We spent the weekend in a beautiful farm cottage called Die Kliphuisie, between Worcester and Wolseley.
This is the first time we've really explored the area, and I enjoyed it very much. We went to quite a few wine farms (Stettyn, Badsberg, Botha, Bergsig, Slanghoek, Opstal, Jason's Hill) and traditional little farm stalls where you can get farm vegetables and fruit. We even managed to get to Willow Creek for some Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar and Parmesan flavoured Olive oil.
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.
We had a very good lunch at Jordan restaurant with our good friends Francois and Isabel.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Last week Ansie and I went to Spier to ride the Segways! We've been keen to give it a try for many years now, but just never got around to doing it. The Segway is way cool and seriously fun to ride, I would definitely recommend it. I'd really like to get one but unfortunately they're not very practical for our area... definitely a nice toy!
Managed to put up a small video clip of the inside of the monument.
On sunday we slept really late again, and then drove home slowly, admiring the views, and stopping at one or two places along the way.
We decided to have lunch at the Buena Vista Social Cafe on the R44. They have done a excellent job on the decor in the restaurant, to create a really nice Cuban feel to the place. Lovely wooden floors, nice music, food is ok, BUT the service is absolutely terrible. It took very, very long for them to take the drinks order, and bring the drinks, even longer to take the food order, and forever to bring the food.
A good waiter would at least check on their tables a few times, if they knew that the bar and kitchen were slow. It's a terrible pity, because just about everything else has been done right.
