Tag Archives: Cape Quarter

Burger special @ Cru Café

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I told you guys about Cru Café Wine Bar & Restaurant a while back here.  They’re based in the new Cape Quarter extention and I really quite like the place…

Anyhoo, they sent me a little note to say they are running a great jumbo gourmet burger lunchtime special.  Check it out:

Looks soooo good right?  If the tapas are anything to go by, I’m confident that these burgers will rock.  Also, I think a good burger indulgence is just the thing for this chilly weather that’s creeping in on us.  Mmmmmm… ;)

xxx

The people at Voila! are pure evil ;)

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Seriously, have any of you tried walking past Voila! in Cape Quarter without stopping for a little snack?  I’ll give you the answer…. NO!!!  Why?  Cause it’s humanly impossible to pass by THIS table without totally cracking…

You see what I mean?  I am pleading to the people at Voila! to please add some kind of covering so I can’t actually see the table when I walk by… my ass needs a break please! :)   

On a different note, being in a renovating mood of late, I am totally obsessed with the lights they have on the inside.  Check it out:

Gorgeous right?  You can’t see it properly in this pic, but they are actually large glass teacups.  Really cool.  Would love to somehow work something similar into my apartment.

So I dare you guys – go take a walk past there and see what happens.  You’ve been warned…

xxx

Looking forward to an evening of fashion with Scalini

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On Wed eve I will be attending a “rooftop soirée” at Scalini in Cape Quarter.  Doesn’t that sound fancy? :)

Scalini is a gorgeous boutique that stocks luxury European fashion, footwear & swimwear labels and we will be lucky enough to see their new Resort & Swimwear 2012 collection.  My heart totally skips a beat just at the thought of all the pretty things I will be lusting after…

The invite also promises bubbly & canapes.  As if I needed more reasons to attend. Hehe.  It will also be the first night of their summer sale, so some retail therapy could be on the cards for me, yay! (and just like that my credit card starts to shiver…)

xxx

Lazari gets replaced by Zabad

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This past Sunday a bunch of us met up at what we thought was still the Lazari at Cape Quarter for a birthday lunch.   Turns out Lazari there is no longer and it was replaced at the end of December by a new spot called Zabad.  I’m not really sure why the people from Lazari would’ve decided to close down the Cape Quarter branch (they still have the other one in Vredehoek luckily!), cause whenever I passed there they seemed to be really busy.  Anyhoo…. I won’t lie, this little surprise did make me a bit nervous as I’m a huge fan of Lazari and had been dreaming about the yummy food I was going to devour.  But Zabad’s menu looked good and the I loved the fresh decor, so I figured this could be quite an exciting new find.

They haven’t changed the interior up too much, but they have introduced a new colour scheme, some fresh paint, new tablecloths & chairs and a shiny new chandelier.  In fact, I can show you a direct before & after comparison.  Turns out I snapped a pic that directly compares to a pic I found on the Lazari website:

Before as Lazari

The new Zabad

Obviously there is still the outside eating area as well:

And then there’s a cute dining room nook with a big table which looked perfect if you wanted a bit more privacy for your group:

Before I got down to ordering, I had my hands pressed up against the cake display, drooling at these babies:

Noooooooooo!!!

But because I’m still trying hard to loose the extra kilos I picked up over xmas – I decided to be a good girl and I went for the Thai beef salad instead:

I also tried a small bite of my friend Grant’s pesto pasta dish:

I forgot to jot down the exact prices, but their lunch offerings ranged between about R40 to R70 – which is pretty standard prices for Cape Town.   My salad rocked my world and that pesto pasta dish was pretty damn delicious as well.

The thing that really let us down was the service.  First off it was very slow – which didn’t bug me that much personally (seeing as I recently spent 6 days in PE and my expectations had gone down to match the crappy service you get there), but it did bother a few of my friends as they were waiting quite long for simple things like sparkling water and such.  When one of my friends told the lady who looked to be the owner that she found the service quite slow, the lady blatantly ignored her and then I overheard her say “bitch” under her breath as she walked off.

I was really shocked by this.  It was just so incredibly unprofessional.  If you can’t deal with customer complaints, then you shouldn’t be in the restaurant business.  I mean even if you think a customer is being unreasonable, surely you rather confront the situation in a calm & adult manner?

The final straw for my group was that we ordered a bottle of sparkly to do a toast for the bday girl and it arrived warm.  :(

Based on this, my Miss K Kiss-o-Meter ratings for Zabad would be:

  • Service:  
  • For everything else:

I really hope they sort out their service issues because the food is really good, it’s a very inviting space and it’s in a great location.   Maybe I’ll just pop by for a take-away next time. hehe.

xxx

The Cape Quarter Market

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There’s a new market in town ladies & gentlemen… introducing the Village Market @ Cape Quarter!  The market launched this past Sun and will be open every Sun from 10am to 3pm.  They refer to themselves as:

A unique, European Lifestyle Market that supports local goods and produce, all the while striving to be as organic and environmentally friendly as possible.

But to be totally honest… the first thing that went through my mind was: “But will there be pancakes?” :)

We kicked off our market shopping with some interesting sounding spring rolls:

I went for the Thai hake & Braised Lamb... Mmmmmm...

Then I was also tempted to try a fresh pie.  My friend Johann had one and he looked pretty damn happy.  Just look at this awesome display of featherlight crust:

The lovely lady at the Frying Dutchman stand gave us some free “poffertjes” to sample – basically they’re like little pancake puffs sprinkled with cinnamon and dripping with chocolate sauce & fresh cream.  How great does that sound?

BOOM! These babies were absolutely delicious...

After that I had to be dragged away from the Voila! stand with all their evil cupcakes, tarts & macaroons:

My friends totally fear my sugar high's I think... mwhahahahahaha

Next we headed upstairs to what seems to be the main market area – but you’ll find stands all over the new Cape Quarter extension.  Here there was lots of seating place and it was buzzing with people.

The Heavenly Treats stand was a real stand out for me.  Those quiches just looked… well… heavenly!

And then for some reason the sight of this bagel stand just made me want to run up and jump right into that stack.  I dunno why exactly.  It must have been a carb attack. hehe.

My friend Grant, who loves to cook – especially curries & potjies – went mad when he saw all the spices on offer.  And I must say, it did make for quite a pretty photo:

He noted that a lot of these spices are very hard to come by, especially fresh, so this was a real score for him.  Good to know.  If I ever learn how to cook – I will keep this in mind. ;)

I was very tempted to support the oysters & champers stand… well more for the champers than the creepy, slimy, gross oysters (can you tell I don’t like them?).   But seeing as it was only 11am – we hadn’t quite reached “wine-o-clock” yet.

As we went back down, towards the outer edges of Cape Quarter, my dreams finally came true… we found the pancake stand!  (well the dude called them “crêpes” – but that’s just a fancy pants name for the same thing right).   This guy was a real pro – just look at the ultra smooth hand movement, creating the perfect thickness for the fluffiest pancakes ever:

Best R15 I've spent like ever...

After all that eating, I felt like I needed a nap.  But hey, that’s what Sundays are for! :)

All and all, I think this market offers up some great things.  I suspect that it’s going to become very popular.  I personally LOVE markets, so I think it’s truly great that Cape Town folk have yet another cool one to check out.

xxx

Great wine, tapas & friends makes for the perfect evening

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On Fri eve a bunch of us headed over to Cru Cafe Wine Bar & Restaurant in the new Cape Quarter extension for some after works drinks and maybe a snack or two.

Situated in the main square on the piazza level, tucked away in the corner.

The interior I can only describe as “sophisticated cool”.  Warm colours, unique accent details and most importantly, very inviting:

Love the striped wallpaper behind the bar counter

The art works on the walls are seriously strange, but I kinda really loved it:

The creepy dude in the middle, looking down that lady's dress had our table in hysterics...

For wine, I “thought” I would only have a glass of white, so I just went for their house wine option – Iona Sauvignon Blanc 2010 from the Elgin region:

Now usually I don’t really expect much when it comes to the house wine options.  But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.  It certainly wasn’t one of the best Sauvignon Blanc’s I’ve ever had.  But it was really quite enjoyable.  In fact, in the end I had a couple of glasses of this baby. ;)

All the drinking & chatting got us a bit peckish – so we opted to get some tapas for the table:

From left to right above you have:

  • Patagonian calamari with garlic butter & mild piri-piri (R48)
  • Marinated olives & feta cheese (R28)
  • Tzatziki with crostini (R28)
  • Salmon fish cakes with a dill tomato salsa (R39)
  • Lamb meat balls (R40)

Everything was really tasty.  But the stand out for me were those meatballs. It didn’t even need a dipping sauce, it was absolutely beautiful just as is.

In the end, quick after work drinks developed into a long, fun evening catching up with old friends and some new.  I only got out of there at around 11pm.

The gang

To me that’s a sign of a brilliant spot – somewhere where you feel at home, not fussy, just easy…  My Miss K Kiss-o-Meter ratings for Cru Cafe would be:

    • Vibe: 
    • Price:
    • Food (Tapas): 
    • Service: 

I’m now very keen to go back and try out their full dinner menu.

xxx

Strong like bull

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On Saturday evening, I joined my friend Dax (aka Relax With Dax) for some food & wine at the new Toro Wine Bar in the trendy De Waterkant area.  Toro means “bull” in Italian – just in case my blog post heading didn’t make any sense. ;)

It’s a very cool, cozy spot.  Not pretentious at all and with a great inside/outside flow with its large window which overlooks a little balcony type area.

Toro Wine Bar has a simple, yet totally inviting Italian inspired food menu consisting of an Antipasti board, some yummy Panini options, delicious Bruschetta, Gratins (OK, that one’s French) and then some sweet things to end off with. Also, as the name would suggest, they have a seriously impressive wine selection.

Wonder how many I could "smokkel" away in my handbag.... Hmmm...

We opted to have some Ladera wine.  I went for the Wild Child Chardonnay and Dax had their Zahir Syrah (aka Shiraz).  I was very happy with my choice and probably ended up having a little too much of it actually (my cheeks were pretty warm by the end of the evening. haha).  I also got to taste Dax’s Shiraz and can say it was very easy drinking as well.  I’m not a huge fan of Shiraz, but could’ve easily had a couple of glasses of that.

Grant, the lovely owner, looked after us for the evening.  He put together a special Antipasti board consisting of two types of cheeses, some awesome cured meats, sun dried tomatoes, salted nuts and some very interesting preserves.

Bellissimo!!!

You can basically make up your own Antipasti board.  Here’s a list of their regular options:

Charcuterie ( R15 per item)
Montanara salami – salami from Sardinia, Italy
Parma ham – ham cured in the hills of parma, Italy
Chorizo – A paprika based Spanish sausage
Coppa – Dry cured Italian ham
Black Forest Ham – Germanic Smoked Air Cured Ham

Cheeses ( R15 per item)
Brie – An old School cheese board addition!
Camembert – A traditional favourite from Normandy
Taleggio – Casanova’s cheese of Choice from Lombardy
Manchego -Spanish sheep’s milk cheese
Parmigiano – Another classic ( Served Chunky, like we like it )
Gorgonzola – Italian Creamy blue

The pickle & preserve experience (Includes fresh breads and accompaniments ) R50

Then you can also just ask for any “special items” that might not be on the standard menu.  It will be totally worth it, trust me. :)

That Antipasti board made me incredibly happy.  It took me back to my trip to Italy in June.  Just too bad I wasn’t surrounded by charming Italian men offering to pay for my dinner.  Oh well, you can’t have everything I guess. haha.  I could have happily snacked away on that board for the entire evening – I especially loved trying weird & wonderful combinations of cheeses, meats & preserves.  I felt like a kid, exploring different tastes for the first time…

After the Antipasti board, Dax was still a bit peckish and I was keen to try out some more yummy stuff. So we also shared the Bruschetta special for the day (R40).

Delicious artichoke, various other greens, some cheese & olive oil.

It was very tasty and the bread was awesome. However, I seriously battled to cut through the crazy crust.  So Dax had to cut it up into small pieces for me.  Thanks again Dax! ;)

Now… on to my official Miss K Kiss-o-Meter ratings for Toro:

  • Vibe:
  • Price:
  • Food:
  • Service:

That awesome service could have had something to do with the fact that I was dining with Dax.  That man has some serious power in the Cape Town food circuit.  But Grant really did look after us well.  So they still totally deserve the 5 kiss rating.  The evening just flowed, we got there at 8pm and the next time I looked at my watch it was 11:30pm already!  Was a really great evening…

And I will be back for that Antipasti board for sure.

xxx

The macaroon war revival

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Right, so I’ve sampled macaroons from a couple of places in Cape Town now and Cassis keeps coming out tops.  Mmmmm.  ♥

But people have been insisting that I still needed to try one more place -  Daniela’s – shop 040, The Square, Cape Quarter.  I figured ah what the hell, I better give it a bash to see if I can finally put this epic battle to rest. ;)

Daniela’s is quite a pretty little shop with lots of decadent treats to choose from (dieters BEWARE!).  The cakes especially looked really really good…

I had to be strong... I was there for the macaroons... nothing more! This was serious.

They had 7 macaroon flavours on offer, including a very unique champagne flavour  (actually, I had heard quite a lot of hype about that one).  I decided to try all of them except the peanut butter flavour.  I love peanut butter on its own, but for some reason a peanut butter flavour in anything else is just seems seriously wrong… blegh.

Anyways, these babies come at quite a hefty price – R10 each!  Yes, that’s right.  For only 6 I had to fork out R60!!  Ouch.

At least the beautiful packaging somewhat softens the blow:

Almost looks too good to eat... I said almost... hehe

My favourite one was the coconut (pale green) – it was soooo yum!   The champagne flavour (beige)  was a disappointment because to me it just tasted like plain ol’ caramel.  The chocolate was boring.  And the other ones, although great in texture  (slightly crispy outer, soft centre, creamy filling), you couldn’t really tell what the flavour was!  I’m assuming the yellow one was some kind of citrus flavour and the two pink ones were supposed to be some kind of berry variant.  But they all tasted the bloody same.  I mean, that’s the whole fun about macaroons!  Trying different flavours! This did not make me happy at all… :(

Now before I give you my Miss K Kiss-o-Meter score – just to recap, here are my ratings for my other macaroon finds so far:

  • Emporio Leone (V&A Waterfront): 
  • Myatt (V&A Waterfront): 
  • Cassis (Gardens & Newlands): 

So what about Daniela’s then?   I’m gonna have to give them: 

As I said, the texture was spot on and they get bonus points for that coconut flavoured gem, but the R10 price tag and lack of distinguishable flavours let them down in the end.

I’m definitely gonna stick to my darling Cassis – where for R60 I can go home with a full dozen! Oh yeah baby, now that’s what I’m talkin’ about…

xxx