My experience at Ons Huisie..........06-08-2011

I was invited to Ons Huisie for a friend’s birthday celebration. I had been to Ons Huisie before but only for their breakfast, which was really good so I was looking forward to tasting their dinner menu. It was one of those cold winter nights but it quickly became nice and cozy once they brought out the gas heaters. As you might know Ons Huisie is actually a National Monument. It is believed that Federick Louis Stadler was the owner of Ons Huisie in the 1800’s, shortly after the Battle of Blouberg took place. You will see the street on which Ons Huisie is located was named after Federick.

When inside it almost feels like you have travelled back in time as the house still has that old fisherman’s feel to it with the thick walls build from crushed shells and roughly plastered with a thatch roof. Seeing as Ons Huisie is a restored house it doesn’t consist of one large dining area but rather a few smaller areas/rooms. Our waitress was extremely friendly and helpful and never left us unattended or waiting on anything for long. Ons Huisie can also be hired as a wedding venue. It is situated right on the beach, which gives for a beautiful wedding reception backdrop. It can seat up to 80 guests and there is a nice old church right across the road of it. At the back of the restaurant they also have a bar area with a few tables that can be hired for private functions.

For some starters we ordered two Wippertal Basket: Chicken strips, cheeseballs, vegetable spring rolls, Bobotie bites, beef samoosas and chips, served with chili mayo and sweet chili sauce and two Ons Huisie Kombuisie: Spicy chicken wings, deep fried calamari and chips, served with sweet chili and tartar sauce.

For mains I could not decide between the Ostrich Bobotie: Served with vegetables of the day, rice, mango chutney and beetroot and the West Coast Potjie: Calamari, prawns, line fish and mussles in a creamy curry sauce, served with rice and a poppadum. In retrospect I think I should have gone for the Bobotie instead. Not because I didn’t enjoy the Potjie, I just LOVE Bobotie and I can’t make it myself so I almost always order it when I see it on a menu. Actually to be totally honest, I have never tried to make Bobotie, so maybe instead of ordering it at every restaurant I should just learnt to make a kick ass Bobotie and then I won’t continuously be in search of the perfect Bobotie!! Anyway, the Potjie was nice. The curry wasn’t too hot and didn’t overwhelm the flavour of the seafood. Later on when I looking around on the internet I noticed that the two meals I could not decide between were both of the chef’s specialty list! No wonder I had a hard time making up my mind!

My partner had the Calamari: Succulent deep friend or Cajun style calamari served with vegetables of the day, accompanied with chips or rice and tartar sauce. He opted for the Cajun style version but I (and everyone else) couldn’t help but notice that the grilled calamari looked very pale when it arrived at the table. I am used to Cajun style calamari appearing red. Although it was extremely pale it was so tender and juicy.

Later on in the evening I realized that they were playing Afrikaans music in the restaurant! So funny!! I think I recognized one of the songs as Liefling from Ge Korsten!! Ha Ha!

Overall it was a nice experience. This would be the place to go if you are looking for a relaxed non pretentious seafood evening. Be it with a large group or an intimate dinner for you and your loved one.

Yours in fun & fishies,

Elly D

Cnr of General Jansens & Stadler Road
Blouberg
Cape Town
021-554 1553
onshuisie@seascapecollection.co.za
www.seascapecollection.co.za