Even though the restaurant was empty (on a Friday night) the service wasn't very good. While expensive, the food was ok - but not particularly memorable. Also, it appeared as though the main meals were fairly different in size - leaving some of us still hungry after the meal.
Although the restaurant is beautiful inside, and has beautiful views, with the huge array of restaurants to choose from it's probably not a restaurant that we'd return to in a great hurry.
One of the restaurant's most popular traditions is that patrons are required to hand over a shoe as deposit when purchasing one of these beers. This 8.4% Belgian Kwak beer is served in it's traditional round-bottom glass that by accounts is pretty darn expensive to replace, hence the clever shoe-deposit!
I took this photo through of the spa's indoor swimmingpool - isn't it lovely? Can you imagine spending a few hours in this room, away from the often-persistent-and-annoying Cape wind? Even though the restaurant and the grounds outside left me generally uninspired, there may be merit in visiting the spa to spend a day at the spa... to get away from the busyness and clutter of our lives.
For those living close to the mountain, it's the easiest thing to head out onto one of the plentiful footpaths before work. Being so close to nature first-thing in the morning must be one of the best ways to start one's day.
If you're planning on visiting Cape Town some day, an insider tip is that you should be sure to book accommodation close to Table Mountain. We have plenty of other great places further away, but I'd recommend staying somewhere close to the mountain on your first visit - it's an awesome place to stay.
Do you live in an area like this? Is it easy for you to take a morning walk in a forrest with huge trees with little streams?
So, take some time to explore areas of your neighbourhood that you've not yet explored. I took this photo at a seldom-seen spot along our N1 highway, about 25 kilometers outside of Cape Town.
If you're in the dark about how to take pretty photos, consider taking the online GetSmarter digital photography course. It'll teach you all the basics about taking great photos, and you never know, maybe you'll end up being a pro photographer some day! :)
Doesn't this bridge (map) at Spier wine estate (near Stellenbosch) look like a great place play a few rounds?
As you may remember, the Wheel of Excellence was suppose to leave the V&A Waterfront at the end of 2010. Because of it's popularity it's stay was extended by two months - with it's last day being 28 February this year. So, if time has slipped you by and you've been putting off taking the trip, make sure that you make a plan to visit the Waterfront, and the wheel, before the the end of the month.
The wheel operates from 10h00 to 23h00 from Sunday to Thursday, and to midnight on Friday and Saturday. Visit capewheel.co.za for information and ticket prices.
I debated with myself about whether or not to post this photo - it's not the most appealing side of Table Bay harbour, and I do have other prettier photos of the beautiful Queen Mary 2, that you may prefer to see.
Unfortunately, due to the size of the Queen Mary 2, this is one of the few places that she's able to dock. The pier at the Table Bay hotel is in a far nicer area, but the world's largest ocean liner is simply too big and is thus forced to dock at this unsightly commercial pier.
Rumour has it that Cape Town's preparing to extend the harbour and build a proper terminal specifically for passenger ships. I'm not sure where they're going to build this alleged terminal, but I'd imagine that it would be closer to the V&A Waterfront than this pier which is way over in the unsightly commercial section.
Click here to see my small album of Queen Mary 2 photos.
I'll show you another photo or three in my next post, but for now, perhaps you'll find it interesting to know that even though Cunard's Queen Mary 2 isn't the largest passenger vessel, she is the world's largest ocean liner. The largest passenger vessel is a cruise liner named GT Oasis of the Seas built in 2009.
Now you may be wondering what the difference between an ocean liner and a cruise liner is. It's simple - the Queen Mary 2 is an ocean liner because it's primary purpose is passenger (or cargo) transportation, whereas a cruise liner (like the GT Oasis of the Seas) is intended to be an entertainment ship - a holiday at sea.
Through an arrangement of circumstance Kerry-Anne and I were invited to visit Sun International's Table Bay Hotel (the one next to the V&A Waterfront mall), to enjoy their buffet breakfast before setting out to the other side of Table Bay Harbour to take a few photos of Cunard's awesomely HUGE and beautiful Queen Mary 2. (I'll post a few photos of her docked in the harbour soon.)
I had previously visited the The Atlantic restaurant at the Table Bay Hotel for a phenomenal lunch, so I was more than looking forward to what I anticipated would be an absolute feast. It would take me hours and many words to describe all the yummy dishes that we tasted, so I'm afraid that you'll just have to visit for yourself! :)
Just to give you an overview, let me list a selection of the 230 dishes that comprised the buffet, starting with a plethora of fruit dishes, regular cereals, yummy muesli, yoghurt and nuts; cold meats, salmon, tuna, olives and other savoury treats; cheese, bread, and pastries (including the most delectable custard-filled pastries you could ever imagine); dainty pieces of sushi and nigiri, with a bowl of fresh oysters; scrambled egg, and the most awesome poached eggs and ham; crispy and not-crispy bacon; chicken, beef and pork sausages; mushrooms, French toast and other warm dishes; a small selection of Indian curry dishes; and finally, the daily carvery (usually gammon or crispy duck). What a mouthful! ;)
Although I'm really happy to live where we do - out in a quiet neighbourhood in the northern suburbs - one of the things that makes me a little jealous of people living in the Green Point/Sea Point area is the Sea Point promenade, pictured here.
As Paul mentioned in a previous post about the promenade, the path runs for about 3km along the beach and seafront, stretching from Mouille Point to Sea Point. On pretty much any summer's evening (and most winter's evenings too) you'll find the promenade filled with joggers and walkers. Where we live, if we want to take a walk in the evening after supper, we either have to drive somewhere a little more interesting (bit pointless, really) or make the most of the neighbourhood scenery - which consists mostly of houses, houses, and yet more houses.
If I lived anywhere in the vicinity of Sea Point, I think I'd be out on the promenade most days, either diligently exercising, or else lazily reading a book. Where's your favourite spot for taking walks? Is it close to your house, or do you have to drive to get there?
This was our first visit to Salt and, besides for the gorgeous view, we found the service and the food outstanding. As a starter we ordered Ballottine of Trout - which turned out to be a magnificent choice. For our main course we both enjoyed a (very rare, very tender, and very sizable) sirloin steak, with a huge and perfectly prepared cappuccino crème brûlée to complete the meal. (We're pretty fussy when it comes to crème brûlée, so the words "perfectly prepared" shouldn't be taken lightly).
All in all, while Salt is a little on the expensive side, we really enjoyed ourselves. The food tasted great and for a fine-dining restaurant, the portions were very large. The only thing that I'm able to criticize them on is the coffee - it was far too strong (for my liking).
Well done Salt!
In my next post I'll tell you a little more about the awesome meal that we enjoyed, but for now, visit their website to see the beautiful photo taken of the view from inside the restaurant. It's truly a spectacularly romantic spot for evening dining.
The water on this coastline is generally pretty cold, however (in my experience) not quite as cold as the waters of Clifton, Camps Bay and Llandudno. Big Bay and Blouberg Beach are extremely popular with kite-fliers and kite-surfers, but fortunately these guys tend to keep well clear of the more populated parts of the beach.
When I was youn my parents use to bring my brother, sister and I to this area to swim. Although the riptide can be quite strong, the area has a number of fairly well-protected pools surrounded by annoyingly-jagged rocks (which I remember navigating slowly without shoes).
Development on Eden on the Bay (map) started a couple of years ago and today the area looks completely different to how it did before. This grassy area stretches out between the long sandy beach and the shopping area called Eden on the Bay. Today you'll find several lovely restaurants looking out over this lawn, as well as a few shops and fast-food outlets in the small mall.
However lovely Eden on the Bay is, Big Bay is still a terrible place on windy days. However, on days with only a slight breeze (or no wind at all) it's an awesome place to visit.
At first I though that the tea was some kind of dried flower - presumably from a tea plant. However on closer inspection I noticed that it appeared to be a bundle if tea leaves wound tightly together by cotton thread. From the photo you're able to see that my tea actually had little red flowers hidden inside, that appeared as the dried bundle expanded and "bloomed" in the hot water.
My review of the tea is that it's very pretty to watch, but lacks the taste of traditional Earl Grey, Rooibos, or Ceylon tea. In addition to my ambivalent feeling about it's taste, the tea is frightfully expensive compared to traditional teas. Personally, I still prefer South African Rooibos over all these - but that said, I'm glad to have tried it - once. :)
The restaurant was fairly quiet - I suspect because most of the the university students are away on holiday. They had a fairly large selection of meals to choose from and a number of special offers, including 40% off chicken and beef burgers. The food wasn't anything extraordinary, but perfectly acceptable (although, we'd recommend chicken over the beef patties). The day had been pretty warm, so what was great about the restaurant was that we were able to sit outside on the cool patio amidst huge oak trees, enjoying the peaceful evening atmosphere.
If it's a warm evening, and you're in the mood for pub/bistro-type food, and if there's place out on the patio - I'd recommend visiting Jan Cats. If you can't sit on the patio - I'd probably select another restaurant in Andringa Road.
I thought (for some silly reason) that the hotel was a single building, perhaps with a pool and water feature at the back. What I hadn't realised is that the One & Only is built in the shape of a circle around a perfectly-inviting communal swimming pool area (a place where many of the guests appeared to be relaxing) and a beautiful canal, lined with well-kept green vegetation (like the agapanthus that I wrote about previously).
The photo above is of the view from Vista Bar, and specifically of the large metal brackets that keep the huge windows in place. Visit our One & Only album to see a few more photos, including a few taken outside along the canal.
What made the visit to the One & Only a little more special was that we spoke for a while with the hotel’s executive chef, Roberto de Carvalho (who joined the One & Only in December and was formerly executive chef at the 12 Apostles). From what I’ve heard, and from what Kerry-Anne has experienced, executive chefs often tend to be aloof, slightly eccentric, and engrossed in their own culinary fame. Roberto, on the other hand, appeared not to fit into that box at all – he seems to be a genuinely nice guy with a passion for awesome food.
We spoke for a few minutes about the cakes, his yummy macarons, and his new position at the One & Only, and then continued to relax while munching away and being bathed in the 5-star service that you’d expect from an O&O hotel. It was a great afternoon that comes highly recommended.
Read this article about Roberto's move to the One & Only, and perhaps this Q&A session with Muzi Mohale.
Each block of the hotel comprises four apartments, with some (like ours) overlooking lovely little swimming pools. The air on this particular night was warm and there wasn't any wind to speak of - it really was a relaxing atmosphere.
The Spier estate has a few restaurants at which you could dine, as well as a deli that sells the makings of a great picnic that you could enjoy on their lawns. Beware though that the deli is frightfully expensive and the estate prohibits private picnics (although, I've never seen this enforced).
Reader tip: The lawn in front of the deli is most often pretty noisy because of all the families with kids. If you're facing the lawn, walk about 200 or 300 meters to the right (in the direction of Moyo and 8 Restaurant). The first lawn the you encounter is a little quieter, but if you head on past the amphitheater (close to the hotel) you'll find peacefully quiet lawns.
My extremely condensed review of the two days is that the accommodation was great, the grounds are lush and green, the swimming pools were beautifully warm (around 28°C) and the buffet breakfast was outstanding. The evening dinner at the restaurant left plenty to be desired though. We found the service (then and during the day at the bar) to be extremely slow, and the rolled lamb (with rosemary and stuffed with feta cheese) to be pretty dry with little flavour - almost as though it had been kept warm in the oven for a few hours.
Spier lays a heavy emphasis on environmental sustainability - and whether or not this is just for marketing purposes, or if it's out of a genuine concern for the environment, I'm not sure, but it seems that at every turn one's confronted with notices informing where recycled paper has been used, or that the grounds are watered with recycled water, or that lights that are not in use should be switched off. We even found the water pressure in our room to be extremely low - presumably to reduce the amount of water used.
What eventually led us to Myatt was that it was windy outside and we were looking for a quite and comfortable place to have tea and a light snack. After browsing past other noisy restaurants and coffee shops we stumbled upon the quiet and brightly-lit Myatt Café. Even though the macarons that we ordered weren't comparable to those at Daniela's the good service and great array of tasty teas served in beautiful pots definitely made up for it.
Myatt is located on the top level of the V&A shopping mall, on the far side - close to Primi Piatti.
Christmas Day is nearly upon us in Cape Town. In fact, it's about an hour away! In a previous post I commented on how white Christmas trees seem so out of place in Africa. This one at the Mount Nelson Hotel (a.k.a. The Pink Lady) is far more appropriate, don't you think? :)
I visited the Mount Nelson for a quick drink with a friend. If you've never been, then you have to go. The staff are really professional and the service is exactly what you'd expect from a five-star hotel. Although it's a little more expensive than other nearby restaurants, meeting for drinks at the Planet Restaurant or Planet Bar (map) is super-convenient, because while parking in Cape Town is often difficult to find, the hotel provides plenty of free undercover parking (which is awesome if you prefer not returning to a car that's been baking in our hot African summer sun)!
If you celebrate Christmas, allow us to wish you an awesome Christmas Day filled with love and good cheer. If you don't celebrate Christmas, well, then, allow us to wish you an awesome day filled with love and good cheer. ;) Merry Christmas, folks.
To celebrate my sister's birthday we joined her and a few of her friends for dinner at Empire Asian Restaurant, one of the Chinese restaurants in Sea Point Main Road. The plan was to take advantage of their R99 all-you-can-eat sushi special.
What I learned from the experience is that one can only eat a certain amount of salmon and tuna before feeling just a little ill. :) The service was great, but the sushi was only "okay" and not up to the likes of Sevruga (in the V&A Waterfront) and Sawadee (just off Kloof Street). Some of our party decided to skip the sushi and dine on the traditional Chinese meals which looked absolutely scrumptious (and instantly had me regretting opting for the R99 special!).
Tip: Skip the coffee, have the green tea. The Chinese don't seem to be much into coffee and I'm pretty convinced it was instant. I normally drink instant coffee, so it was fine, but it probably wouldn't satisfy my coffee snob friends. :D
Well, I guess "stumbled upon" isn't quite accurate - in fact, I heard them all the way from the far end of the shopping mall! They were awesome, but then Highlander pipe bands always are; are they not?
The whole V&A area seemed to be abuzz with activity. Besides for the crowd that the pipe band drew, there were people walking about snapping photos of the gorgeous views; some were selfishly licking away at their Hagen Daaz ice-cream; and others were just sitting in the sun, taking in the festive atmosphere.
The Waterfront is hosting a myriad of free musical concerts over the next few weeks. From choirs singing Christmas carols and cheerful Christmas bands, to fabulous 5pm concerts with the likes of Verity, Southpaw, Chasing Friday and the beautiful Louise Day.
Tip: Get to the V&A Waterfront at about 6am some time this month. There are very few people around at that time of the morning and the peaceful atmosphere with the cool morning air and bright rising sun makes the harbour area the perfect place to be.
Kerry-Anne and I popped into the Waterfront on a small coffee and photo outing. She had coffee, while I wandered around the the area taking photos in the beautifully soft evening light.
On arrival I spotted a large white tent positioned outside of the Mugg & Bean entrance to the shopping mall. On closer investigation I confirmed my suspicion that the tent is actually the mobile ice rink that's been set up for the holiday period. I took a look inside and although the ice surface isn't huge, it looks like plenty of fun.
Skating costs R30 per hour between 10am and 7pm if you have your own skates, or R50 if you'd like to hire the bright orange ones you see in the photo. Between 7pm and 10pm the rink hosts themed evenings aimed at teenagers (at a cost of R50 per hour if you have your own skates, or R70 per hour if you don't).
I don't think it's a coincidence that the three-hour themed evenings coincide so perfectly with the amount of time parents would need for dinner and a movie. :)
The closest photo, in this photo, is the first group of Isa Carstens Academy students - from 1978. From then on and for over 30 years the Isa Carstens Academy in the leafy town of Stellenbosch has been the training ground for the top health, wellness and skincare professionals in the country.
Over the years I've known several people who've packed their bags, boarded huge cruise liners, and headed out to see the world while perfecting their practice on the rich and famous. (Well, not always the rich and famous... sometimes only the rich. ;) ). Doesn't that sound like an awesome way for a young person to kick-start their lives - traveling, seeing the world, and being paid to do so?
I guess it's no surprise that when we were offered the opportunity to visit the academy and indulge in their treatments - we eagerly accepted. Kerry-Anne's busy recovering from an arthroscopy of her hip joint, so Isabel (owner and MD of the academy) suggested that she try the lymphatic drainage treatment while one of the other students kept me in a state of bliss with a hot stone massage.
Both students were extremely professional and had such a calming nature and way of speaking that we both had no problem feeling utterly relaxed within a few minutes of lying down. It was awesome. Allow me to say it again. It was awesome. :)
What makes the Isa Carstens Academy different from many other training institutions is that the second-year students gain practical workplace experience in the academy's fully commercial spa, the Isa Wellness Sanctuary (map). While the students benefit from the experience, the public benefits from the greatly discounted rates (offered for the simple reason that the therapists are still students). Here's a link to their current rates for spa as well as for the nail lounge. (If you're visiting from abroad, remember, the prices are in Rands.)
I'm not sure if this boat is quite as maneuverable the one in Sydney, but from the photos on their site, it sure looks like a hell of a lot of fun. I also noticed that they offer a combo trip that consists of a boat ride and helicopter flip! If you're into adrenaline-releasing experiences then I think this experience could be just for you.
Summer is here folks, so be sure to lotion up with heavy-duty African-grade sunblock before you head on down to the beach. Even if you're not keen on donning a bathing suit, grab a book, get there early, and hire a beach chair and umbrella. It'll be one of the most relaxing times you'll ever have!
There was no wind to speak of; the air was cool, but the sun was warm. Bobbing around on a boat just of the beach was an amazing feeling. Even though we weren't on a luxury yacht, I guess that's the best way to describe the feeling. Imagine yourself in this very spot on the deck of a luxury yacht, enjoying the sun, drinking cocktails and snacking on delightful treats. Grand hey?
This was such great fun - and if you're okay with being out on a boat, I'd suggest this to be of the things you have to do when visiting Cape Town. It was simply beautiful.
Remember to take motion sickness tablets before jumping on board. As a particular colleague of mine discovered , feeling ill on the water really does ruin the experience.