V & A Market on the wharf

I've been looking forward to visiting the V&A market on the wharf for some time.  The sneaky Humans Right public holiday last week proposed the perfect opportunity.

Beautiful fresh flowers

 

It's situated on two floors

 

The market is where the old Musica use to be. Not all the stalls are filled yet and the full potential of the place definitely has not been reached but it is a great place to feast on a diversity of flavors as well as fill the pantry with some yummy goods.

Make your own cookies buy choosing the shape, flavour and toppings.

 

Freshly baked pies available

 

The market is a feast for all the senses

 

From sushi to sweet treats are available

 

 

We first wandered around to see what everyone has to offer but what I looked forward to the most was visiting The Bubble Tea Company. There has been much hype around this stall and I wanted to try it out myself.

 

Your main choice you have to make is if you want a milky of fruity drink. You then choose the type of tea you want, a flavour liquid and the type of bubbles. We went for the black tea with mango juice and passion fruit bubbles. It was so delicious and refreshing and I look forward to upcoming visit to try out other interesting flavours. A standard drink from them is only R29.

 

My next pick will be from the top 10 Bubble Teas!

 

Bubble Tea anatomy

The boyfriend did not want to share!

 

I then immediately spotted one of my favourite bakeries, Queen of tart. I did a baking course there last year. One of their famous desserts are the salty caramel tarts(R25). It was 09:30 in the morning but as my personal motto goes “Eat dessert first”. The salty and sweet flavour,  which is a personal favourite flavour combination. was delicious and the chocolate pastry nice and crisp.

The boyfriend was with me so we had to eat something of “substance”. We opted to share a delicious Prego roll (R45). That same stall also has some chicken and other meat sandwiches. If you're hungry be sure to visit them.

Delicious sandwiches

 

 

 

 

The nicest stall I visited was The Gourmet Pantry. Some of the other stall really have to work on their customer service.  Friendly service really goes a long way and it costs you nothing... Anyway back to The Gourmet Pantry ....They are situated in the middle of the lower level. They have delicious baked good such as huge muffins for only R15 and crisp pies and quiches. We sampled four miniature pies for only R15 and they even gave us an extra one! Thank you! You can contact them at info@gourmetpantry.co.za or at 021 709 0860

 

The mini pies and quiches

 

 

Other tasty food to consider are nachos from the Mexican stand, delicious smelling curries from the Indian stand or how about a Nutella crepe?

The latter is my top choice for my next visit.  There’s a diverse option for crepe filings such as nutella and condensmilk, berries, eggs &bacon  - just to name a few.

Produce for the pantry such as salad dressings, tea leaves, relishes and spices are all on offer at the market as well as fresh fruit and vegetables.

Fresh produce

 

Spices galore

 

I would say a prime time to visit is from 12:00 and onwards if you want to enjoy some craft beers and great food. You can sit outside and inside. I preferred the outside seating as the vibe at the waterfront is usually buzzing and one should enjoy all the sunny Cape Town weather you can get.

The market is in its growing and tweaking phase but a visit is a must! Utilise this Easter-weekend and pop-in!

During the year they have events such as beer tasting and kitchen demonstration. Be sure to keep an eye on their social media pages.

Visit them Wednesday to Sunday 09:30 – 19:30
Follow them @VAFoodmarket
Visit their Facebookpage or website
 

Taste of Cape Town 2013

An event I have not been to but looking forward to attending this year is the Taste of Cape Town 2013. This premier food festival is hosted by Pick n Pay. 12 of South Africa's best restaurants will showcase their dishes as starters. This gives us all a great opportunity to sample some of the best dishes and not exceed our budget for the month.

There will also be chef demonstrating some simple dishes for us all to create at home as well as 100 exhibitioners of food products and wine :)

Restaurants that are part of the festival

• Beefcakes
• Signal
• Fyndraai
• Azure
• La colombe
• 96 Winery road
• The pot luck club
• Il leone
• Savour
• Makaron
• Jewel of india
• De Grendel
• The Brasserie

Dates 11-14 April 2013

Ticket prices

• Standard entry (R80) - entrance to festival and a tasting glass
• Premium ticket (R180) - entrance to festival, tasting glass and R100 worth of crowns*

*Crowns are the currency used by the festival for you to purchase food and drinks. 1 crown = R5
The dished served at the festival will range between 4-8 crowns. The crowns can be purchased at the
 event.

Session times

Day/Date	Afternoon Session	Evening Session
Thurs 11 April	closed	18:30 – 22:30
Fri 12 April	closed	18:30 – 22:30
Sat 13 April	13:00 – 17:00	18:30 – 22:30
Sun 14 April	12:00 – 17:00	closed

Location at the Green point Cricket club

Visit the website for more information

Buy tickets here

Vovo Telo

This bakery has a prime spot at the V&A Waterfront. It's situated next to the big wheel.

The concept of Vovo Telo came to life on the beach of Madagascar when a loaf of bread was sold to the owners by an elderly man on a bicycle. They wanted to share their delight in bread with everyone back home. The first bakery was started in Port-Elizabeth and now there are branches in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town.

Vovo Telo is a lovely addition to the restaurant scene at the V&A Waterfront. They actually needed a bakery. There are enough family style and fine dining restaurants, but bakery-wise only the franchises we all know are there.

I visited them on a lovely Sunday afternoon when the V&A Waterfront usually is buzzing. The bakery has a great location to sit and people watch, listen to the surrounding artist performing or enjoy the awesome Cape Town weather.

To my surpise they had a lot more to offer than what I anticipated. They have their baked goods, sandwiches and salads as one would expect, but they also serve thin crust pizza on ciabatta dough, hamburgers and even steak.

I decided to try one of their thin crust pizzas.  I chose a vegetarian option of mushrooms, asparagus, brie, thyme, pine nuts and rocket (R72). This combination was bland to me so I would rather next time go for the avo, gorgonzola and salami pizza(R72) or the black forest ham, strawberries, rocket, garlic,parmesan and balsamic reduction(R69) variation.

My mom had a root vegetable fold over with pesto on the side. It was delicious and comes highly recommended.

 

 

They have great breakfast options and on my future must try list are

• French toast served with cinnamon caramel apple strudel (R48)
• Buttermilk hot-cakes served with blueberries, mascarpone cream and lemon zest (R45)
• Toasted brioche with mascarpone cream, fig jam and toasted almonds (R35)
• Poached eggs with coriander aioli and gypsy ham on toasted ciabatta served with roasted rosa tomatoes (R47)

A full breakfast will cost you R82 but you receive the whole nine-yards. They will treat you with corn cakes, scrambled eggs, fillet steak , boerewors, grilled mushrooms, roasted rosa tomatoes and toasted sourdough. This can only be a great start to your day.

I love sharing food and they have some great platter options.

• Antipasta board (R79) - Deli meats, roasted rosa tomatoes, boerenkaas, baccancini mozzarella, olives and ciabatta.
• Bruschetta board (R65) - Garlic toasted sliced baguette with toppings such as pesto chicken & parmesan, roasted veg and olive, fillet & gorgonzola & caramelised onions.

I also discovered a great new brand of Ice-Teas called Toni Glass. They have flavours such as berry baobab, lemongrass, coconut and ginger, melon goji, kiwi and cucumber & mint. (R18)

 

I can also not end-off without tantalising your sweet tooth. There is a great variety and everything is well priced.

 

 

If you are in a rush or want to spend the day at home pop in for some freshly baked breads and sweet treat delights. They also offer some dishes as take-way options.

 

This new gem will not disappoint! Put it on your to-do list now :)

 

 

Like them on facebook

Follow them on twitter @vovotelo

Contact them at 021 418 3750

Open Monday to Sunday from 07:30 - 21:30
Visit their awesome website

 

 

The Jackal and Hide

Last month I had a blogpost with a few special to consider. I recently tried out The Jackal an Hide's 2 for 1 cocktails and 2 main meals for R140.

 

The weather was perfect and we were seated on the deck. The view of Table Mountain was phenomenal and the vibe of The Jackal and Hide was relaxed and jovial.

Table mountain showing off

 

Outside deck

 

When the weather is not so great you can sit inside the beautiful decorated vintage space. A palette of grey, purple and cream is used and large mirrors fills the space

We started with the cocktails. The cocktails special runs from 16:00 – 19:00. The deck they have is perfect for after-work drinks or a get-together with a bunch of friends.

The first one I tried was the Granadilla-mojito. It had a sweet sour taste to it. Very refreshing and I had to stop myself to not do a 2 for 1 special for myself only. The standard Mojito was also popular as well as the Red Screwdriver which was a berry-type cocktail.  Craft beers was thoroughly enjoyed by the boys. Wine by the glass and bottle are available.

Granadilla mojito

 

The staff of The Jackal and Hide are extremely warm and friendly. We were greeted by several of the staff and they really want us to have a relaxed experience with them. No pretentiousness here at all. 5/5 in my books.

For mains you are allowed to pick any two main meals for R140. Some of the meals are priced at R125 so already this seemed like a brilliant deal. The steak was what the majority of the table ordered. It was served with perfectly cooked potato balls and an delicious sauce. The winner of the night was the seared tuna served with smoked aubergine, black olives, tomatoes and yoghurt cubes drizzeld with basil oil (R125). I had the duck breast on carrot puree served with glazed fruit and vanilla oil. This was the smallest portion of the night. Its priced at R115. Honestly I will only order this with the 2 for 1 special due to the size you receive, definitely not the taste. Ive only recently started eating duck but it was cooked extremely well and the carrot puree complimented it well.

250 g Ribeye served with baby veg, caramelised onions and almond foam (R135)

 

Sirloin served with potato balls and a creamy sauce

 

Duck served with grilled artichokes, vanilla oil an glazed fruit served on carrot puree (R125)

 

The Star of the evening - Seared tuna!

 

Dishes to look forward to   

• Gnocchi with spinach, braised dates and toasted pine nuts and liquid cheese cubes (R75)
• Springbok shank with corn polenta and parsnip puree (R115)
• Lamb koftas served with a hot tomato harissa sauce and braised potatoes (R75)

The chocolate fondant(R50) was spotted early on during our dinner date and was the popular dessert choice. Some of the table members condemened it as the best chocolate fondant they had. It was made with quality dark chocolate and the center was smooth and runny. I was only treated to the aromas of the fondants and that already received a thumbs up from me. A next visit for sure will not be done without myself ordering one.

Other desserts to try out

• Poached peached served with strawberry sorbet, shortbread crumbs, blueberry jelly and compote (R50)
• Peppered strawberries with a red pepper compote, mandarin custard and red pepper foam (R35)
• Fresh mango and a dark chocolate ganache with mint foam (R35)

What a fun night in Cape Town where you can unwind with a few drinks, eat gourmet food and not break the bank. Book yourself a place here ASAP.

The gang!

 

Visit them at 108 Kloof street

Open for Lunch Tue – Sat & Dinner Mon-Sat

Contact them at 021 424 1020

Like them on Facebook

Casparus

I’ve been getting blogging withdrawal symptoms February month.  The interesting subject of infectious diseases consumed most of my time (probably not the most appetising thing to mention on a blog about food : ). To keep me motivated through some of the “I don’t want to study-times” I visited some delicious places.

My awesome tasting companion treated me to a belated Valentines dinner at Casparus in Stellenbosch. I was not aware of the restaurant so the boyfriend felt very chuffed to introduce me to it as I am always one up on him.

 

I visit Stellenbosch regularly and always thought the location of the restaurant was an art gallery. Well it is, but if you just walk through the gallery you are treated to a beautiful open air restaurant.

 

 

Half of the restaurant is underneath the roof and the other half is not. For the colder evenings blankets are given to you.

You receive a welcome drink on arrival. We were treated to a refreshing watermelon flavoured cocktail. The perfect start to a great evening.

The waiters are very attentive and clued up about what is on the menu and offer you advice if needed.

The menu is excellent. The starters and mains are diverse in ingredients and flavours. Some fall into the category of being light and refreshing and others will satisfy you on those days where you just want some deep rich comfortable flavours.
 
Some starters option that really appealed to me were

• Salmon souffle and shimeji mushrooms with a roasted red pepper and macadamia sauce(R75)

• Avocado soup with cucumber strips and a prawn (R40)

• Pear and artichoke salad with olive tapenade and a walnut dressing(R55)

We in the end opted to share the mushroom on puff pastry with bacon, sundried tomatoes and a butternut cream(R60) . It was delicious. The saltiness of the and sourness of the sundried tomatoes really worked great together and the creamy butternut sauce  was a great finish to the meal. They were even so kind to already split the starter for us and portion that was halved was actually perfect for me.

As the starter was excellent, my expectation was set high for the main meals. It was difficult to make a decision from dishes such as

• Pork loin with a mandarin sauce, poached apple and citrus segments  (R105)

• Linguini served with prawns, salmon, flaked almonds and a crayfish cream (R105)

• Kingklip with balsamic sauce, oyster mushrooms and hazelnuts (R115)

I opted for the grilled lamb rump with green beans, mint oil and lobster sauce (R130). I was really curious about the lobster sauce. The meat was cooked perfectly and still remained juicy. The lobster sauce did not taste as ‘seafoody’ as I expected but there was a nice ‘zing’ to it that complimented the lamb.

My tasting companion had the sirloin, potato wedges and salad with a mushroom sauce(R120). The steak was of great quality and the mushroom sauce was rich and creamy.

 

Portion wise they impressed me again because they serve you just what you need. I hate walking away from a restaurant and feeling like I indulged too much. (Yes half of that is my fault but don’t give me too much food :)

 

After the hearty meal we had to skip dessert but they have great options to end you meal on a light and refreshing note.

• Sorbet selection (R30)

• Merogue Negresco (R30)

• Fresh berries with mint ice-cream (R35)

I would have liked to see more pastry and cake options on the menu bit that is just due to personal taste preference.

The wine list is extensive and caters for all. The price range for most of the wines are between R70 – R195 which shows you that you can get acceptable as well as top quality vino.  Wine by the glass range from R29-R52. 

 

For the men out there who really want to treat the lovely ladies in their life to a classy but relaxing delicious eat out experience keep Casparus on the option list. For friends who want to wine and dine while being assured of quality food visit Casparus.

The crowd the night we were there was 95% tourist but with all that they have to offer I hope the local crowd will soon go and experience the greatness Casparus has to offer.

Visit them at 59 Dorp street, Stellenbosch
Open times: Tue-Sat  12:30 - 14:00 & Tue - Sat 19:00 - 22:00
Contact them at 021 882 8124