Activities

Breakfast at the Foodbarn Deli

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Foodbarn DeliUpon the recommendation of a friend, we had breakfast at the Foodbarn Deli at Noordhoek Farm Village on Saturday. From now on I shall take very seriously any recommendation made by said friend. What a fabulous spot!

Not only was the food excellent (it's only the second place Paul and I have found in the Cape that can actually make a proper poached egg), but the atmosphere was great as well. It seems to be THE spot to be on a Saturday morning in Noordhoek - we had to wait for a few minutes to get a table, and throughout the morning people just kept on streaming in. The decor is very pretty, and of course I was totally enchanted by the wall of books you can see in this photo.

Noordhoek Farm Village is quite a long drive from where we live (59km, as mentioned in our previous post), but I think it may just be worth getting up early once in a while and driving through for a Saturday morning breakfast. Perhaps we'll see you there. :)

All the better to hear you with…

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Waterbuck

The day that was set aside for our trip into the Kruger National Park was unusually cold, windy, and overcast. The region usually has clear, sunny and warm days around this time of the year - but Kerry-Anne mistakenly packed a Cape Town winter's day into her suitcase. No wonder it was so heavy! :D

Apart from the fact that it was a little cooler than expected, we had a fun day being driven around the park. Our eagle-eyed guide, Bongani from Viva Safaris, pointed out birds, zebra, elephant, giraffe, lions, buffalo, wildebeest, crocodile, waterbuck, kudu, rhino, and a few other animals - most of which we would never have spotted amongst the bushes had we driven ourselves! Bongani spent the entire day driving, spotting, and telling us stories about almost every animal that we stopped to take a look at, making the outing not only an awe-inspiring experience, but an informative learning experience as well.

Besides for the kudu that I've used for today's photo I took plenty of photos over the course of the day. I selected a few of these to place into an album for you to view, so click here if you'd like to get a glimpse of what we saw in Kruger Park.

This post concludes our little holiday to the north of our country and the Kruger National Park. My next post will return to Cape Town Daily Photo's regular photos and stories about life in Cape Town, our country's Mother City. :)

Ready for our Cape to Kruger Park adventure

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A lion in her own right

It's 12h48 in the morning and I've been awake for far too long! You may have gathered from one of my previous posts that we'll be heading up to Tremisana Lodge just outside of the Kruger National Park for a 4-day get-away this weekend. In fact, our flight to Johannesburg leaves in about 5 and a half hours!

I guess this may explain why I've posted a photo of a cat today.  :) While we've often seen big cats in captivity I've never had the privilege of seeing them roaming through the African bush, or lazing about on the plains. It's going to be awesome!

We have a jam-packed four days ahead of us, filled with game drives and walks in the bush, along with traditional African food and just enough time to laze about (like said lions) as not to be completely worn out when we return home on Sunday.

So, please excuse us if Cape Town Daily Photo heads off into the bush for a little while. We'll definitely be back with photos and stories, but if you'd like, follow Kerry-Anne or myself on Twitter... we may just give you a preview of what we're up to. :)

A West Coast goods train

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A goods train

This photo nearly cost me my camera. :) I took the shot by holding my camera out the car window, with one hand, while travelling at about 110km/h. Fortunately I had a reasonably good grip as the force of the rushing air hit, trying to pluck it from my hand.

This train line crosses the N1 highway near the perpendicularly-running N7 highway (map), and is (to a great deal) used to transport cargo up and down our West Coast. I've always wondered exactly where it leads to, so I tracked if for a while on a map using Google Maps. If I'm not mistaken this line is the same one that takes passenger trains to well-known places like Evita se Perron in the little town of Darling.

If you're into small and intimate theatre experiences, I'd encourage you to see a performance by Pieter-Dirk Uys at Evita se Perron, his little West Coast theatre.

Walking your dogs on Llandudno beach

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Llandudno Beach
The number of beaches on which one is allowed to walk your dogs is fairly limited, so I was surprised to see this lady walking her three dogs on Llandudno beach (map).

I never paid attention to the sign that indicates the restrictions, but I presume that walking dogs is allowed because it seems to me that the beach is the only place where residents of the little suburb would be able to do so. Llandudno is built on the slopes of the mountain that lead down to the water's edge, so the chance of finding a nice open field on which your dogs could run is pretty much nil. :)

Fresh Ice Tea and a photo exhibition

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Ice Tea
Neighbour Goods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill is a place to visit if you love mingling with people and buying wholesome fresh food, all in a relaxed atmosphere. Merrill, one of our readers, sent me this photo taken at the market at about the same time as another reader, Saul from PlayJumpEat, sent me some information about a photo exhibition that he'll be hosting at the Biscuit Mill (which, based on the name PlayJumpEat, is an apt location ;) ):

"We are having an exhibition of the Bedjump series with the opening on Saturday, 10 April. The exhibition will be at Exposure Gallery at the Biscuit Mill. We will have a bed there on Saturday for everyone to jump on and have their photographs taken."

Jumping on a bed while having your photo taken may sound like a strange concept... but if you're keen to either buy one of the photos, or have your photo taken (presumably for free), stop by the Biscuit Mill (map) on Saturday morning.

Cape to Cuba

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Cape to Cuba

Sticking to the Cuban theme of Che Latino Café, mentioned in a previous post, Cape to Cuba (pictured in this photo) is a chain of three restaurants heavily decorated in typical Cuban style, featuring exotic furniture and décor. The twist is that almost all the pieces of furniture and décor in the restaurant are for sale, so if you like something, you really can get to take it home!

Cape to Cuba restaurants are located in Kalk Bay, Long Street (in Cape Town) and Stellenbosch (map). This particular photo was taken at the Stellenbosh restaurant, but if I were to advise you on which to try, I'd suggest Kalk Bay (map). It's by far the best known of the three, and I've heard plenty of great things about that particular restaurant. :)

Che Latino Café

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Che Guevara

Che Guevara, depicted in the photo above, is an icon that you're likely to have seen on t-shirts all over the world. His face is often used as a symbol of revolution or political awareness, but has become pretty fashionable over the years - thereby losing some of the meaning that it may have had in the past.

Che Latino Café (map), in the suburb of Brackenfell, is a hangout for locals in the surrounding areas. While you'll see a few "oldies" heading to the back to gamble, I'd guess the average age to be about 20 years old. The bar area rocks to the sound of local bands while the patrons relax on couches, bar chairs and even spill outside to socialise while sitting at tables, a little way away from the loud music inside.

Horse-and-cart rides

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Horse and Cart

If you're looking for a place to enjoy breakfast or lunch while your kids play on a large open lawn and go on horse-and-cart rides right in front of you, think of visiting the Joostenberg Deli and Bistro on the Klein Joostenberg farm.

The farm is on the R302, the long road that leads from the N1 national highway to Stellenbosch, so it's pretty convenient if you're planning a day trip to Stellenbosch. Kerry-Anne and I had an early breakfast under the trees at the bistro. The food was tasty (albeit a little rich for our delicate digestive systems), and the service was great (although, I guess having a friend wait on us has its advantages ;) ).

The leisurely horse-and-cart rides on the lawn cost R10 per person, and I *think* adults can join in the fun. If we weren't in so much of a hurry to get to some business in Stellenbosch, I'm fairly sure that Kerry-Anne would have insisted on a ride. :)

Shark Spotters’ flags

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Diving Fins

While I know that sharks travel all waters, it's fairly common knowledge that they are more likely to frequent the waters of False Bay, visiting places like Muizenberg and Fish Hoek. Swimming on "the safe side" (i.e. in Table Bay) has its downside though, in that the water is a fair bit colder than the waters of False Bay.

If you do ever swim at False Bay's popular Fish Hoek beach, be sure to keep an eye out for the Shark Spotters' flags. The Spotters sit high up on the hills watching the ocean for the presence of sharks. They radio information to their colleagues on the beaches, who in turn raise one of four flags:

  • Green - A Shark Spotter is on duty, they have good visibility, and there are no sharks.
  • Red - A shark has been spotted in the area in the last two hours.
  • Black - A Shark Spotter is on duty but visibility is poor.
  • White with black shark - There is a shark in the area, stay out of the water.

When a shark is spotted, a siren is simultaneously sounded, indicating that swimmers should stay out of the water. The only time you should really enter the water is when you see a green flag. If it's any other colour, it would be best to keep out of the water.

In closing, remember that if it's a beautifully warm day, and you notice that you're the only one swimming... there's probably a good reason. ;)

Breakfast at Café Caprice

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Breakfast at Caprice

In my previous post I spoke about the transformation that Café Caprice (map) undergoes as night time approaches. While it's one of the very popular beach cafés and night-time socialising spots, it's also well known for its breakfast vibe and menu.

We've only visited Caprice for breakfast twice, but on both occasions it was relaxed, not too busy, and the food was just great. My first breakfast at Caprice was the Madame Caprice, which is made up of two slices of French toast, buttered with mustard, filled with bacon and cheese, and topped with a fried egg. This time I decided to have the vanilla- and cinnamon-flavoured French toast, accompanied by strawberries, bacon, and a dash of syrup on the side. Awesome stuff I tell you!

If you're going to visit Caprice for breakfast then be sure to get there early (like as in 8am) as the relaxed atmosphere shouldn't be missed, and I think that it gets a fair bit busier later in the morning. :)

Café Caprice at night

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Caprice at night

In the evening, Café Caprice (map), one of the restaurants that face onto the Camps Bay beachfront, transforms from its day-time beach-restaurant feel into a bar crowded with dozens of socialising people. While you'll find folk of all ages, most of the patrons seem to be in their mid 20s or early 30s, and are definitely ready to party.

Kerry-Anne was out with "the girls", so I spent a while here with two friends before we headed out for pizza at Col'cacchio. I'm not sure that night-time Caprice is quite my cup of tea, but I have to admit that (if you're single ;) ) there certainly is a huge amount of eye-candy all around.

Not the way to do sushi

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A sushi platter

We visited Wasabi in Constantia for a sushi feast with a few friends, and at this occasion I learned one important lesson about eating sushi out:

Pay full price for your sushi and never order the sushi platter that's on special. :)

This particular platter cost about R100 and seemed to contain all the small offcuts of salmon and tuna, as well as many vegetarian pieces that, judging by how dry the carrots appeared, weren't very fresh at all.

I ended up eating just over half of the platter before realising that I really wasn't enjoying it enough to continue. From the way the other folk at the table devoured their meals, I assume that the other sushi must have been good; but this was presumably because they didn't order the platter that was on special. :-/

An easy hike in Cape Town

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Hiking the Pipe Track

The Pipe Track is one of Cape Town's easiest hikes along the side of Table Mountain. It starts at a convenient spot with plenty of parking, just above the city centre, and follows a leisurely path along the back of the mountain, showing off the splendour of Camps Bay, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Twelve Apostles mountain range.

The path is well-frequented, especially on warm and windless Saturday mornings. I think the best time to walk the route is in the early morning, just as the sun rises over the Boland mountains. Around this time of the year in particular you'll find that the air is crisp and clear, and that the wind hasn't yet had time to awaken.

There are generally many people walking the route in the morning if the weather's good. However, if you decide to take the walk when there aren't so many folk about, then perhaps you should consider walking in a group of at least four people. It's a very isolated part of the mountainside and although unlikely, it's possible that muggers could wait there to help you carry your cameras, wallets and phones. ;-)

Take a look at this map of the Pipe Track. This route is about 3.5 kilometres long (one way) and should take you about an hour to complete. So, to be safe, set aside about three hours for this trip. The extra hour will come in handy for taking in the sublime views!

Books are verbatim

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Verbatim Books

Verbatim Books is a quaint old-style second-hand bookshop in a quiet and shady part of Stellenbosch (here's a map to their location).

If Kerry-Anne were made of iron, books would be like magnets. The moment she saw Verbatim Books, and the old bicycle parked outside, with flowers, my fate was sealed, we just *had* to stop in to explore. And explore we did. The bookshop isn't very big, but is filled mostly with second-hand books that are in pristine condition. They have everything from traditional old story books that you'd read to your kids at bed-time, to old classics like Kerry-Anne's favourite book ever, Jane Eyre (2006 movie), which I ended up buying because she hadn't ever seen the French edition and just *had* to have it. ;)

If you're a book person, you definitely should make a visit to Verbatim Books an item on your long to-do list. Kerry-Anne says it's the best bookshop she's ever been to. And she should know, I guess. :)

Hire a bike and cycle around Table Mountain

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Bicycles

Now before you get any ideas about cycling around Table Mountain, or even around and about the city, I'd have to warn you that you'd be insane. Cape Town city and the surrounding areas are extremely hilly, and while cycling about in the very early morning really is the best thing since sliced bread, I'd suggest that you hire a proper bike (with plenty of gears) from guys like Cape Town Cycle Hire or Rent a Bicycle.

Now that it's Argus Cycle Tour time again, you'll see dozens of cyclists practising and getting fit in the morning, generally before work. If you're a cyclist here on holiday, then you may even be able to hook up with a few riders taking a morning trip out past Camps Bay, and through to Llandudno - one of the most beautiful rides along the coast.

Disclaimer: I've never hired anything from either company, so while I suggest that you check them out, I can't vouch for them. :)

Art on 5

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Art on 5

I found Art on 5 while with Kerry-Anne on an impromptu photo walk in Stellenbosch. My previous photo was taken though the hole in the blurry artist's palette at the back of this photo.

Stellenbosch is filled with creative people that love painting, photography, pottery, and many other forms of art. Shops like Art on 5 certainly aren't scarce, but if you'd like to browse an art shop, and would like to do so in a nice part of town, this would be the spot. Besides for the many little shops, there are also several small restaurants that, perhaps in typical French style, spill out onto the pavement creating a vibe that makes Stellenbosch just perfect for a Saturday or Sunday morning brunch.

I tried finding more information about this art shop on the web, but sadly it seems as though they're not keen on being e-found. :(

Stellenbosch through a hole

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Peering through a hole

Stellenbosch is a student town filled with many retired folk and plenty of really beautiful students. Okay, okay, before Kerry-Anne leaves a comment to this effect - it's not only girls, I have it on good authority that there are plenty of beautiful guys also. :D

Established in 1679, Stellenbosch was the second town in South Africa, the first being Cape Town. According to the town's website, Stellenbosch is situated 111 metres above sea level, is 30km from the closest beaches, and is only 50km from Cape Town. Well-known for its abundant oak trees, Stellenbosch is extremely leafy; so if you're looking for a place to have a quiet picnic, you could pick up a few things from Woolworths or one of the other shops in the area, and then find a spot under a tree on one of the Stellenbosch University lawns. Even if you have grey hair or a slightly wrinkled skin, think young thoughts and you'll fit right in. ;)

Charter a boat in beautiful luxury

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A beautiful boat

Of all the things that you could do in Cape Town, chartering a yacht must be one of the most luxurious experiences. I guess something even more luxurious would be to charter a yacht overnight and invite a few friends for a party while moored off Clifton 4th beach.

I'm not sure of the name of the vessel in this photo, but while trying to find out, I discovered that the large boat in the photo in this previous post appears to be the Princess Emma, one of the most luxurious charters available at the Cape Town Waterfront.

Given the overnight rate of approximately R40 000, I assume that it would most often be companies that would charter the vessel to either treat their employees (most likely the directors ;) ), or to impress prospective clients. Nevertheless, if you have a mere R40 000 to spend on a night's entertainment, and if you'd like to be super-popular with your friends, this sure is the way to go. :D

Dinner in Camps Bay – Pepper Club on the Beach

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Pepper Club On the Beach restaurant

We hadn't been for dinner in Camps Bay for ages, so, after a long, long week at work, Friday night was our night to relax with an ocean view and good food.

The Pepper Club restaurant, Pepper Club On The Beach (map), is situated at the spot formerly occupied by Summerville, and is the official beach-side restaurant of the soon-to-be-opened Pepper Club hotel in Cape Town city centre. Apparently hotel guests will have the option of being driven from the city to Pepper Club On The Beach (in a Rolls Royce), where they'll be able to change into their swimming gear in the restaurant's super-modern bathrooms. :)

The restaurant's setting is spectacular of course, but the thing that impressed us most was the service - it was absolutely impeccable, the kind of service you'd expect at a top 5-star hotel. The shellfish platter we shared was *wow*, but the two highlights of the evening were the Sapphire Silk cocktail and the Avocado Ritz starter. Both were absolutely delicious, and at the risk of being boring, I'm pretty sure that our next visit will once again include both of these items. :) The cost of a main course averages between R140 and R240 per person; there is a lunch menu as well, which features quite a few cheaper options. You can download the menu from the restaurant's website.

Click here to see a few of the other photos that I took at the restaurant.

Wines of the Cape

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Tierhoek's Chenin Blanc

I mentioned previously that friends of ours own Wineweb, an online company through which you can order South African wines.

Jon and Leslie from Wineweb brought a few bottles of Hazendal (map) and Tierhoek wine along to our last Sushiclub meetup. This Tierhoek Chenin Blanc happened to be the closest so I helped myself to a glass or two. I'm by no means a wine connoisseur and really have little clue as to what makes a good wine, but I have to admit that I really enjoyed this one. It's one of those easy-drinking wines that after a glass or two doesn't leave your mouth feeling like the inside of a lemon. :D

The Tierhoek farm lies about two hundred kilometres up our west coast (map), close to the well-known town of Citrusdal. This area is famous for its citrus fruit, presumably because of its good soil, plentiful water, and cool Atlantic sea breeze. The same factors that make the citrus fruit from this area so yummy must be what lays the foundation for the brilliant wine produced at Tierhoek.

The farm does offer tastings, so I'm busy trying to find their GPS coordinates and will post a link to a Google Map below as soon as I have them. If you decide to take a trip up the coast, consider staying in Citrusdal - there are plenty of guest houses in the area, as well as the popular The Baths resort with hot water springs!

Sushi at Sevruga

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Sushi at Sevruga

Sevruga (map) is one of the pristine restaurants of the V&A Waterfront. Their steak is good, their fish is great, and the sushi, well, darn near perfect. Visiting isn't exactly a cheap outing, so when our impromptu sushi club caught wind of the half-price sushi afternoons (14h00 to 17h00), it was a no-brainer - Sevruga would be the venue to host our next meet-up.

The restaurant certainly didn't disappoint... as I'm guessing you can see from the photo above. :) And, just before you think I made an absolute pig of myself - this was the plate that Kerry-Anne and I shared. I doubt many would actually fit this entire plate of sushi in for dinner!

Mercury Lounge – a club in Cape Town

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Mercury Lounge

This emblem is positioned above the upper bar at Mercury Lounge in Cape Town. We've often driven past Mercury late at night, on our way home, and there have always been people going in and out. I've always wondered what it looked like inside, and what the vibe was like - and at last we got to find out when we were invited to go along and see local band Autopilot performing. More about that in my next post, but for now, let me give you a rundown of Mercury Lounge:

There are two sections, one above the other. The lower section has a bar, some seating, and a tiny dance floor. I didn't spent much time there, but I imagined that they would play beat-driven music - the kind you'd expect to hear at clubs. The upstairs section is way larger. There's a small stage where the live acts perform, two pool tables, a bar, plenty of standing room, and a very limited number of tables and chairs. The drinks are fairly cheap, especially Miller (I think they have some kind of promotional deal with SAB Miller), but on the negative side, their facilities were terrible. Dirty, falling apart, and generally very unpleasant.

Anyway, it's an interesting place to check out, so if you're visiting Cape Town and you plan on hopping from club to club, you may as well make Mercury Lounge (map) one of the places that you stop in at.

Hussar Grill, a traditional steakhouse in Camps Bay

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Hussar Grill in Camps Bay

We've always seen the uninspiring-looking Hussar Grill on Camps Bay Drive (just below the final hairpin bend leading into Camps Bay), but we've never bothered to visit for a meal. Finally we decided to give the steakhouse a try, so two friends met up with us for a quiet dinner.

Even though from the outside it looks (as I said) insignificant, inside is quite different. The restaurant brims with that old traditional steakhouse feeling. The staff were friendly, the seating was comfortable, the food was... well... the food was great!

I think the meals are slightly more expensive than Cattle Baron or Famous Butchers Grill, but I found Hussar Grill a little more upmarket, and the ambiance and décor (made up of classic books, '60s furniture, and old photos) make the extra few rands worth paying.

For the record, the 1kg of beef ribs that I had was awesome, and the Crème Brûlée was outstanding (I dipped into the one Kerry-Anne ordered). And, best of all, Hussar's has Jack Black on tap! :)

P.S. I'd love to, but I can't claim attribution for this photo. Jon (one of the contributors to our new Mobile Photos page) pinched my camera for a moment and managed to snap the best photo of the evening!

Take her to ballet at Maynardville and collect 200 points

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The Firebird ballet at Maynardville

While I'm pretty sure that there are plenty of guys who enjoy ballet, you'd have to agree that the passion for the art is upheld more by the fairer sex. The truth is that if I were to ask most of my male friends to join us at the ballet, I don't think I'd get many (if any) enthusiastic responses.

We were invited to Maynardville (an open-air theatre in Wynberg) to watch Cape Town City Ballet's dress rehearsal of Les Sylphides and The Firebird. The fun thing about dress rehearsals is that we photographers are able to get so close to the dancers that we're almost sharing the stage. Take a peek at the two photo albums that I've created to see ballet photos that are unlike the ones photographers usually have the privilege of shooting.

Cape Town City Ballet will be performing Les Sylphides and The Firebird each Sunday from 24 January (this weekend) until 21 February. Guys, seriously, if you're not into ballet, but would like to earn 200 points, this is your chance. Les Sylphides is fairly traditional (but also reasonably short), but The Firebird (the main act, pictured above) will almost certainly appeal to everyone, even those who don't enjoy traditional ballet. And one of the shows falls, rather conveniently, on Valentine's Day (I think you get 1,000 points for surprising your wife/girlfriend/prospective girlfriend with tickets to the ballet on Valentine's Day). ;)

Tickets cost between R90 and R100. As I said last time, my advice would be to get seats reasonably close to the front. And do yourself a favour - read the Wikipedia articles on the two ballets (1, 2) before you go. It's not like a movie - it really helps to first understand what the story is about!

The One&Only Hotel’s private yacht

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One and Only Hotel ferry
A slight change of pace from the last post... This is the One&Only Hotel's yacht, presumably used mostly for taking guests from the hotel (located alongside the yacht basin) around the corner to the V&A Waterfront's main shopping and dining area.

Of course, you could walk (it's at most a 10-minute walk to the best shops and restaurants), or take a taxi (probably 2 minutes by car), but this is far more genteel, don't you think? And besides, if I were paying around R20,000 a night for my hotel suite, I wouldn't be inclined to expend any more effort than absolutely necessary either. :)

The Atlantic Adventures speedboat

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Atlantic Adventures boat
Whenever I see one of these adventure boats in the harbour I'm reminded of our trip to Sydney in 2004, when we took a ride on a jet boat from Darling Harbour. Activity-wise I think it was the highlight of our holiday. Actually, we enjoyed it so much that we went back for another turn a few days later! :D

I'm so curious as to whether the companies in Cape Town, like Atlantic Adventures, offer the same thrilling, adrenalin-filled experience as the ones in Sydney. Have any of you been on one of these boats at the V&A Waterfront, and if so, how was it?

Yellowtail fishing and recreational permits

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Yellowtail fish

I came across this spear-fisherman and his brother at Scarborough busy trying to sell the last of the ten yellowtail that they'd speared close to Cape Point. Their price? R100 per fish! Isn't that just a crazy price? I'm not 100% sure what yellowtail costs in supermarkets, but I'm sure that it's in excess of R50 per kilogram, making this buy an absolute bargain.

The only reason I didn't buy one was that I'd have had to transport it 65 kilometres home in the back of my car, without a proper fish bag to contain the fishy aroma. :)

I wrote an article a while back about recreational fishing around the Cape Peninsula, so check that out for details on where to purchase permits - they're really cheap. I had a quick look for limits with respect to quotas for line fish like yellowtail and it appears as though it's currently limited to ten per person. So, if you're lucky enough to bag a whole lot of yellowtail, make sure that you only take ten - the fines are pretty hefty.

Fresh bread in Kommetjie

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Village Bakery Bistro

We met up with a friend of ours for lunch in Kommetjie, at Village Bakery Bistro. While it's a pretty building and very easy to find, don't go expecting to have a beautiful ocean view (you can see a bit of the sea in the distance, but only from the outside section). I think, however, that the fresh bread that they bake on-site (and provide with meals) has to go at least some way to make up for the lack of view.

The smells from the bakery were so good that I think that if we go out to the South Peninsula for a picnic (or even perhaps another braai at Jo's place in Scarborough) I'll have to put off packing in rolls from home and rather pick up a few from Village Bakery Bistro. :)

The Roundhouse Restaurant in Camps Bay

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The view from The Roundhouse Restaurant

On Sunday we trooped through to Camps Bay for breakfast and, because of its reputation, ended up at The Roundhouse Restaurant (up above Camps Bay). We were unfortunately too late for breakfast, so we just had some Rooibos tea, admired the view for a little while and then left to hunt down some place still serving breakfast. (In case you're wondering, we were extremely late for breakfast. :) )

The restaurant's view and atmosphere certainly lived up to the reputation, and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful. The lunch menu mostly comprises picnic foods (like cold meats, cheeses, pickles, etc.). You place your order by ticking items on a sheet of paper, and a while later a picnic basket arrives with your selection carefully packed. While it would have worked for the two of us, I'd advise rather to visit in a party of 4 to 6 people so that your basket can contain a good variety of food without crashing your credit card.

Click here to read a little about the building's history when it was used as a guard house in the late 1700s.