We're not often invited to review the restaurants that we write about, so when we were asked to visit Sinn's in Wembley Square (map) to try out their summer specials, it was a no-brainer.

Owner and chef Thomas Sinn was on leave for the day, but left instructions for his chefs to prepare taster-size portions of 5 of the 6 dishes on his Summer Lunch Specials list, some of which I've included in the photo above. Each of these Summer Lunch Special meals costs just R50. Based on the size of the dishes and the quality of the food, it's a definite bargain!

Below we've ranked the five dishes in order of our preference. Even though we've ranked them, allow me to say that every dish was pretty impressive, and each would have been perfectly satisfying on its own.

The first on our list, and top-right in the photo, was the Zorbian Chicken - a very mild chicken curry served with basmati rice, poppadums, and sweet-and-sour aubergine. This one won first place because of the variety of tastes and the unusual (and yummy!) sweet-and-sour aubergine.

Paprika Chicken was next on our list, and was in fact a strong contender for first place. The dish consists of chicken in a rich and creamy paprika sauce, served with spaetzle. The chicken in this dish was tender, the spaetzle was a good accompaniment, and the paprika sauce was out of this world - so much so that we both highly recommend this dish.

The Oriental Seared Sirloin is, in our opinion, the next logical choice if you'd prefer not to have chicken or a cream-based sauce. The (perfectly) grilled pieces of marinated sirloin were carefully laid over a salad of lettuce, cherry tomatoes and sprouts. I'm not exactly sure what the dressing contained (it was sweet, with perhaps a hint of chilli), but what I can say is that I found myself scooping every last drop from the bowl. The dish was pretty darn good and if I were in the mood for red meat, I'd definitely have this one again.

I can't recall that I've ever had Croque Madame. For someone who enjoys toasted sandwiches, this was a real treat. The sandwich (bottom left in the photo) contains cheese and ham, and is topped with a fried egg. The dish also includes a variety of simple salads and a portion of chips. The sandwich itself was very good - I enjoyed it plenty - and the salads offered a nice range of flavours. Although Kerry-Anne enjoyed the chips, I can't say that they were the best I've ever had.

The final dish on our list was the Roast Vegetable and Tomato with Chilli Penne. This is the vegetarian option, which I guess is part of the reason it ended up in last place on our list. The pasta dish tasted nice: the vegetables were yummy, the penne was cooked perfectly, and the sauce was good. As I mentioned, we only had a small portion each, but after some thought I decided that a full portion could have become monotonous to eat (I usually have this problem with pasta dishes, though, so perhaps that's just a matter of personal taste).

After such a massive quantity of food (which I'm mildly embarrassed about finishing), it was a real treat when Dylan, our waiter, brought around a lovely apricot sorbet (bottom right) to conclude our lunch. Kerry-Anne loves sorbet, but I'm not usually partial to it. This one was pretty good, though, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

In conclusion, all the dishes were very good, and any one of them is truly a bargain at R50. All the staff seem to enjoy working at Sinn's (which creates a great atmosphere) and our waiter specifically was attentive, friendly and knowledgeable about the food and its ingredients.

Chef Pon and a partner started Chef Pon's Asian Kitchen a while ago, but then he parted ways with his partner who retained the Chef Pon's Asian Kitchen and Chef Pon (this is confusing, right?) opened Chef Pon's Sawaddee - in Rheede Street (map).

Although I've never eaten there, I've heard that CP Asian Kitchen isn't what it use to be. By contrast I've visited CP Sawaddee and found the food to be exceptional. We normally go there for their sushi (you HAVE to try the Chef's Special), but I've eaten two of their Thai beef meals and they we're both brilliant.

In summary, food was great and reasonably-priced, and the atmosphere was pleasant. The only negative aspect of the restaurant is that each time we've visited we've been surprised at how early they close. The restaurant seems clear at about 10pm (closing at 22h30) - which you realise by the fact that one or two lights are switched off and the sushi chef cleans up his station and leaves for the evening. Very subtle guys. ;)

Headquarters in particular serves only (extremely tender) sirloin steak with Mac Donalds-style razor-thin chips. Although they have a vegetarian option, it wouldn't make sense for vegetarians to visit - they really do specialise in steak.

A tip that I can offer is to try visiting HQ (map) at some time other than Friday and Saturday nights. They tend to get very busy around those times and things do get a little hectic in this long room. Also, we found our steak was much better on a Saturday afternoon when things weren't quite as rushed. As you can see from the photo, the restaurant is pretty quiet on a Saturday afternoon.

Food quality: pretty good, but as stated, the steak is better when it's quieter.
Atmosphere: stylish, modern and trendy.
Value for money: averagely-priced for restaurants in a similar class.

The strangely unusual thing about Mayoga is that the kitchen is more or less situated amidst the diners, so that you have a view into what the chefs are up to. Now you may not think that's strange or unusual, but what we discovered is that even by visiting the lavatories you can't escape a view of the kitchen - they have LDC monitors inside each cubical, showing the chefs preparing food in the kitchen!

Now that's kind strange, wouldn't you say so?

Before telling you about Saul's Taverna, let me say that Saul's Saloon's burgers weren't gourmet burgers by any stretch of the imagination, but they were the most fantastic 3am snack that I'd ever had. While clean and well run, the restaurant isn't pretentious at all - and certainly doesn't even try to present itself as an upmarket restaurant. That said, especially at 3am, the burgers, chips and coffee was wonderful, and very well priced.

So, as I was saying, we tried out Saul's Taverna for lunch. While the Mediterranean decor created an interesting atmosphere we left feeling somewhat ambivalent about the food. My warthog ribs were fine, and Kerry-Anne's lamb schwarma was OK, but in our opinion neither anything special and while not expensive, not cheap either.

Perhaps it was just that our previous visit to Gourmet Burger was still fresh in our minds, or perhaps it was because we were the only patrons in the restaurant - who knows?

Kerry-Anne had a chicken burger, covered with Camembert cheese and cranberry sauce. I had a traditional beef burger with a creamy mushroom sauce. (menu). Both were pretty darn good, but what made the outing great was that our waitress was friendly, smart, and efficient.

I don't think they're normally as quiet as the photo portrays it is. We visited on a Saturday afternoon, which appears to be the perfect time for a quiet lunch out. (map)

Sinn's Restaurant in Wembley Square (map) is a favorite for many of Cape Town's inhabitants. I was recently invited to visit to try their R50 spring lunch specials - and oh, what a treat it was!

On arrival I was unsure of which dish to try, but Thomas Sinn (owner and, from what I can gather, head chef) had a special smaller serving of five of the six dishes lined up me to try out. What you see in this photo is the Moroccan Spicy Chicken Salad - harissa-coated chicken with lettuce, chick peas, cherry tomatoes, and a toasted sesame seed dressing. I have to say that it was indeed pretty yummy!

This treat was followed up with Chicken Korma (perhaps my favorite), Cajun Chicken Burger, Fried Black Mussel Noodles, and finally Black Lentil Bobotie. Even though I had reduced portions I'm sure you can imagine I practically rolled out of the restaurant - very satisfied. :)

As mentioned, the Chicken Korma was my favorite, but the seared taste of the cajun chicken was a pretty close second. While I don't normally eat mussels (I don't like the fishy taste) the Fried Black Mussel Noodles, I have to admit, was pretty awesome - none of that nasty fishy taste! And, the last course, the Black Lentil Bobotie? Well, I don't eat bobotie but even though I was pretty full by the time this dish arrived, I very almost finished it (especially after a vegetarian friend emphasised how healthy lentils are!). :)

It was lovely sitting outside in the sun on a warm Winter's afternoon munching on scones and sipping rooibos tea. I'd recommend it highly. :)

All the restaurants were so full and we ended up at Dodge only because we saw two seats, miraculously open! We'd never eaten there, and we weren't holding out much hope of enjoying it, but we were actually greatly surprised and really loved it! Kerry-Anne had a burger with chips, onion rings and a cheesy sauce while I had (*drum roll*) a waffle with syrup and ice-cream and a bowl of French fries on the side! :)

Don't you just love this little table-jukebox? It takes R2 and R5 coins which will play 1 and 3 songs respectively. Unfortunately we had absolutely no change so I can't say how well it worked. We'll however definitely be back to try it out!