Tag Archives: chocolate fondant

El Burro’s Mexican fair

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So on Mon eve I finally got to check out the relatively new Mexican spot in town – El Burro.  (meaning donkey in Spanish)

El Burro has taken over the old premises of the Buena Vista Social Cafe (which moved almost across the road, closer to the V&A Waterfront).

This venue used to be quite dark & dingy – a bit of a student jol and the kind of spot where you’d only really eat something after copious amounts of Tequila.  But I always felt that it had great potential to be something really cool.  This is why I was really excited to hear about the revamp.

Decor wise there’s been a total turnaround.  Fun, quirky details, fresh colours, great lighting and it’s super clean!

My favourite detail were these two little horsies next to their cactus friend… or are those supposed to be dressed up donkeys?  I don’t care, to me they looked like My Little Ponies and I wanted to take them home with me to cuddle on the couch. :)

Hello my babies...

Then we all also loved the seriously cool menu design:

Yeah... skulls & guns and stuff...

For starters, Nix and I shared the Elotes (R37):

BLACKENED CORN ROLLED IN HOME-MADE MAYO, PARMESAN & PAPRIKA, SERVED WITH ROCKET, RADISH & PICKLED RED ONION.

You can’t really stuff up a mielie – one of my favourite things on the planet, especially when dripping with lightly salted butter, mmmmmm – BUT the parmesan & paprika mix gave it a really weird aftertaste.  That funky taste put Nix off totally – I on the other hand was willing to look past that little detail.  Why?  Well because I just really love corn!

Lara had the Chiles Relenos (3 for R33):

SMOKED JALAPENO’S STUFFED WITH QUESO FRESCO, SERVED WITH ROCKET, RADISH & PICKLED RED ONION

I had a small taste of this as well – can’t say it blew me away.  It wasn’t great, it wasn’t terrible.. it was just OK.

Elotes (corn) on the left & Chiles Relenos on the right

Some people had told me that I should go for the Cerviche (R56):

FINELY DICED FRESH LINE FISH MARINATED IN LIME JUICE, SERRANO CHILLIES, GINGER & CORIANDER.

Every review I could find online also mentioned it and then the waitress recommended it as well. But reading the description of what it is just didn’t grab me.  So I opted out.  Maybe that would’ve been amazing.  Dunno…

For mains  Lara opted for the Ensalada de Camaron (R70):

PRAWN SALAD WITH CRISPY BACON, BLACKENED CORN, BLACK BEANS & AVO

Nix had the Mushroom Quesadilla (R65):

GRILLED FLOUR TORTILLA FILLED WITH SAUTÉED FIELD MUSHROOMS & QUESO FRESCO, SERVED WITH A SUN-DRIED TOMATO & BLACK BEAN SALSA.

And I went for the Build-your-own Tacos option with Grilled chicken (R68):

FLOUR OR CORN TORTILLAS SERVED WITH PICKLED RED ONION, GUACAMOLE, SOUR CREAM, FRESH TOMATO, ROAST TOMATO SALSA & SHREDDED GREENS.
GRILLED CHICKEN
MARINATED IN CHILLI, CORIANDER, GARLIC & LEMON.

From left to right: Prawn salad, grilled chicken taco & mushroom quesadilla

Lara said her salad was “as good as a salad can be” and Nix said her quesadilla was like a 3 out of 5 good.

My grilled chicken taco on the other hand was really really bland.  Like so bland, those under seasoned Woolies Slimmers Choice meals with the unknown white goop on top made this look bad…  I thought to myself “what happened to the marinated in chilli part?”

After mains, I gave up on the food and decided to focus my energies on the wine instead.  But Nix & Lara decided to share the Dark Chocolate Fondant (R42) for dessert:

They said it was really yum – but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that it just seemed very very wrong to have a French dessert on a Mexican menu.  Anyone else feel the same? ;)   Maybe it would have sounded more acceptable if they mixed in some chilli into the chocolate or something. (And no, the chilli used as decoration does not count.)

So anyhoo, after all the excitement about trying this spot out, I was left a bit disappointed.  My Miss K Kiss-o-Meter ratings for El Burro would be:

    • Vibe: 
    • Price:
    • Food:  (mine) (rest of table)
    • Service: 

It certainly doesn’t trump my beloved Fat Cactus.  But I really do love the look & feel of the place, so I might go back to give them a second chance sometime.

xxx

Peroni spoils us at Zenzero

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So my friend Darryn is one of those lucky people who wins shit ALL THE TIME.  This time round he won a R2000 dinner for himself & 3 friends, sponsored by Peroni SA.  Of course I was one of the “chosen ones” – I mean, let’s keep it real here, what party is complete without moi (or my evil twin Kandi). :)

The venue for this eating & drinking showdown was the truly beautiful Italian restaurant, Zenzero (Shop 2A – The Promenade, Victoria Rd), in Camps Bay.  Just check this place out – it’s pretty insane:

Peroni “Lifestyle Ambassador”, Aidan Whytock, was waiting to welcome us (with some ice cold Peroni of course).  This was a great start to our evening… Thanks again Aidan!

Myself, Ben & Darryn (our 4th, Dani, was running late - so she missed out on this awesome group shot. And the free Peroni. So sad. haha)

The weather wasn’t too great on Saturday, but we got to enjoy an amazing pink sunset nonetheless:

Try to beat that! I dare you...

Now on to how we spent that R2000!  We decided up front that we wouldn’t go over R1800, that way we could leave our waitor a descent tip for his efforts.  How nice are we? ;)    But that still left us with quite a lot of money to blow between only 4 people.

For starters, we went a bit wild and got a selection of all the highly recommended options for the table.  This inlcluded the following:

  • Tiny whole artichokes – marinated in olive oil, roasted garlic, lemon zest & thyme (R55)
  • Beef carpacio – rocket salad, cherry tomato & shaved pecorino (R80)
  • Grilled calamari – lemon & chilli dressing (R50)
  • Zenzero calamari – crumbed and stuffed with lemon & ricotta (R60)
  • Zenzero mussels – cream, mustard seeds, herbs & lemon (R50)
  • Spinach & ricotta ravioli – olive oil, aged balsamic & pecorino (R50)

I looooved the artichokes, the carpacio & the grilled calamari.  So yum.  Then for mains I went for my favourite thing to order at a restaurant… a big ass slab of meat!  Grrrr… ;)

The Zenzero Fillet (R140) with a pink, green & black peppercorn and pot still brandy sauce & mash potatoes

I finished up (food wise) with the Pièce de résistance for the evening, the Lindt Dark chocolate fondant (R55):

Heaven... I'm in heaven...

The real deal clincher with this baby was that it also had some white Lindt chocolate sauce mixed into the soft, gooey centre.  It was such a cool surprise element.  This was my favourite thing from the entire evening for sure.

After we had totally stuffed ourselves with food AND enjoyed some great beer & wine… we still had money left over.  What’s a person to do with left over cash!?!  Shooters!!!

Ben suggested we have “chocolate cake” shots.  I had never tried that before, but being a total chocoholic, I immediately agreed.  Weird thing is that they don’t actually contain anything chocolate.  It just ends up tasting like it does.  Here’s the ingredients:

1/2 shot Absolut Citron vodka
1/2 shot Frangelico hazelnut liqueur
1 orange wedge

Darryn and our 4th, Dani, shooting them back like pros...

They were a serious hit.  We had quite a few rounds of these babies.  See, the really nice thing was that we didn’t have to worry about driving, so we could go absolutely mal.  We planned ahead and agreed to share a taxi.  Best plan ever!  Drinking & driving is seriously un-cool.

All in all, we had such a great evening.  I couldn’t have asked for anything more.   Amazing location, seriously tasty food, brilliant company and best of all, it was all for FREE! I wish every night could be like that…

I have to say a special thank you to Darryn for letting me tag along for this amazing experience. And then also to Peroni SA for putting this evening together.

xxx

Woodlands Eatery: A quaint little treasure

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On Tuesday eve I met up with my absolutely gorgeous friend Tatum (owner of Soulshine Cards) for some good food and a good catch up.  I love hanging out with Tatum, she’s such an amazing creative energy and she always leaves you wanting to challenge yourself more.  I need people like that in my life. :)

Anyhoo, we chose The Woodlands Eatery in Vredehoek (2 Deer Park drive) for our little get together and boy oh boy did we make a good choice!  Upon entering, my eyes were immediately drawn to all the quirky, fun decor pieces.  Like the odd antique looking chairs, various odd chandeliers over the bar area, the kitch but cool ornaments and the picture frames stacked on the walls in all shapes and sizes…

A true visual feast…

I mean just look at this table as you walk in – with the crazy lamp shades hanging over head and then the interesting mirror collection on the wall above:

How freakin’ cool is that!?!

My absolute favourite little detail though, was this happy looking gold & brown bunny:

What’s that little guy? You wanna come home with me? Of course you can…

Before I move on to the food, I have to also mention that they have a cool little outside area, but as it’s been a bit chillz here in Cape Town the last few days, we opted to stay indoors where it was warm & cosy.

So… the menu might seem a little simple at first glance, but they really pride themselves on only offering options made with the freshest of fresh produce.  So because of that, the menu changes regularly.  Our waitress (who was truly lovely) highly recommended the Red Snapper with rocket & avo salad and grilled baby potatoes.  Both Tatum and I said “yes please!” in unison.

Best fish meal I’ve had in yonks… and it only cost R70!

After our main, we didn’t really have our hearts set dessert… but then our waitress said the magic words: “chocolate fondant” (Evil woman! She knew we wouldn’t be able to resist!).  Again there was a loud “yes yes yes please” from both Tatum and I.

Just as good as they make them in France!

Not only was the food & service fantastic, but there was also a really great energy about this place. You just wanted to stay and chill and chat for hours and hours on end.  Next thing we knew it was almost 11pm!   (we got there at 7:30pm)  What an amazing evening…  it’s always better when you don’t know a thing about a place and then it smacks you right in the face with its pure awesomeness.

Now according to my research, The Woodlands Eatery has been open since early this year already. How did it take me this long to find out about this place!?  Is everyone trying to keep it a secret to avoid it becoming over crowded or something?  Geeze people, share the love!  I can see myself going back to this spot over and over again.  Gonna have to, especially seeing as the menu changes so regularly.  Really want to try everything on offer.

Right, on to my official Miss K Kiss-o-Meter rating:

  • Ambience/vibe: 
  • Price:
  • Service:
  • Food:

Impressive scores! But well deserved, trust me. Everyone in Cape Town should go and give this place a try.  You’ll be enchanted just like we were. :)

OK, ciao for now my lovelies. xxx