Primi Hot Chocolate @ Cape Town International

I could not finish this, it costed R25? Wow.

Peking Duck @ Tableview

The restaurant is new, near Tableview Cattle Baron. I cannot remember its English name lol. We really enjoyed the peking duck (R130/half). The booking number is 021 557 8030!

De Kloof Hotel Breakfast @ Swellendam

De Kloof is a boutique hotel in Swellendam, we got to enjoy the breakfast there on a lovely weekend in September. The breakfast is not a buffet but you can order as much as you would like. The portion of the meal was huge, I could not finish everything I ordered. Everything was freshly made and delicious! (9/10)

Old Mill Restaurant @ Swellendam

Over the weekend we drove to Swellendam for a small getaway, what a quiet town. Almost all the shops were closed besides the R5 Shop (probably with Chinese hard working shop owners?!). We ended up in Old Mill Restaurant.

The restaurant was very warm and welcoming with a nice fire place. We had the meal with candle light (heart). Fresh oysters as starter, even for someone who is usually scared of oysters enjoyed it.

The chicken & mushroom pasta was very creamy and yummy. The pepper fillet steak was a bit overdone and the sauce was a bit blend, this was only downfall. The chips and vegetable came with the steak was very tasty.

Overall I enjoyed the meal a lot and the service was good. The main course can be a bit pricey (the steak & other meat courses) but pasta was well priced. I'd give the place 7/10.

Old Mill Restaurant
http://www.oldmill.co.za/restaurant.htm

Mezbaan @ Cape Town

Mezbaan is a Northern Indian restaurant inside Hilton Hotel in City Bowl and to be perfectly honest, none of us knew what food to expect. Reason? The family (my very Chinese family including 80 year old grandma!) was invited by brother's new South African girlfriend to have supper together.

The restaurant is beautifully decorated and it was a pleasant dining environment. I really cannot judge from what we ordered, I do not know how each food is suppose to taste like besides the butter chicken. I have ordered it from Eastern Food Bizzar and Passage to India. Brother's dish was too spicy, dad's sausage had too much salt and the butter chicken was just right.

It was just an eye opening experience. My dessert was two balls in sugar water?? I left very confused, no scoring for this one as I can't make a fair judgement. I must learn more about Indian cuisine, that is all I'm saying.

Here is another read on Mezbaan

Mr. Chan @ Sea Point

Mr. Chan was a treat for a group of us not too long ago. Ray would say its the best Chinese restaurant in town! Certainly from the photos I got, we can see we could not focus on the photos after eating some first! That was a delicious meal for sure.

At Mr. Chan, one can get the popular flavors for the Westerns like sweet-and-sour pork and spring rolls OR the most authentic Chinese food. We had crispy duck pancakes which was the most amazing thing, I personally have always love duck pancakes. Fresh steamed fish was the best way to cook to taste the true flavor of a fish, no fish and chips' way!

We ended the perfect supper with fried banana balls, not too sweet or sticky, was just right. The lovely meal was all thanks to Mr. Chan (9/10).

Mr. Chan Chinese Restaurant
178 Main Road, Sea Point

Rambling Rose @ Montagu

We were on our way to Warmwatersberg and made a stop in Montagu on R62, what a lovely drive! We had lunch in Rambling Rose and unfortunately, I left very disappointed. This may be my first red flag on a restaurant.

The place is lovely, beautifully setting and everything I expected from a farm stall restaurant. The waitress was very friendly and helpful and the owner even helped us with our later braai ideas!

However the food was not tasty for majority of our table, we were a group of 8 and only one person enjoyed the food. I ordered the prego roll with salad, the meat had a very strong alcohol taste with no other flavors. Same as the beef stew they had, surprisingly blend with alcohol tasting, we did not finish that. The chicken and mushroom pie was equally bad and the presentation was so lovely! What a shame.

I would give this place a 4/10. I left the place very upset, maybe I should have order the waffle to make up for it? Lol.

Karibu @ V&A Waterfront

My uncle requested to dine at an African restaurant when he visited Cape Town last month (ha yes, overdue photos!) so we took him to the Karibu by the V&A Waterfront, thought he can visit the touristy shopping centre after supper.

Karibu was very enjoyable, the service was excellent. The food was good quality, even though I would not say its the best I have had but the overall quality and dining experience was very positive. The seafood & salad was fresh and the portion was good. Just one thing about the restaurant, I thought the food was not that authentic (I was expecting a menu that I CANNOT understand! Lol.)

Karibu was on the pricey side of things and uncle had a bottle of wine for R500 something (say what, the wine I know cost like R80!) but you are guaranteed to have quality service and food with a beautiful view of the Waterfront. I'd say 8/10.

The Trumpet Tree @ Stellenbosch

The Trumpet Tree is not very easy to find, you can easily miss it when you are driving. We found this place by accident when we went to the farm stall in Stellenbosch and we went back with my family!

I remember the first time I ate at the restaurant was on a hot summer's day. We dined under the tree and to our surprise, the restaurant got an outdoor splashing cooler?! We loved it. So this time when I passed by Stellenbosch, The Trumpet Tree was the first restaurant came to our mind.

The meal was enjoyable. I had a chicken wrap with salad, stole some amazing potato fries from my brother's burger dish. I feel the quality of the food was very decent, it is a great spot to hang out with great people. Even though the dishes on the menu is nothing creative, I would recommend it to anyone who just wants to have a relaxing meal and a few drinks. I give it a 7.5/10, she says.

The Trumpet Tree
84 Dorp Street, Stellenbosch
021 883 8379
http://www.thetrumpettree.com/

34 South @ Knysna Waterfront

I recently had a mini holiday along the Garden Route with family members from overseas so when we got to Knysna, I had to order some oysters for my family. Knysna - home of oysters! We ended up in 34 South by the Waterfront.

34 South is a bit of everything: a restaurant, a shop and a bar..etc. We got a warm spot by the fire so grandma can stay warm, ordered some seafood and sushi to enjoy. Oh and grandma loved the bread from 34 South, we had to ask the waitress to bring us more bread.

We had seafood platter, sushi platter and some oysters. To be honest, I cannot remember much of the seafood platter, it was like a slightly more fancy version of Ocean Basket's platter. The sushi on the other hand was very decent quality, we really missed having rice after a few days of traveling haha (damn Asians!).

The oysters I ordered were medium sizes (R15/each) was very fresh, I did not want to have any due to bad childhood experience. Uncle offered me one saying it is very fresh and I enjoyed it, it was not as nearly as bad as I imagined!

34 South overall I think is a good choice to eat at the Knysna Waterfront, the chance of you getting something yucky is low. I give it a 8/10.

P.S. The place is not that easy to find, just follow the arrow by the elevator.


34 South
044 382 7331

So, what is your Nandos sauce?

Everyone must have a personal preference when it comes to Nandos sauce, unless you are one of the few who does not like Nandos or grilled chicken. Too bad for you, because grilled chicken with Nandos sauce is very delicious!

I actually eat Nandos relatively often compare to other take away places because they have a good deal family meal and it is more healthy than KFC & McDonald. My Nandos sauce was the mediterranean sauce, but it is no longer available so I now go for mild. I have also tried tangy tomato, it is not bad but does not have the spicy touch so if you are not chili friendly, tangy tomato is a great choice.

Still remember the first time I ordered Nandos, little did I know, I was so foolish. I thought I could handle the peri peri sauce?! I was in grade 10 that year and was out with a bunch of older guy friends lol, I made a fool of myself because I was almost in tears trying to finish that chicken. Oh memories.

The photos were taken at Nandos Milnerton on Koeberg Road.

Buffet Breakfast @ Table Bay Hotel

Oysters for breakfast?!

My salad after having numerous plates 

What is the most exciting thing about staying in a 5 star hotel? If you ask me, it would be the breakfast buffet for sure! The boy happened to won a one night stay at the Table Bay hotel by V&A Waterfront so we packed our bags quickly and enjoyed a night of luxury.

The breakfast buffet was set up beautifully with numerous choices. You can get your hands on some delicious pastries, salad, fruit, cereal, bacon, meat sausages and many traditional English breakfast options. Also, you can have sushi, miso soup and enjoy freshly made waffle at the waffle bar. There is also a small section for sugar free options.

I was seriously overwhelmed by the choices, I wanted to try as many things as possible! At the same time, I need to calculate the space in my belly carefully not to have any regrets. The plan was have a big brunch so I can skip lunch.

The story ended up not too badly, I only regret about the small portion of noodles that tasted like noodle mixed with sweet chili sauce alone with no other seasoning. The rest of the food was very enjoyable, I ended my meal with a croissant and chocolate spread.

Loved the experience even though I am not sure if I have to pay for it, would I enjoy it as much? It is a 9/10 from me.

She Says.

Winter treat - Chinese Hot Pot

Chinese hot pot (direct translation) is something that comes to my head every winter. You got to have hot pot in winter, it is like a rule for me.

What is hot pot? If you are asking:

Hot pot is Chinese styled fondue with a pot of boiling soup in the middle of the table and the dishes are around the pot. The dishes are mostly raw and ready to be cook in the pot. You can throw in whatever you have prepared. When you eat it, you should mix your own dipping sauce.

Depending on your style, the dipping sauce can be a mixture any peanut sauce, chilli oil, soy sauce, chopped spring onion, chopped garlic, sesame oil.. it is a personal preference.

I was invited to this hot pot dinner and it was like the luxury version of hot pot! I have never had oysters in hot pot and generally I am scared of the rawness of oysters. But if you cook the oyster in the water for roughly 10~15 seconds, it is really yummy! Remember not to cook it in the spicy soup as you won't be able to taste the pure flavor.

Here is my list of my best hot pot dishes:
- Thinly sliced lamb or pork
- Oysters
- Glass noodle (unfortunately we did not have udon noodle)
- Mushrooms (long ones, white enokitake mushrooms)
- Calamari
- Chinese cabbage
- Fish cake (a type of tempura)
- Oily tofu
- Pork meatballs

I have family over later this month, we shall have at least one hot pot dinner! If you are interested to have hot pot in Cape Town, you can go to the following:

Xiang Yuan
254 Main Road, Sea Point
021 434 4987

Royo Kloof
1st Floor, 115 Kloof Street
Gardens
021 422 1888

Dynasty
Shop 10 Nedbank Centre, Kloof Road
Sea Point
021 434 0065