Tag Archives: food

Exploring the Hope St market

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It’s official name is the City Bowl Market and it’s situated at nr 14 on Hope St in Gardens.  Actually, just a 2min walk away from my apartment!  Sweet… :)

As you enter the market, you’re greeted by fresh flowers, fruits & veggies:

Even fresher than Woolies!

The market is split into two areas:  Downstairs you’ll find plenty of yummy food stands and upstairs there’s a small bar and then clothing, decor & jewellery stands.

Bring on all the good stuff...

You’ll find anything from freshly baked breads, homemade jams & pestos to ready-to-eat quiches, gourmet sandwiches and build-you-own omelettes (also check out the omelette hottie):

Hmmm... So many yummy options... and the food options were pretty good too... ;)

But we totally lost our brains when we discovered Saszali Chocolates!

Hold me back people...

Carefully handcrafted, beatifully packaged, 15 delicious flavours… I was in heaven.  We decided to splurge out on a box of 4 for R50.  I went for the following flavours:

  • Citrus Blossom: natural orange flavour, encased in the rich dark 70%
  • Twilight: a fusion of white chocolate, Malibu and pineapple
  • Noisette: filled with a hazelnut praline
  • Golden Thyme: a centre infused with fresh thyme and drizzled with plenty of honey

Just check out how absolutely beautiful their packaging is!  This is the little box your choccies come in:

They also have wooden boxes for larger selections as well. And also a super cute singlet box and gift bags.

And then once you open it up, you find your amazing little treats, individually wrapped each with it’s own little flavour story included:

To pretty to eat! OK, that's a lie... they didn't last very long...

And trust me, they taste just as good as they look!  It’s the perfect gift idea for any sugar lover out there.   I’m certainly going to be getting myself a couple of “gifts from me, to me”. ;)

The one thing I really liked about this market was that it’s not as crowded as the Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill.  But then again, I guess it’s just a matter of time before it becomes just as “hip” and popular.

Lots of seating place to sit enjoy your goodies

I was totally in awe of the cheese & cured meats on offer…  I love cheese & parma ham!   Mmmmm…. Just look at these amazing blocks of “boere kaas”:

If I got them all, would that be too much? Nah...

Oooh, and look at these lovely looking salads – which you could have “on a plate” for R45 or “in a pita” for R35:

Yum, yum, yum!

But as fresh, healthy and tasty as that looked… I was on a serious mission to indulge in all the “evil stuffs”…  One option was these delicious looking cupcakes:

Come to mama...

But then… the ultimate treat… pancakes! Mr Pancake Perfect himself, Siegfried Kitching, was there serving up fluffy & sweet perfection:

Took me back to my childhood... I used to loooove those "kerk bazaar" pancakes the church ladies used to serve up...

Next we headed upstairs. Now I’m not a vintage clothing person (it just slightly creeps me out that someone else has worn the clothes), but if that is your thing, then you’ll find lots of treasures here.

Just make sure you have enough time to 'hunt' for that perfect item

I was excited to see the Jam stand – they sell “beautiful things with love”. I’ve seen some of their things in little decor shops and I especially love their heart shaped wooden cutting boards.

I'm a total sucker for anything with a ♥ on it

As for the jewellery options – I was fascinated by Zoe Designs.  Designer Helen du Toit makes beautiful, unique rings with antique teaspoons and cake forks:

Such a cool idea!

These next ones have been hand cut with pretty designs.  The bowl of the teaspoon forms the accent part of the ring:

Absolutely gorgeous...

Some other fun things were the oh-so-pretty brooches from Bow Peep:

Loved the mix of fabrics. They do hair accessories & buttons as well.

But after all those creative vibes, our brains needed a break, so we checked out the little bar area:

Take some time out to do a wine tasting, or sample on of the beers from several interesting microbreweries.

Here you get a nice view of the ground floor, you can see at this point it was really buzzing:

I'm watching you market goers... mwhahahahaha...

For me, it was a bit too early for wine or beer.  So I rather opted for a flavour packed cappuccino:

Coffee that packs a punch! It was brilliant.

I have to say though, they do need more than just one coffee stand.  That queue was loooooong and there’s nothing worse than cranky caffeine freaks. haha

But that’s it people.  Go check it out.  It really is quite charming, and seeing as it’s pretty much right on my doorstep, I will be visiting it frequently I’m sure.

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

Damn you Bastille Festival!!!

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Aaarrrggghhh…  I’m feeling like total poo today!  Not even my usual Myprodol fix has made a dent.  So why am I feeling this way exactly?  Well because I  had a freakin’ awesome time at the Bastille Festival in Franschhoek yesterday!

Having recently (ok not so recently) turned 30, I now have to start acting like a responsible adult every now and again.  Well I try my best…  So we decided to get a shuttle service to drive us to Franschhoek and back.  Didn’t cost too much, only R125 pp between 8 of us.  This meant as much debauchery as we wanted! Woohoo!

Two of the gals in our group went all out and dressed to theme – which is something I will have to do next year for sure.  Here’s Clouds looking uber chic in her French inspired number:

What this? Oh I just threw it together in seconds...

And just look at the cute earrings Tess was rocking:

Viva la France bitches!

Here’s a pic of the whole gang – still looking all fresh and ready to go:

Watch out Franschhoek, the chickas have arrived...

OK onto the food & wine… entrance to the main marquee cost R100 and they were sold out!  Which meant there were a lot of very disappointed people standing outside – looking totally miserable. HAHA to you!  Luckily I was clever enough to pre-book my ticket on Webtickets before hand.  (A good tip for everyone planning to go next year)

The marquee was lined with awesome food & wine stands.  And then there was also a little stage area with some live music.

Ta da! Welcome to food & wine heaven...

You got 5 wine sample tickets and a free tasting glass upon entry… so we decided to get cracking and check out everything that was on offer.

Wine, strawberries and pretty girls in short outfits... marketing genius!

Leigh almost lost her brain when she spotted these:

Hmmm... I'm not sold on these babies...

Now I have never actually tried one.  But I just can’t get past the snotty looking goo part.  It’s totally gross man!  At only R8 a pop though, Leigh was in heaven.  I much rather prefer CHEEEESE…

Yeah baby! Now you're talking...

The brie was my favourite.  And I so wanted to buy some before we left, but then I got too drunk and totally forgot.  Bummer.  Anyhoo – Graham Beck, one of my favourites, was also there and had a very pretty stand:

I'd like all of it please!

And then I was very excited to see Chamonix wines!  I’ve actually been in Chamonix in France, so I was super excited to be tasting some “real deal” French wine again.  But turns out its actually made here in SA… hmmm, false advertising!  But it was pretty good nonetheless.

The "not so French" French wine

Haute Cabriere was there as well – I love their Pierre Jourdan sparkling wines soooo much, I tried to steal a bottle.

This is a fake smile lady... just hand over that bottle!!!

Now I knew I was in for a looooong day of drinking – so I decided to line my stomach well.  First I had a French style lamb burger from Le Caurtier Francais – it was so delicious, I had sauce all over my face as I murdered it!

Yum yum yum!

For dessert I had some “regte egte Afrikaans tannie pannekoeke”.  Now, I seriously love pancakes.  Like seriously… if I happened to be standing next to a innocent little kid who was about to dig into one, I would grab it right from underneath that little kid’s nose without even blinking. Due to this “passion” of mine, I also have really high standards.  They were only R5 and looked all fluffy and perfect:

Hmmm... looks top notch...

Sadly… they totally skimped on the cinnamon sugar and it was super bland.  I almost freakin’ cried… sob. :(   Luckily I had this to cheer me up:

Who's your true friend? Champers of course!

We organised ourselves a sweet spot at a table outside and settled in to enjoy the sunshine (was an awesome 25 degrees yesterday – is it still winter btw!?!).  Basically the rest of the day consisted out of lots of drinking, chilling, chatting, laughing & some drunken pictures… like this one…

Looking a bit "glassy eyed" there girls... :)

And this one…

Lara still looks good... but you can see at this point that I'm fading fast. haha

It was only a matter of time before “Kandi” arrived…  ready for world domination of course!

Stolen hat - check, Dr Evil pose - check, something "bad" to follow - oh hell yes!

Luckily though, they managed to get me back onto the shuttle just in time to avoid my evil plotting coming to fruition. haha! :)

Back at home, I passed out at around 8pm – after shoveling down a massive chocolate cup cake and a big chunk of cheese – nice combination huh.  The choices you make when you’re drunk…  I woke up this morning still clenching the little cup cake wrapper thingy in my hands…

Oh well, the little bit of pain & suffering today is totally worth it, cause we had such an amazing day yesterday.  I can’t wait for next year!

OK, gonna go nap now. xxx

Sawaddee makes me happy

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Do you loooooove both sushi & Thai food? And you’ve always wanted to go to a place where you can have both these options in one sitting? (each rocking your world equally of course :) )   Well the search is over guys and gals!  You simply need to head over to Sawaddee in the Rheede Street mall in Gardens.   I’ve become a bit of a regular there and frequented it again the other night.  The restaurant is the 2nd venture for Chef Pon, who first brought us yummy Thai food with his other restaurant, Chef Pon’s Asian kitchen.  That place was always packed and I spent many a evening there for friends’ birthday parties and such.  No wonder then I guess that Sawaddee has become quite a popular hang out as well…

So lets talk about the food.  First up, the sushi.  I only recently found out that their sushi chef actually used to be the chef at Willoughby’s in the V&A (my ultimate favourite sushi spot in Cape Town!!!).  So that’s already a huge plus in my book.  But the sushi really is to die for and the prices are a bit easier on the pocket than at Willoughby’s.  I can highly recommend the Tempura prawn roll, the Chef’s special & the Volcano sandwich.  All equally delectable!

Then, moving on to the Thai food, the options just seem endless – which is a great excuse to go back time and time again so you can work your way through that menu!  And don’t worry if you’re not a huge fan of hot & spicy food, there are plenty of mild and easy options to choose from as well.  For the “veggies” out there, there are also plenty of options for you!  If you’re a fan of duck (like me), try the Duck with Honey sauce or the Aromatic crispy duck pancakes.  Mmmmmmm… The sweet & sour chicken is a safe option yes, but really good.  If you’re going for rice, don’t pass up the chance to try the Vegetarian fried rice.  And if you feel like living on the edge, try a Jungle curry – but be warned, it has some serious bite!

To be honest, you really can’t go wrong at Sawaddee though.  The food is brilliant, the service is good, the vibe is light & fun and the prices are very reasonable.   I can’t wait to go back again!

Seriously hungy now…

xxx

I have a secret “Crush”

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OK, so I consider myself to be a bit of a “foodie” and also a passionate wine lover. (very, very passionate… haha :) )

A couple of months back a friend of mine told me about this newly launched, free online magazine called Crush – being a lover of pretty much ANYTHING free, I registered within seconds!  Every month since, I’ve been getting a little email in Inbox prompting me that the latest issue is available for my enjoyment…

Lots of yummy stuff inside!

The magazine is the brain child of Cape Town based wine & food guru, Michael Olivier.  It’s filled with some seriously tempting recipes, recommendations on hot & happening wines and wineries, restaurants, food products and such.  And there’s always a couple of really awesome competitions as well – like this month you can win a R400 voucher for dinner at the Bombay Bicycle Club.  Love that place!  (you guys better not enter as well!!!)

This is the email teaser I just got for the latest issue:

Crush Issue 10 will delight your senses with a spread on traditional Portuguese dishes- think Prawn Rissois (Creamy prawn-filled pastries)-yummmm!

Michael takes a look at what’s new on the shelves of his favorite kitchen shops and we share a most beguiling tequila with you.

If Chicken Balls with Parmesan, Rocket and Bacon does not take your fancy, may we suggest Blood Orange Posset with Candied Orange Peel?

Biltong and Wine tasting, Soetes and Soup as well as Tasty Tapas, all in our calendar.

Finally, find out what Butter Chicken, Cape Beef Curry, Bobotie, North Indian Lamb Curry and Thai Green Curry have in common.

Doesn’t that just sound bloody amazing!?!  Go and check out the latest issue for yourselves – Crush Issue 10 – you’ll be totally hooked!   And also extremely hungry afterwards… haha.  From the main website, you can also go and view all the previous issues, which are just as awesome.

Love love. xxx