On Wed eve my friend Joe and I decided to do a bit of walking around in our “hood”.  Armed with pepper spray – OK, that was not me, that was all Joe! haha.  I actually feel quite safe walking around town at night.  But seems not a lot of people do not share my sense of security.  Maybe it’s because I know I have lots of “inner rage” just waiting to be unleashed on an unsuspecting stranger…

Anyhoo, our first stop was Dias Tavern (15 Caledon St):

This place feels like it’s been around since the beginning of time and hasn’t changed their decor or menu since then.

Now before I continue, I need to note that I’m not going to do my usual Miss K Kiss-o-Meter ratings for this cheery spot – it just doesn’t seem right.  Why?  Well… it’s just one of those spots you need to take for what it is.  Don’t judge it, don’t try to understand it and definitely don’t try to deny it… just order yourself a beer and a hearty Portuguese dish and relax.  It’s cheap & it’s easy and you’ll likely love it just because of that.

Side note: It’s a good spot for watching any major sporting event as they have a big screen ready to go at all times.

My friend Leigh goes absolutely crazy for Trinchado, which is 200 grams of diced Rump Steak, fried in wine with garlic and peri-peri.   You don’t want to get between her and her plate.   I on the other hand usually go for the prego roll, it’s a classic, but for some reason I wanted to try something different this time round.

So for starters, I went for the deep fried calamari strips (R38) and Joe went for the grilled baby calamari tubes (R44).

Torn? Why not just order both!

My body was seriously craving something deep fried, hence my choice, but I did try a piece of Joe’s grilled calamari and I have to say that was tastier than mine.

For mains, I decided to try Leigh’s favourite, the Trinchado.  Yeah, I know what you’re thinking… with that garlic & peri-peri sauce, somebody wasn’t getting lucky that night! Haha. It was a risk I was willing to take.

I just had the starter portion (R60) which doesn’t come with any starch.  Joe had the main portion (R70) which basically just comes with your choice of starch.

Tender cubes of meat swimming in a hot & spicy sauce... brilliant.

The sauce packed quite a punch, but I liked that.  Had to order a Coke Zero for the burn though…

As we were enjoying our meal, we had a good chuckle at the cheesy but fun decor and the “one man band” belting out classics like Pretty woman.   There truly is nothing cool about this place… in fact, it is very very un-cool.  But there’s just something about it that makes people come back again and again.   The place is always packed, so they must be doing something right.

And how is this for ultimate convenience… Need cash?  Not a problem!  They have an ATM downstairs in their reception area:

Ta Ta! Joe just had to give it a test drive...

Now on the way to Dias Tavern, we had noticed this sign around the corner at the bottom of Harrington St:

Joe thought it was something innocent… like maybe a cupcake place (him making some kind of loose red velvet cake connection or something. haha. Loser. ).  I had a strong feeling that it was something totally on the other end of the spectrum… likely a strip joint!  (see, my brain isn’t innocent AT ALL)

So after dinner, we decided to confirm this and took a walk over there.  We stood in front of the glass doors like little inquisitive monkeys… trying to get confirmation without actually having to go in.   There was a little sign stating the dress code.  It included the following  “NO TRACKPANT, NO CAPS”.   Also there was a cover charge of R30.  Eventually the door man started laughing at us, opened the glass door, leaned out and said “this is a strip club” (with a huge grin on his face).  I was like “A HA!  I knew it!”.

Then I thought to myself, what kind of “establishment” only has a R30 cover charge!?  Hmmmm. Dodgy.   And shame, why don’t they allow their patrons to wear their comfy tracksuit pants?  At R30 a head, I’m sure they don’t exactly attract the type of guy who’d be wearing a bloody suit!   Anyways, I wasn’t keen on going in to check it out.  So if someone out there happens to know what it’s like inside, drop me a note.

Right across the road was the beautiful side entrance of the Fugard Theatre (talk about a contrast):

I love that place.  It’s got such an awesome old world charm about it. En route home, we also paused for a bit in Buitenkant St to admire some of the cool street art.  I especially love this lion & peacock on the side of one of the buildings:

Come on, how cool is that?  I love that Cape Town is filled with little surprises like this.  You just have to keep your eyes open and take regular strolls to find them…  And fine, if it makes you feel better, you can carry some pepper spray.

xxx