waterkloof wine estate

On the way home we had lunch at Waterkloof Wine Estate in Somerset West. The building is really beautiful and the views are stunning. The food is good and the service was the absolute best we've ever had at a restaurant.

jordan restaurant

We had a very good lunch at Jordan restaurant with our good friends Francois and Isabel.

doolhof

Picnic at Doolhof wine estate.

draaihoek

We spent the weekend at Draaihoek on the west coast, near Elandsbaai. It was nice being in this area again, we drove through to Aurora, Elandsbaai and Redelinghuys on saturday.

The food at Draaihoek is really very good. I spent some time talking to Michael, the chef there, and he is a very nice guy who really cares about his food. Pork terrine, stuffed chicken breasts, slow roasted smoked eisbein and oxtail stew are just a few of the things we had there.

spice route

We've been to Spice Route restaurant a few times, initially the food was very good, but then their chef left and now it's just average. It's still worth going to the farm though because their wines are very good, and you can do a chocolate, beer or grappa tasting there. Richard Bosman also has his cured meats there, and Fairview is next door for cheese tasting.

charcuterie

I attended Neil's two day Charcuterie course at the Bread & Wine Vineyard Restaurant at Môreson in Franschhoek. It was very interesting, and we had delicious food on both days. Ansie came with and we stayed at a very nice little place called Stonehedge Mountain Cottage, with awesome views.

el burro

Lunch at El Burro, I had the chicken mole poblano and it was good.

doolhof

We had a picnic at Doolhof near Wellington. Beautiful valley and some interesting wines.

lunch at spice route restaurant

We had a fantastic lunch at the Spice Route Restaurant near Stellenbosch. The venue and the views are very beautiful, but the food and service was probably the best I've had in a very, very long time!

We both had the Chalmar Beef Fillet Medallions with a honey-mustard crust, creamy savoy cabbage and smoked sweet potato dauphine. Every single thing on the plate was perfect, the flavours were so interesting, and the fillet was just incredible. I tried my best to eat as slow as I possibly could to enjoy the food longer. It was just... perfect.

la penita

We had lunch at La Penita on the R44 to Stellenbosch. The venue is really nice, with nice views and a big open veranda, and the food is pretty good too, but unfortunately I forgot to take photos...

lunch at sage

We had a delicious lunch at Sage near Stellenbosch. Ansie had the lamb shank, which was a little dry, and I had a tasting plate, which was delicious!

Roasted Pork Belly dressed with capers and sundried tomato cream
Smoked Duck Springroll with oriental dressing
Braiser Porc Joune marinated in port and coated with honey
Satay Chicken Skewer on a bed of aromatic egg noodles
Tunisian Pork on crisp bruschetta with porcini cream
Grilled Scallop on melon preserve with balsamic glaze

lunch at jackal and hide

We had lunch at Jackal and Hide today. The food was absolutely superb, and the views are awesome too. It's a very beautiful restaurant and we'll definitely be going back again.

Ansie had the rib-eye served au jus, with baby veg and almond foam, which she says was perfect. And I had the gnocci with spinach, braised dates, toasted pine nuts and liquid cheese cubes, everything was perfect except that there might have been a little too many dates for my liking. It made the dish just a little too sweet for me. But still very good.

cheese platter at zorgfliet

We had the cheese platter and wine tasting at Zorgfliet. The wines were pretty good, and the cheese was nice too, but unfortunately all the cheeses were from the same cheese farm, and they tasted very similar, so a little disappointing. It would have been nice to have a little more variety.

Awesome views though... and another scorching day.

picnic at zorgfliet

We went for a picnic at Zorgfliet in Hellshoogte, just outside Stellenbosch. Food was very good, but the picnic area was a little busy, and it was another seriously hot day.

lunch at hazendal

We were out driving around the outskirts of Stellenbosch again last saturday, shopping at the deli's and visiting other familiar places. We also had lunch at Hazendal for the first time.

The service was very friendly, and the food was reasonably good too. We had Beef Carpaccio, Spicy Beef Strips (definitely recommended!), Cape Malay Bobotie and Spicy Beef Curry.

They also have a nice little art museum called Marvol, with very interesting Russian paintings and some Fabergé eggs. A nice unusual change from the normal setup at most wine farms.

lunch at morgenhof

Ansie and I had lunch at Morgenhof yesterday. A lovely sunny day, beautiful scenery and good food. The steak was a little over done, but the veggies and the béarnaise sauce was perfect.

lunch at deHuguenot

On saturday we drove to Stellenbosch for some site seeing and eating. We stopped at Asara first, absolutely beautifull venue and nice restaurants. Then we had a quick look at the Tokara Delicatessen, also a stunning place, will have to go there again some time.

But the highlight was lunch at deHuguenot on the Helshoogte Road between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. We had the Chalmar beef sirloins, braised short ribs, smoked mash and marrow pops. A very tasty dish, and a awesome view.

riebeek kasteel olive festival

We went to the Riebeek Kasteel olive festival yesterday. It was extremely busy, I've never seen Riebeek Kasteel this full. Lots of food stuff and a very festive atmosphere. I managed to stock up on my favourite smoked balsamic olives again.

five flies

Ansie and I had dinner at Five Flies earlier this week. The restaurant is beautiful inside, and the food is out of this world!

I had the "Char-grilled Karan beef fillet with potato rosti, carrot puree, roast baby carrots, foie gras parfait and truffle jus" and Ansie had the "Braised lamb shank on white onion puree with colcannon mashed potato, onion fritters and red wine jus".

Definitely one of the best meals I've ever had!

dinner at pancho's

We went to Lower Main Road in Observatory for the first time last night. Lots of interesting little restaurants and a few nice shops. We discovered a really nice organic shop, got some very yummy wasabi nuts, and delicious marinated sundried tomatoes with herbs and garlic.

Then we had dinner at Pancho's Mexican restaurant. The food was delicious, and huge portions. And the frozen strawberry margaritas are very very good.