watering we decided on what to order, thanks to the help from the waiters as well. Here you don’t have one waiter designated to you. Instead all of them serve you which ensure that you will get enough attention and will not be forgotten. We decided on a crisp bottle (or two J) of Hill & Dale Sauvignon Blanc 2009. A very nice easy drinking Sav.

For starters we shared their Caprese Salad (Buffalo Mozzarella, Cherry Tomatoes & Basil Pesto) which was amazing! The soft texture and plain taste of the mozzarella perfectly complements the strong fragrant taste of the basil pesto and the juiciness of the tomatoes! For mains I initially wanted to have the Prawns, Half-Mussles & Calamari Stew with a Creamy Blackpepper Sauce & Basmati Rice, but I was a bit scared that the blackpepper sauce would be too overpowering. I also asked the waiters if they could suggest it and they said that not a lot of customers order it. So I decided on the Traditional Cape Lamb Curry (Mild Curry with Vegetables & Basmati Rice). Next to it on the menu in brackets it read, subject to availability. Now when you see that next to a meal on the menu you should IMMEDIATELY know that it is a hell of a popular dish. We were told that it is so popular that some people call ahead of time and order it as a take away just to make sure they get a portion. After taking that first bite, I immediately knew why it was so popular! Now there are a few food and drink items that I have made it my personal goal to find the best in. A few of them are; frozen Margarita’s, Bobotie and a good Curry. I am glad to say that I can scratch one of those off my list now! I am quite close to scratching another one of those off my list, but more about that later. The meat was so soft I would have still been able to “chew” it had I had no teeth! The taste was pure and wholesome. There is nothing worse than a curry that tastes so rich and over processed that you feel so unhealthy and uncomfortably full after eating it. When we got to the restaurant I said I wanted to have dessert because I had been craving ice cream, but after eating that amazingly tasteful curry, I didn’t want to spoil the taste in my mouth with anything!

My boyfriend had the Tequila Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes & Cream Penne Pasta. He was afraid that it would be too plain, but it also came highly recommended by the waiters. We could see why because it was also delicious!! I am not usually a fan of pasta’s but this one was very, very good and not too rich like some pasta’s tend to be!

Needless to say we didn’t have any dessert as we were beyond satisfied!

The next day when we told the owner (Penny) of the B&B where we had eaten she said it is one of her favourite places. Simple and good food! Next time we go to Stellenbosch Basic Bistro can be sure to see us again.

Yours in fun & food,

Elly D

31 Church Street
Stellenbosch
Cape Town
021-883 3629

My Experience at Moyo at Spier..........23-04-2011


We had some family down from Belgium so we thought it would be great to take them to Moyo at Spier as it is such a nice experience for foreigners. We reserved a table in one of the tree houses. Unfortunately it was a little bit chilly that night seeing as it was autumn already.
I was actually quite looking forward to going as I hadn’t been there in a while. This Moyo is not exactly a restaurant that you would go to with friends regularly. I would have to say that the only time I would ever go there is if I had foreigners with me.

They came to paint our faces and sing for us as per usual. It was the birthday of one of the guests so it was quite nice to get them to sing happy birthday to him. One thing that they didn’t do though was the washing of our hands before dinner. This would have been great seeing as it was so cold that night.

I decided to have seafood as my starter but I was disappointed when I saw that they had a very limited range of seafood. There was Snoek (or so I think) lying in tinfoil on the side of the counter and then in three bowls in front of me they had cold Crumbed Dorado, cold Grilled Calamari and cold plain grilled Dorado. This I thought was extremely shocking! How unimaginative! What about prawns, paella, calamari steaks, calamari tenticles, mussels and I can go on and on. I must add though, that even though the calamari was cold, it was quite tasty. For someone that is a seafood fanatic I can never get enough seafood, which was the case here, but for a totally different reason!

For mains I had some Bobotie (which I always order when I see it on a menu because I cannot make Bobotie myself), which was nice but not as exploding with flavour as one would expect Bobotie to be. It almost tasted like the only spice they used was a bottle of chutney. It was quite sweet and it seems like everyone who wanted Bobotie was more interested in the egg layer on top as oppose to the mince inside as there was no more egg layer left half way thru the dish. The Lamb Potjie was delicious! The Chicken Potjie was not too bad but there were way too many small bones which made it difficult to eat. The Beef Steak was extremely tough. I didn’t even bother to finish eating mine as it was too well done for my liking. The Ostrich Kebabs were tough as well. The Springbok Sausage on the other hand was a breath of fresh air compared to the other meats. I was also not impressed with the pap they served. I was looking forward to introducing the foreigners to some South African pap but this pap was stiff pap. This could just be my personal taste, but pap should rather be served crummy. It should have a similar texture to cous cous.

For dessert I had Pecan Nut Pie and Cheesecake as those are my two favourite desserts. The Pecan Nut Pie was amazing! BUT it should have been served warm and with ice cream. When we asked for some ice cream they eventually said they would be able to fetch us some and when asked if they could heat it up they said there wasn’t a microwave on the premises. So why didn’t they just place the pie on the heated tray next to the messy Apple Crumble and what I think was a Malva Pudding meet Brandy Tart, in the first place! Now don’t get me started on the Cheesecake! That little block of “Cheesecake” that I ate definitely doesn’t deserve to be called Cheesecake! Its texture was way too hard and it wasn’t really creamy. That along with all the other little dessert squares (Caramel Crunch, Peanut Square) tasted extremely fake and synthetic. Whatever happened to homemade truly South African dessert? Where were the Koeksisters and the Milktart and even just good old reliable Ice cream and Hot Chocolate Sauce? I tasted the Chocolate Sauce that was there and it tasted granularly. Like who ever mixed it didn’t stir it for long enough. The little sweet Nutty Springrolls were delicious though. Unfortunately I didn’t taste the Chocolate Brownies and the Lemon Tart myself, but some of my guests said that the Chocolate Brownies were really tasty as well.

We were 12 people, 9 adults and 3 children. When we sat down we asked our waiter if there was a price difference for adults and for children. He mentioned that it is cheaper for kids under 12. Now two of the kids were well over 12 but one was obviously under 12, but yet when the bill came they charged us for 12 adults. Needless to say he gladly corrected it.

I am truly sorry to say, but I was really, really not impressed with the food at all! I would gladly pay R250 (and even more) for a 3 course meal if it was worth it, and I am saddened to say that this was definitely not worth it! Is there absolutely no quality control in this place what so ever? It seriously looked like the show was run without a manager on the floor to oversee all the operations. Does no one taste the food that their making anymore? When I went to Moyo about 2 years ago it was lovely and the whole idea of an outdoor South African dining experience is a great one! But it seems like nothing has changed since then. The food has stayed the same, which then was good but now it has become unimaginative and dull over time. The decor hasn’t changed much except that it is faded, old and full of bird shit. It was not really busy when we went. One of the dining rooms were even closed, so maybe because they weren’t so busy they didn’t care and didn’t feel like putting in the extra effort?? Although, that said, I can’t imagine that any business would be that silly.

 Now a day where ever you go (pubs and restaurants) they have installed these little heaters under the covering of the outdoor tables. Why hasn’t Moyo done this? Initially I thought that they would have to kick us out of there by midnight, but we even shocked our driver by asking to be picked up by 22:00. We have some more family coming from overseas in January 2012 and I must say we will seriously have to rethink about bringing them there as they have been there before and will probably only be let down about how it has degraded, like we were.

Seeing as we are used to really good South African food we noticed a lot more things than our foreign guests did. Thank goodness! Therefore we didn’t comment too much about how we felt in front of them because we didn’t want to spoil it for them. But I think Moyo is seriously busy pulling a quick one on the foreigners and taking advantage of them as the foreigners don’t know any better. I really hope that next time when I take some foreign guests to Moyo at Spier again that I can be proud of it.

Yours in fun & food,

Elly D

Spier Wine Estate
R310 Lynedoch Road
Stellenbosch
Cape Town
(021)809 1133


Sunday, May 1, 2011

My Experience at Rick’s Café Americain..........26-04-2011

I wasn’t going to blog about Rick’s Cafe as I have been there a million times so I figured I would be bias and I would not have much to say. Much to my disappointment, I was wrong.

I convinced my friends that we should go to Rick’s Café for dinner, seeing as it is one of my favourite restaurants. I wanted to book for 19:30 but they could only accommodate us at 20:00 seeing as they would be double booking us on a table that was reserved for 17:30. I was fine with that seeing as I was a waitress myself for many years so I know how it goes. When we arrived at 20:00 some of our friends were already waiting for us at the bar. We didn’t have too many drinks as we were expecting to be shown to our table at any minute. Turns out the people who had the booking for 17:30 arrived late and hence now they weren’t done by 20:00. We eventually got seated at 20:40, which I wasn’t too happy about but what can you do. It was, after all, not Rick’s fault that the initial booking had arrived late.

My favourite meal on their menu is the Marrakech Chicken Tajine and the Chilly Poppers while my boyfriend loves their Cheese Burger. We had their Tapas Platter and some extra Chilly Poppers for starters. The Chilly Poppers were great as usual! I wasn’t too impressed with the grilled calamari on the platter. It was so small and shriveled up and didn’t taste like much either.

For mains I thought I’d try something else for a change so I went with the Lamb Tajine Royale. It was nice but the flavour was extremely rich. So much so, that I actually felt quite sick for the remainder of the evening. Three of the other people at the table had the BMB Burger and all of them were disappointed by it. My boyfriend usually raves about Rick’s burgers but this time he was not happy at all. The patties were very raw. More than it should have been and the same sauce that was used as a dip for the chilly poppers were put on the burger. This definitely didn’t complement the taste of the burger. The rolls were also quite oily.

After all of this I felt like quite a fool having been the one to convince them to come here and it having been such a disaster.
On our way out I saw the Specials board. There was never a mention of the specials at the table. The only vague hint made at the specials was when I asked the waiter if the Lamb Tajine Royale was fatty and he said it wasn’t and then mumbled something about a lamb shank. I of course had no idea what he was talking about as I know there is no lamb shank on the menu, but he didn’t elaborate.

I have been to ricks many a times and like I have mentioned before I always loved it. Therefore I am sure this was a once off bad night as I know they were quite busy as well. Although I know I will definitely not be going there anytime soon again.

Yours in fun & food,


Elly D


2 Park Road
Cape Town
(021)4241100