Tag Archives: Long Street

Introducing the South China Dim Sum Bar

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I’m really loving the movement towards fuss free, chilled out dining here in Cape Town.  Don’t get me wrong, I do love a good fine dining experience every now and then.  But most of the time I just want a hearty meal at a great price in a relaxed setting…

The new South China Dim Sum Bar in Long St totally fits that bill:

The menu is simple.  There’s a BYOB (that’s “Bring Your Own Booze”) policy – which is actually quite cool cause you get to drink what you want and you don’t need to worry about corkage.  You place your order at the kitchen counter, select your condiments & dipping sauces and then your food is served on eco friendly paper plates.  Easy peasy. :)

While sipping on my homemade lemon ice tea (R15) – which was very refreshing btw:

I really enjoyed looking at the fun movie posters on the wall:

A very cool touch guys

But soon we got stuck into that menu.  First up we tried the beef potstickers (R28 for 3) and the bbq chicken char-sinbao (R12 each):

Potstickers on the right & bbq chicken steamed bun on the left

We wanted a few more of those bbq chicken buns – but sadly they were sold out, we snapped up the very last one.  Lucky us, cause that baby rocked.

Next up we had the steamed pork wontons (R28 for 3):

Then the Vietnamese summer roll (R30) which is like a veggie wrap served with a spicy peanut sauce:

Loooooved that peanut sauce

Joe also forced me to try the steamed turnip cake (R28 for 2 portions) – even though in my head I was going “hell no”. ;)

Not gonna lie, the soft spongy texture still put me off (it's just a personal thing), but it was way nicer than I had pictured in my head. hehe

And then Joe still had space for the Wonton noodle soup (R45):

Everything we had was very light, fresh & tasty.  You could tell the two boys who run this shop have a real passion for serving up good food.   The standouts for me though were the beef potstickers & bbq chicken char-sinbao.  Mmmmmmm.

My Miss K Kiss-o-Meter rating for the for this seriously cute dim sum bar would be:

Give them a call on 078 846 3656 to make a booking (it gets quite busy – so better safe than sorry).  They are at nr 289 Long St, which is right at the top just past Royale Eatery.  And they are open from Wed – Fri for lunch (12:30 – 3pm) and Tue – Sun for dinner (6pm till late).  Oh and just FYI – they also have a stand at the Hope St Market on Saturdays.

Important to note:  They don’t have a card machine.  So bring enough cash.

xxx

Hitting Long Street

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It’s been a looooong time since I’ve checked out some of the night spots in Long Street.  But on Sat eve I had a good reason to show face in this famous street… My friend Stan was having a farewell thing at a spot called Fat Back Soul (289 Long St).

From the outside it is quite unassuming – you might even totally miss it while driving past:

Come on in guys & gals...

But the interior sure as hell packs a punch!

Ta da!!!

I loved every single detail… from the multi colour leather couches, to the funky cube details on the walls & ceiling…

Oooh and the bamboo bar stools & the mirrored walls!

The ladies bathroom also kicked ass.  A place that does a lot of effort on that scores serious bonus points in my book.

Music wise, expect to hear some funky old school r&b / hip hop tunes.  Easy listening, but with a lot of soul.  I really liked the vibe.

Stan wanted to say goodbye in style – so he had a bottle of Patrón XO Café on ice for us and every new guest had to share in a round of shots:

Dangerous stuff...

I HATE tequila.  But this stuff’s awesome… You can’t taste the tequila at all.  It just tastes like a yummy coffee liqueur. :)   Just don’t underestimate it – it is still quite lethal.  I did however pace myself… still feeling a bit rough from the night before…  was just a nice chilled evening with friends.

On the way out I was taken back by all the bright lights of Long St and all the people wandering around.  I thought to myself: “Exactly why haven’t I partied here in such a long time?”  Then my heel (of my new shoes!) got stuck in a hole on the wonky, badly kept sidewalk and as I was trying to get it out this drunk guy (or he could have been a car guard. haha) said “Hey baby… you look so nice… how about a kiss…”  And I was like “Ah yes… there it is…”  ;)

But seriously, Fat Back Soul is a really awesome spot and I’m glad I got to check it out.  I need to make a plan to also check out some of the other new spots in this area.  I’m sure there’s a couple more gems waiting to be explored…

xxx

I finally get my A-List fix

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So I’ve already told you guys about my shameless A-List addiction here.  Well last week I got another one of those tempting little SMSs:

“A-LIST launches a HOT new collection today! AMAZING pieces for AMAZING people! Get the best of next seasons key international looks only at A-LIST. Hurry!!!”

I was panic-stricken… you see A-List is in Long St in town and I work all the way out in the dullsville northern suburbs!  Aaarggh…  I was gonna have to wait for the weekend, but by then lots of beautiful goodies would have been snatched up by fashion addicts like myself, but who are lucky enough to work in the city bowl.  Bitches… :)

I finally managed to make it over there on Saturday and I was glad to see that there were still lots of awesome stuff for me to work my way through!  My new golden rule when it comes to shopping is: “If you’re not sure about something, try it on!!!  You might just love it…”  So usually, thanks to that rule, I snatch up a whole bunch of items to try on.

A-List has got you covered on pretty much all the key spring/summer trends:

Lots of brights...

Brights and colour-blocking are going to be huge – most of the stuff I bought in Italy are super bright.  Then they also have lots of options for the monochromatic trend:

Who doesn't look good in these shades? I will ALWAYS love black...

Romantic freaks and girly girls are totally in luck! Pretty is in, and in a BIG way.  Soft fabrics, feminine styling, floral prints, frilly and lacy bits here and there…

Pretty in pink!

I also found quite a few items that work for the “70s inspired” look that is also pinned to be massively popular.  See the lovely “ink” colours below and flowy blouses, that’s very on trend.

Luckily most of these trends are also super comfy & very flattering...

Then A-List also stocks fabulous accessories – think belts, scarves, head gear and more:

I need all of it... seriously! ;)

And some one-of-a-kind jewellery pieces:

I looooove shiny things!

I also couldn’t resist taking a snap of the mannequin – her name is Anna.  They dress her up in different outfits every day… lucky girl!

Looking faaaabulous dahling!

I tried on a bunch of really cool things, but finally settled on two dresses at only R495 each.  The first has a seriously fun print and is short and flowy with pockets! I love pockets…

I added the belt. But it's also a previous A-List purchase.

Here’s a close-up of the print:

Baby elephants! How freakin' cute is that?!

The second is a sexy little black & white number:

This print also has some seriously cool detail... think trees, birds, temples and more!

But the real deal-clincher was the awesome heart cut-out on the back:

Ta da!!! :) Not the best shot - I had to do it myself, but you get the idea...

OK, so by now my male readers are probably passed out or ready to puke at all the girliness on this blog post.  Sorry guys!  I’ll look out for something dirrrrty to write about soon… I promise.  But for girls, this is pretty much like porn. So let us have our moments every now and again. haha.

Right, gotta run. Chat soon. xxx

PS:  Boys, remember there is a mens collection at their 2nd store at 221 Long Street.  Go check it out!

Friday night madness in the Mother City

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So, what do you need for a successful evening in the mother city?  It’s pretty simple:

  1. A bunch of crazy friends
  2. Something to line the stomach
  3. A sense of adventure

To kick off the evening, I met up with friends at Royale Eatery (273 Long St).  Now there are quite a few great burger joints in Cape Town, but Royale has always been my personal favourite.

Loooove the quirky interior

This place has such a cool energy and it’s always packed.  Then they also have some seriously interesting burger options on the menu:

Hmmm... where should I start?

There are also other food options, but the burgers are where it’s at bitches. :)   I usually go for the “Big bird”  – ostrich patty with home-made beetroot relish. Yum!  But apparently there’s an ostrich shortage due to some ostrich flu drama I was totally unaware of.  So I had to settle for something else… sob…  I figured I’d go for a classic then, a cheddar burger with sweet potato fries. (you can choose from normal fries, wedges or the sweet potato fries – or even a mix! Very cool.)

Oh yeah baby... now that's what I'm talkin about...

Here’s my friend Mike’s choice – the “Fat bastard” with normal fries:

I'm not fat, I'm just big boned!

Both Mike and I agreed that we were expecting the Fat Bastard to be bigger.  I mean come one people, it’s called the FAT BASTARD!  That kinda sets a mental expectation there.  Other than that little glitch though (excuse the pun), the food was amazing like always.  I mean it takes a hell of a lot to shut our loud & rude group up, but you could hear crickets as we ate our burgers.

My official Miss K Kiss-o-Meter rating:

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

Yup, that’s a solid 4 kissess all round!  There’s a definate loooooong term relationships on the cards here…

Our next stop was Tjing Tjing bar (165 Longmarket St).  Tjing Tjing is situated on the 3rd level of a beautifully restored 181 year old home and has an open air deck area as well (which I’m sure is going to be very popular in summer).  On the ground level you have “Dear Me” brasserie, a spot I’m actually very keen to check out sometime – I hear the menu changes daily.  Nice… and then on the 2nd level there is a private function room.  But back to that roof top bar…  the one thing that seriously irked us was that we had to stand in a queue outside (who still does that btw!?!) and the door man seemed to have a serious issue with counting.  Six people would leave and then he’d only let 2 people in.  We were like “wtf dude!?! It’s freakin’ freezing out here!”  We got inside in drips and drabs.  Very annoying.

Worth standing out in the cold for? Not really convinced...

Once inside, the place didn’t exactly blow me away.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty nice bar.  But there was certainly nothing extra special about it – there was a bar though, and I guess that’s all we really needed.  That and my “specials”…

My hot sexy bitches!

We hung out there for a while.  But got a bit bored in the end.  So we were on the move again. We ended up at the Fez (11 Mechau St).  I actually really don’t like the Fez, it’s an awesome venue, but its pricey to get in and it seems to attract quite  a weird crowd most of the time.  But somehow, after way too many drinks, I’m always easily convinced by others that this will be our most rocking option for a spot of dancin’.  I think we got there after midnight… I say “think” because firstly I don’t remember how we got there.  And secondly, Fez is pretty much a big black hole in my memory.  I did however find this (and several other pictures) on my camera yesterday:

Um... ja... don't really know how to explain this one...

So looks like I had a great time! haha. If I look at my BBM history, I think I got home at about 3:30am.  Pretty good for an old lady hey!  But that brings me to another point – your Blackberry should have an automatic off switch when it senses too much alcohol in your system.  Like it should detect it from the sweat glands on your palm or something and then just switch off.  I get waaaaaay to chatty in the early hours of the morning. :)

Needless to say… I felt like total poo yesterday!!!  I only surfaced at like 1:30pm – and it took quite a lot of concealer to get me looking half decent again.  But sometimes a mad night leads to some casualties… haha.  It’s just part of the game…

OK, chat soon my lovelies

xxx

Uh oh!!!

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OK, so this afternoon I got an SMS from my absolute FAVOURITE Cape Town boutique – A-LIST.

The message reads:

“A-LIST just launched their summer preview range. Loads of bold colour, tribal prints + cocktail dresses.”

My first reaction to this was “Noooooooo… must resist the urge to shop!!!”  Especially after all the money I just spent in Italy.  But you see, I have a serious problem when it comes to this store… I don’t think I’ve ever left that that place without buying something.  About 80% of the dresses in my wardrobe are all from A-LIST.   It’s my no fail go to place – it’s never let me down. :)

And yes, I do realise that we’re in the middle of winter, so buying from their summer range would seem a bit strange right now.  But you have to be prepared people!  You can’t just change over into a new season without proper planning. haha.

A-LIST actually has two stores:

  • The first (and original) is at 110 Long Street, just below Whale Street,  and stocks only ladies stuff  – clothes & accessories.
  • The second is higher up in Long Street at nr 221 and also stocks a small mens collection.

Go check it out.  And please buy everything – that way there’s less temptation for me!

I might see you there… (if my self control fails me… which is highly likely)

xxx