Last December while I was visiting my family back in PE, they kept going on and on about some new place called Vovo Telo.  According to them it was this new, really cool cafe which was like all the rage.

Having lived in PE for 23 years of my life, I was very sceptical.  I mean I remember people getting all excited about a new branch of Spur opening back in the day.  So would this place really live up to the hype?  I mean I do live in the coolest city in the world now, how could anything ever compare to what we have here.

We tried a few times to go check it out, but they were closed everytime we drove past.  In fairness, it was over Christmas time with all those public holidays.  Most places in PE close during that period.  Just one of those things PE folks have become accustomed to.

Anyhoo, months went by and my folks still kept saying how they were sad that I didn’t get to see this Vovo Telo because it was really that awesome.  I was like - ja ja, whatever.  But then around April I started hearing rumblings of a Vovo Telo which had opened in the V&A Waterfront.  A little old PE business now in Cape Town?  Now this I had to go see for myself…

Just a tip – don’t rely on the V&A map to find it.  We tried it and it marked it out in the middle of a huge blank space, somewhere between the main shopping building and the Blue Shed.  We walked around for quite a while before we resorted to the “phone a friend” option.  Here’s my tip – if you’re standing right in front of the Wheel of Excellence – look to your right:

There it is!

First I’m going to blab about the decor, because I loved absolutely every little detail.  From the beatufiul chandeliers, quirky wallpaper, odd old picture frames, revamped antique furniture and fun wall murals.  It just all works.

Before we settled in upstairs, I did linger in front of the evil treat display first:

Damn you Vovo Telo people!  Why do you tempt me so…

The menu covers a few starter options like baked camembert, tomato & fennel soup or an antipasta platter for two.  For the health concious they have some nice salad options and if you’re feeling a bit hungrier you can opt for a hearty pasta dish like the zucchini & pine nut pasta, a lamb burger, steak or a pissaladiere (that’s a fancy name for thin crust pizzas made from ciabatta dough).

To drink I opted for a freshly squeezed juice – a blend of carrot, pineapple & ginger.  My friend Joe opted for a spot of tea daahling with lemon & honey.  Just look how pretty the presentation was:

To eat, I had went for a thin crust pizza with black forest ham & strawberries (also rocket, garlic, parmesan shavings and a balsamic reduction) – R68:

Joe went for the grilled fillet steak medallions with baby potatoes, green beans & lemon butter sauce – R82:

I only had one compliant with regards to my meal and that was that the pizza crust was really tough to cut through.  This made eating it a bit of a mission, but the flavours were good.  Joe really enjoyed his dish.  He said the meat was cooked perfectly and the sauce was really tasty.  I would give my pizza a 3 out of 5 and he rated his steak a 4 out of 5.

Service wise I must say things were slightly off.  Our waiter hovered around us quite a bit when we sat down, wanting us to place our order really quickly.  The place wasn’t that busy, so it wasn’t like they had hit a peak time and needed to get orders out fast.  So that annoyed me a bit.  I felt like I was being rushed.  I had heard from 3 different groups of people that when they went there the service was painfully slow.  So I don’t know if maybe they are going the other extreme now to overcompensate. 

Overall though, I had a good time.  I would give Vovo Telo the following Miss K Kiss-o-Meter ratings:

• For ambience / decor:
• For food:
• For service:

I see they are expanding like crazy as they also have branches in Johannesburg & Pretoria.  And a second branch in PE.  I guess I have to swallow my words now and admit that there might be a new breed in the making here, the “PE foodie”.  Stranger things have happened.

xxx