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
LOVE the blog :)
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