Wakaberry

Among the many gems that exist on the streets of Stellenbosch breathes one of my favourite guilty pleasures. Bring the massive sweet-tooth that I am, I often find myself drawn to delicious dessert and sweet establishments. This past Friday I found myself on the backend of a double date and my ever present sweet tooth was making me itch for something sweet and delicious. As I’ve often done, I obeyed these cravings and made my way to Wakaberry.

Wakaberry is something I’m not too sure you would have heard of, due to its exclusivity. If you haven’t heard of it, I suggest you do what you can to make yourself better acquainted with what is fast becoming one of my favourite establishments. Wakaberry itself is not a restaurant, it’s not a fast food joint, it’s not a Café, and so what is it? It’s difficult to describe what it is due to it not being one of the standard previously mentioned establishments, so at an attempt to describe exactly what it is, I’m going to go out on a limb and call it a ‘self-service frozen yoghurt and sweet bar’. 

The bar itself is childlike in nature. Everything from the décor and furniture, to the flavours of yoghurt on offer. The whole place is full of bright colours and pictures, you can’t help but feel like a child again. How it works is: you walk into the place and you go find yourself a little plastic bowl which you can pour your yoghurt in to. There are a wide variety of flavours from Mixed berry, and banana to Condensed Milk and Crème Soda. The owners change the flavours regularly keeping the customers guessing, and not allowing the bar to become stale and boring. Once you have chosen your preferred yoghurt and filled your bowl to its brim you make your way over to a selection of sweets which you naturally add to your bowl and enjoy with your frozen yoghurt. The sweets on offer, much like the yoghurt come in a wide variety. Picture every sweet you ever loved as a little kid growing up, now picture every sweet you wished you had while growing up, Wakaberry has them, plus more. The amount of activities going on in that sweet selection would be enough to put a diabetic in a sugary, chocolate coated, sour worm infested heaven. After you’ve scooped all the sweets you need to into your bowl, you make your way over to the weighing scales, weigh your yoghurt and pay accordingly.

Another plus about this wacky establishment is the fact that all the yoghurt is fat free, so although it sounds incredibly unhealthy and somewhat fattening, there is an element of health to it. Apart from being deliciously satisfying on the pallet, what makes this establishment is the; quirky, childlike character which firmly exists within the walls of Wakaberry. If ever you are in Stellenbosch and you are looking for something yummy to eat , make your way down to Wakaberry you won’t be disappointed, and if you are, I may have a bone to pick with you. Regardless of your age, shape, or size Wakaberry will make you feel like a kid again, in a good way. Try it.

BAISA

Being a part of a relationship, one is often obliged to splurge on fancy dinners and romantic dates every once in a while. Over the last few months my never so impressive student account has been just that; unimpressive. However, thanks to some left over birthday money and the welcomed generosity of Grand West Casino I found myself with a little bit of money at the end of the month. What should I do with that money I thought? Save it? Mmm ja ok. Invest it in an overseas holiday? Ja, I could do that. Spend it right away? Yes please, I’ll do that.

As I mentioned earlier, when one is in a relationship you often find yourself in situations you not really used to or comfortable with. I can guarantee you, that if you’ve ever been in any serious kind of relationship you would have, no-doubt at some point found yourself in an incredibly fancy restaurant with incredibly fancy people. If you are more wowed by the price column than the dishes on offer, that’s when you know your bank accounts going to take a bit of a beating. However, be that at as it may be, it was date night and I felt like spoiling the ‘wife’ for a night. I felt like doing something romantic for this special person; however I found myself at a loss for anything original and creative. This was largely due to the fact that all my great romantic dates were used up within the first few months. I eventually decided to do the cheesy cliché thing, and take her on a romantic dinner date. So there I found myself typing “romantic restaurants to eat at in Cape Town”. A number of appealing options popped up, the one that most caught the eye was a restaurant called Baisa in the Waterfront.   

I immediately knew we were in for a treat the second we walked through the doors. The whole atmosphere of the restaurant oozed class. From the attire of the people, to the warm welcoming we received. Every element I could possibly lay my eyes on lead me to believe that my wallet was going to take a beating, but as we sat down my financial worries began to subside. I found myself lost, taken a back, and left in awe at the amazing view I was experiencing. Say what you like about Cape Town, but there really are fewer sites more beautiful than the Waterfront harbour at night, absolutely gorgeous. It’s seemed my impressed emotion was only going to be further aroused, our waitress was - superb. She was very polite and insisted on calling me sir (something I always find quite awkward, especially because she was old enough to be my mother), nonetheless I was impressed and duly felt the effects of the ‘over and beyond’ service I was being treated to.

The menu was one of those where you understood every second option (a sign that you in a restaurant you probably can’t afford). After the waitress read out the many specials that were available, we both panicked and ordered the starter that had something to do with a mushroom and a main that had something to do with a platter. Needless to say both dishes were delicious. The mushroom ‘thingy-majigy’ was full of wonderful flavours and aromas, whilst everything on the seafood platter was cooked to as close to perfect as I believe it could have been. The calamari in particular was superb, an outstanding balance of flavour accompanied by a smooth chewy texture. I am struggling not to salivate on my keyboard as I re-live what truly was an incredible meal.

At many fancy restaurants that I’ve eaten at in the past rely on their fancy image, high prices and elitism. In doing so, they neglect the most important thing, the food itself. It’s crucial that in any restaurant, if you willing to charge the prices you’re charging, and offer the service you’re offering, you better be able to deliver in the kitchen, and perform on my plate. After this night I can honestly say that Baisa ticked all the necessary boxes and its 5 star restaurant title is richly deserved.

Cape Town Fish Market

For the fans of this blog, of which there are many I’m sure (*sarcasm) you would have noticed that I like food, some more than others. My two favourites, which you wouldn’t have to be a rocket scientist to guess are; sushi and steak. Over the last few months I have eaten at, praised and critiqued a number of restaurants in the beautiful city of Cape Town. Some restaurants have been good, others not so much. As human beings we often enjoy complaining about things, and let’s be honest its quite fun. We enjoy a good moan and the occasional rant. Thankfully the restaurants I have eaten at up until now haven’t given me the opportunity to practice human beings favourite pastime, until now. The restaurant I am about to unleash my fury upon is, wait for it; Cape Town Fish Market.

Once again it was a Sunday afternoon, and the extended family and I were off to Grand west for a celebratory birthday lunch. We found ourselves in the bizarre location of Grand West (don’t ask). Eating at Grand west is an experience in itself the setting is actually quite beautiful, particularly where the restaurants are located. It almost feels like you’re in the streets of a beautiful, old-school Italian city. Whilst there were a number of restaurants at our disposal, we decided that Cape Town Fish Market would be our best option as the sushi cravings become infectious among the family. Upon arrival the waitress (who had become aware of the fact that we were there for a birthday lunch) located us on the bow of the boat. This may sound a little strange but the restaurant is in designed in the form of a ship. As cheesy as it may have been, there we sat on the bow of the restaurant/ship eagerly awaiting great food and quality service.

There were a number of things I didn’t like about my lunch experience that day, firstly; our waitress. We had one of those ones who would insist on writing every single meal down word for word, thus slowing our ordering process down and turning our happy, joyful moods into frustrated and annoyed ones. I’m surprised she didn’t ask me to spell my order to her letter for letter. You would swear she was studying for her matric finals the way she was furiously writing away at that note pad. There are a number of people that may feel I should cut this waitress some slack, to those people I say: Jog on. If I go to a well-established restaurant I expect quality service and if not quality service, then at least competency. Just like if you walked in to the office of a lawyer or a doctor you wouldn’t expect a below average service, so why should I when I walk into a restaurant? Since writing this blog my eyes have been firmly widened to the service industry in Cape Town and, frankly, I’m appalled. Our service industry is shocking and restaurants need to put an emphasis on employing quality, well-trained staff that can fly the metaphorical flag high for their respective the restaurant. Service can make or break ones dining experience. Cape Town Fish Market was a shining example as to everything that is wrong with the service industry in Cape Town, shocking.

Despite my impaired perceptions of the service of the restaurant, I found comfort in the cliché; “the proof is in the pudding” and decided that I should put the quality of service, or lack thereof behind me and attempt to enjoy my meal. I ordered a seafood platter with sushi as a starter. If you’re familiar with sushi restaurants you will notice that most of them have a ‘conveyer belt’ kind of system where you can choose and literally take the various sushi options on offer. The options are packaged in little Tupperware style containers. When our sushi was brought to us, the serving staff couldn’t even take the already made sushi and put it on a plate but rather they decide to take the sushi as is, Tupperware container and all, and bring it to me portion for portion. At one stage we must have had about 10 unwanted Tupperware containers on our table, chaos. The sushi clearly wasn’t freshly made and there was little to be desired within those little Tupperware packages. My main meal, the seafood platter, wasn’t bad; I’ve had better, 5 out of 10.

All in all my experience at Cape Town Fish Market that particular afternoon was one I’d rather forget, and had it not been for the great company I was with my experience would have been an absolute disaster. Service, service, service, it needs to start becoming a priority in the restaurants of Cape Town. A good meal can be ruined by poor service, in the same breathe an average meal; can be uplifted by a service that is of a high standard. In the case of Cape Town Fish Market the service was horrible; however would quality service have turned my negative experience into a positive one? No, the foods shit.

The Dogs Bollocks

If I had to tell you that you would eating your meal within the driveway of a loud obnoxious Englishmen in a crime ridden area of town, you’d politely tell me to go jump in a lake somewhere. I don’t blame you; it was my initial reaction when I heard about the Dogs Bollocks.

Don’t be fooled by the somewhat vulgar name, the Dogs Bollocks is one of the most happening restaurants in Cape Town at the moment. Located just off Buitenkant Street, the restaurant in question is slowly becoming a well- known must eat at restaurant. I have described this restaurant to many friends and family members; however it is difficult to describe it without making it sound like some dodgy old man trying to make a quick buck. In this blog I’ll do my best to make this seemingly dodgy restaurant look like the little gem of a place that it truly is.

My first visit of the Dogs Bollock ended up at a Mexican restaurant in town. This may seem bizarre but because of the advertising of the Dogs Bollock, or lack thereof  I drove right past the restaurant and when I eventually found the hidden establishment it was filled to capacity and the famous burgers were already sold out (needless to say it was only 630pm). Having learnt from my first mistake I made sure that the second time around I was better prepared. I left my house at 5 o clock with excitement in my heart and an appetite in my belly. I was greeted with a sense of relief on my arrival as I noticed that the restaurant was fairly quiet and calm. The exterior of the restaurant is far from an oil painting and really isn’t much to look at. Earlier I mentioned eating your meal within someone’s driveway and when I said you’ll be eating out of someone’s driveway, I meant just that. The furniture itself is rustic, patio like in nature and fits the setting of the Dogs Bollocks well. Visually, apart from being incredibly unique there really isn’t much to write home about.

Ordering a burger is another unique experience in itself. At the Dogs Bollocks there are no such thing as servers, there is , however, a chalk board. When you arrive you go over to the chalk board and write down your name and the number of burgers you wish to order. When the chef is ready for you he will shout out your name, at this point you will go up and place your order. The chef could be described rather judgementally as an ‘old geyser’. He is from a town in England called Manchester; his accent is piercing and distinct. He is also an incredibly loud man who’s not shy to make use of the odd profanity here and there. His presence, personality and general attitude can be humorous but more than anything its incredibly intimidating. His audacious style and unique way of running a business is fitting to the different, unique vibe of the Dogs Bollocks.

The burgers themselves are massive in a very ambiguous way. Massive in size, but also in flavour and activity. When I say the burgers are massive they really are one hundred 100%, no two ways about it massive. Imagine a burger the size of your head; I kid you not that is the size of these delicious burgers. Massive in flavour; each bite allows you to experience a truly unique taste sensation. The patty which is homemade is jam packed with enough flavour and activity to leave you salivating for more. The meal experienced at the Dogs Bollocks was hands down the best burger I have ever had the privilege of eating.

What makes a restaurant like the Dogs Bollocks so special is that it is so unique and so different. Personally, I love an underdog story (excuse the pun) and when you walk in or perhaps drive by the Dogs Bollocks your mind would automatically jump to conclusions and your newly formed opinion would be somewhat of a negative one. However give it a chance, write your name on the board, order, eat and enjoy a mouth-watering burger. More importantly, enjoy the truly unique dining experience that can be offered nowhere else in Cape Town. Try it, it’s an absolute must.

Beluga

There is nothing quite like a summers day in Cape Town. Not only is the weather incredibly warm and peaceful but the sights are simply breathe taking. Cape Town truly is a sexy city. Within this city subsists a number of restaurants that are on par with the sexiness that is this city.  Being the restaurant special seeking student that I am, I find myself constantly looking for cheap restaurants that are offering some sort of special. If there’s a 2 for the price of 1, all you can eat or half price special at a restaurant, you can be sure that Guy Muller will be there getting involved. The restaurant up for review this week offers a particularly appealing special for people like me (students). The special: Half price Sushi and cocktails. Not only does this restaurant offer sushi at an affordable price but it combines allows students to engage in their two favourite pastimes; saving money and drinking cheap drinks. The restaurant I’m harping on about: Beluga.

Beluga is situated within the city of Cape Town, a stone’s throw away from the famous V&A Waterfront. The restaurant itself is absolutely stunning, the interior has a very modern, classy kind of feel, while the outside has a very chilled out atmosphere conducive to the kind of people that attend such restaurants. Being the lazy Sunday afternoon that it was my mood wasn’t quite in a “let’s get boozed” place as it perhaps may have been due to the ‘half price cocktails’ offer. So I decided to go for a drink that was more of a thirst quencher, something refreshing and easy on the pallet. Mojito was my choice of drink. Besides waiting a longer time than I would like, the drink itself was incredibly refreshing and easy to put back. One may think that when a restaurant is producing a larger than usual number of identical drinks at the same time, these drinks may lose their quality as quantity becomes a priority. However, this was not the case and my drink was incredibly tasty and thoroughly enjoyed.

My tummy was rumbling for sushi, as it often does and I couldn’t help but experience feelings of immense hunger and anticipation as my eyes gazed over the delicious sushi options. As I ordered my desired raw fish I found myself thinking ‘I hope this doesn’t take as long to get to me as my mojito did’. Thankfully it didn’t and to the credit of the chef and server involved, my food was delivered in good time with little frills and fuss. The sushi itself was really good, I’d be lying if I said it was the best meal of my life but it certainly was satisfactory. My fears of my drink losing its quality as quantity became a priority rang true with the Sushi served. My knowledge is limited when it comes to the actual making of Sushi but I’d imagine that it would be a careful, precise process that requires concentration and experience. Due to the high demand, the chefs must find themselves under pressure and often end up rushing their meals. Due to this obvious and natural happening, my sushi may be wasn’t of the quality it should have been.

The business of the restaurant was without a doubt an attributing factor to the service that wasn’t terrible but also wasn’t quite where it should have been. Many restaurants who offer specials (and there are many of them) should not use ‘busyness’ as a cop out excuse for their poor service. If you want to walk the walk i.e: Offer all these amazing attractive specials, you should be able to walk the walk and provide your customer with these specials regardless of how ‘busy you may get’. For the most part, my dining experience at Beluga was an incredibly enjoyable one, and although the food may have been at a 6 out of 10 rating, the general vibe and atmosphere makes the restaurant extremely appealing and enjoyable to attend.

Brads Grill

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, in my mind there is nothing better than a good quality steak. After much debate with my family as to where the best steak house in Cape Town was, my arm was eventually twisted and I was reluctantly forced into trying something other than the Hussar Grill. The restaurant I was being dragged to for the night: Brads Grill. Brads Grill is situated in 2^nd Avenue, Kenilworth. Within this little gem of a street exist a number of restaurants. There are restaurants there to satisfy the pallet of any individual regardless of your preference. The variety is impressive. There’s an Italian restaurant for the pizza and pasta lovers. There’s a curry restaurant for the spice cravers. There’s even a sushi restaurant for the raw fish eaters of the world. As impressive as this array of variety is it does make life incredibly difficult for a restaurant owner in the area because it is just so dam competitive. Due to the competitive nature of the area over the years a number of restaurants have come and gone as they attempt to succeed but subsequently fail. While there have been a number of restaurants that couldn’t handle the pressure and competitive nature of 2^nd Avenue, there has been one that has maintained its popularity for on the street for over 30 years, that restaurant is: Brads Grill.

After hearing so many wonderful things about Brads Grill it would have been wrong of me to remain in the comfort zone of the delicious, tender and juicy Hussar steaks, so I reluctantly decide to give the much talked about Brads Grill an attempt to overtake my beloved Hussar Grill as Cape Town’s best steak house. As we walked into the restaurant I can’t say I was all that impressed with the décor of the place. The colours were dull and lifeless, shouting from the kitchen can be heard throughout the entire room and the restaurant itself is very petite in size, making customers feel cramped and claustrophobic. However, despite it failing the visually impressive test, the restaurant itself was quite vibey and the atmosphere was fairly festive. The waiter need not bring me a menu as my mind was already made up as to what I was going to eat. ‘Bring me your biggest steak, cook it medium rare and throw some mushroom sauce on the side’ I thought. My order reflected my thoughts as I prepared to get stuck into the 700gram mini dinosaur like steak that was awaited my devouring.

When critiquing a restaurant, I find it is unfair to just judge the restaurant based on one aspect and , to do justice to the review and the restaurant, one should judge it on all the aspects. One of these crucial aspects is: service. The service at Brads Grill wasn’t the best I have ever seen. The waiters seemed inexperienced and nervous like in their work. This was evident when our waitress poured our drinks all over my recently purchased jeans; needless to say I wasn’t impressed and thought to myself: ‘this steak better blow my mind’. Much to my surprise, it did.

I found myself greeted with a beautiful cut of rump steak, perfectly basted with a marinade only found in Brads Grill restaurant. The meet was cooked to perfection with every bite I took my taste buds rejoiced with jubilation and celebrated a combination of beautifully well balanced and exquisite flavours. Wow, what a steak it was. There a few cases when the word “beautiful” would be applicable to food, but in the case of this steak, beauty couldn’t be more appropriate. Yes, the décor didn’t blow me away, and yes the service wasn’t great but if you looking for a great steak, a festive atmosphere and an all-round good night Brads Grill is the place that should dominate your calendar for an evening. I wouldn’t say it’s the best restaurant in Cape Town, but my word its close.

Hong

Bizarre really, how a piece of raw fish can be so appealing. However, as bizarre as this piece of food may be it is the food that so many of us crave on a daily basis. The food in question? Sushi. At first Sushi was a type of food I detested. The first time I had a California roil was almost my last, as I struggled to comprehend the sticky, slimy textures that were attempting to make themselves at home in my mouth. However, as time went by I somehow grew to love the Japanese dish, and now it is one of my favourite meals. There are many restaurants that attempt to make this Japanese delight, some do a great job, others – not so much. For those of you that have experienced it, will know that there are few things worse than having bad (off) Sushi. Looking for a Sushi restaurant is somewhat of an easy task, finding a quality Sushi restaurant is an entirely different task.

After much deliberation and positive feedback from friends and family alike, I thought it was finally time to make my way down to Hong, the Sushi restaurant in Claremont. I had heard a lot about the famous ‘Hong’ restaurant and on this particular evening my craving for raw fish was somewhat overwhelming.  You could only imagine my excitement to testthis much spoken of restaurant. As we made our way into the Sushi restaurant we were greeted by a waiter. A small Chinese man, who could barely speak English. Call me crazy, but if you go to an Asian restaurant, and everything about the restaurant is Asian (including the people that work there) you are usually in for a treat. As my eyes gazed over the menu, my tummy rumbling with hunger and excitement, I found myself spoilt for choice. Hong offers a wide variety of Sushi, and because if the reasonable pricing of everything it made it difficult to choose. Eventually I made my mind up and ordered the Sushi of my choice, now it was a matter of waiting.

Despite the waiters knowledge for the English language, or lack thereof my food arrived swiftly and efficiently, without any frills or fuss. I was greeted with a wave of excitement and surprise. Excitement, attributed to my on-going craving for Sushi, which was now becoming a reality. Surprise, attributed to my emotion I experienced as I saw the size of the portions of my meal. People often throw around and perhaps overuse the cliché: Quality not quantity. However at ‘Hong’ in Claremont the sushi is quality in its quantity. The food is truly outstanding. The service, you may argue could be better, just in terms of communication. In terms of efficiency and speed in getting your meal from you back to the kitchen, back to you, you would struggle to complain.

I have eaten at many Sushi restaurants in my time and I can honestly say, without the shadow of a doubt that the meal I experienced at ‘Hong’ was one of the best Sushi experiences I have ever had and one which I certainly won’t forget.