Cape Town - Cape Town has no shortage of good food. From stunning wine farms and gourmet cuisine to simple calamari and chips, you’ll find some of the country’s best food in the Mother City. Wine farms aside, these three foodie experiences will ensure you get a feel of everything Cape Town is famous for, so add them to your list next time you visit.
l High Tea at the Mount Nelson
The Mount Nelson is affectionately known as the Nellie or the “Pink Lady”, and has been a favourite hangout for yuppies and over 60s alike for years, due to its iconic presence as one of the city’s oldest and most glamorous hotels (it first opened in 1899).
While newer five-star hotels may have moved on to furnishings that are minimalist and modern, the Mount Nelson remains true to its heritage and has kept its English colonial style. Expect heavy, velvet curtains, upholstered couches and a lot of shiny, varnished wood.
Admittedly, spending a night here may not be within the budget of most, but you can still have a bit of the Mount Nelson experience by making a booking for High Tea. Served twice a day, this is one of the hotel’s signature offerings, and for good reason.
The centrepiece of the sitting room is the expansive buffet spread, where you’ll find a smorgasbord of delicate macarons, homemade cookies, various types of cakes, and even some signature South African treats, like koeksisters and milk tart.
That’s for later, though, as your first course is a three-tiered stand of savouries that will be brought to your table, including sandwiches, pies, quiches and spring rolls. I found the savouries took a bit too long to arrive at my table, meaning I did spoil my appetite a little by picking from the buffet. I enjoyed being able to select one of 24 blends of loose leaf tea, carefully selected from all over the world.
Mount Nelson even has its own blend, which spans Africa and Asia, a combination of Darjeeling, Kenya, Assam, Keemun, Ceylon and Yunnan, enhanced with rose petals from their garden.
Afternoon high tea is priced at R235 per person and is served between 1.30pm and 5.30pm daily.
Address: 76 Orange Street, Cape Town. Visit: www.belmond.com. Call 021 483 1000.
l Cocktails at Shimmy Beach Club
Cape Town in the summer time is synonymous with partying. If you haven’t managed to book a hotel in Clifton or Camps Bay, you can still have a taste of poolside glamour at Shimmy Beach Club. The restaurant is situated in a bit of an odd location – I thought I had definitely taken a wrong turn when I passed the V&A Waterfront and drove towards the industrial part of the harbour, seeing the I&J warehouse en route, but once I arrived at the beach club, I felt as though I had been transported to some exotic island like Mykonos or Bali. Yes, the beach is man-made, but it certainly doesn’t feel that way.
Day beds and white umbrellas flank the glass-walled infinity pool, which looks out onto the 13m bar. Inside, the restaurant is upmarket and luxurious, with a menu to match. I’m always wary when I see menus that are too big because it is my view that too much selection means freshness and quality are compromised. In Shimmy’s case, the scale and size of the operation means it can afford to offer something for everyone on the menu, while ensuring only the highest standards of quality are maintained. Everything I tried was delicious and fresh – from the seafood to the steak. The menu changes seasonally, with the summer menu offering tantalising treats like marinated harisa and lime tiger prawn skewers, R155, crispy fried calamari with green chilli and lime, R50, or a wide range of sushi.
Other items on the menu include pizza, pasta, grilled seafood dishes, burgers and steaks, and lastly a wide range of salads.
The drinks menu is equally impressive, featuring everything from exotic cocktails to French champagne and 40-year-old malt whiskies.
l Address: South Arm Road, V&A Waterfront. Visit www.shimmybeachclub.com Call 021 200 7778
l Fish and Chips at Lucky Fish and Chips
You can’t go to Cape Town and not eat battered fish and chips – the oily variety, served in paper.
Lucky Fish and Chips is the latest addition to the Harbour House group of restaurants, and rather than the quick and dirty variety, here you can expect gourmet fast food. Fish is always fresh, never frozen, and the menu doesn’t have any frills, but promises quality and consistency. Your only options are hake, snoek, linefish of the day or calamari, served grilled or fried, with or without chips.
I went for hake and chips, and devoured my little box of food, while sitting on a bar stool overlooking Bree Street. The fish was so flaky, I could barely get it to stay on my fork, and the chips were crispy on the outside and soft inside. Add a squeeze of lemon and you’ve got the perfect, albeit not the healthiest, midday meal. There are various branches across Cape Town. Visit www.luckyfishandchips.co.za
l Hasmita Nair was hosted by Mount Nelson and Shimmy Beach Club for the purposes of this review.
l For more ideas of things to do in South Africa, visit Nair’s blog: www.joziliciousblog.co.za
Sunday Independent