Wine Tasting - Day 1

We spent our first day in the Winelands in Stellenbosch.  Stellenbosch is a quick hour drive from downtown Cape Town.  You could make it into a day trip and stay in Cape Town or you could even join a bus tour out to the Winelands.  Personally, I think it's better to do it on your own.  There are a crazy number of wineries in the Winelands.  We basically picked the places that we thought looked the coolest.  We enjoy wine but can't really tell you much about it so we weren't too serious about our tasting.

Our first stop was Waterford Wine Estates.  We picked Waterford because they have a chocolate and wine pairing.  I cannot recommend that tasting enough.  I'm not a huge fan of chocolate but this was the most delicious chocolate and it paired so well with the wine.  The chocolate wine tasting was 60 rand or a little less than $10.  I had the standard tasting for 30 rand or about $5.  The tasting occurred in a beautiful shaded courtyard that felt very Italian or Spanish.  Waterford also has a special wine drive in a jeep.  Unfortunately we couldn't fit it into our schedule which of course was based around food.

Our next stop was lunch at Le Pique Nique on the Boschendal Wine Estate.  They have tables set up outside under the trees and the waiters bring you a picnic basket full of all sorts of goodies like meats, cheeses, salads, and pates.  It was a huge meal and so relaxing to have a leisurely meal in the shade.  You can also order wine by the bottle or glass from the estate to go with the lunch.  If you'd like to dine at Le Pique Nique, make sure you make reservations for your picnic basket.  Actually, you need to make reservations for everything before coming to the Winelands, especially in the high season.  They have a ton of wonderful restaurants.  Without a reservation in advance you may wind up eating at the local pizza joint.  And South Africa isn't exactly known for their pizza.

 

Since we'd only tried one wine with lunch, we decided to head over to the tasting center and try more Boschendal wines.  We split a tasting between the two of us for 15 rand or $2.

Last stop of the day was Rustenberg.  We chose Rustenberg because we really liked the design of their tasting room.  Very modern.  Rustenberg was a little off the beaten path and was uncrowded.  We stood at the bar tasting with a staff member who guided us through the whole thing.  I believe the tasting was also free, at least for their more affordable wines.  The specialty wines may have had a fee associated with it.  We ordered a bottle of wine and they suggested that we take a walk in the gardens while they brought it up from the cellar and had it wrapped up.  They have a beautiful garden with lots of flowers and ponds.

One last note:  many of the wineries are closed on Sundays so take that into account when planning a trip.

Africa Cafe

Africa Cafe is definitely a touristy experience.  There was singing and dancing.  It was well worth it though to try native dishes from all over Africa.  Everything is eaten with your hands!  You pay a flat price and the food is brought to your table family style.  If you want more of anything just feel free to ask.  It was a little pricey for South Africa.  Our bill was $120 for 2 people and a couple of glasses of wine.

The menu

Traditional Vetkoek - Lightly Fried Bread Balls

Mozambican Organic Sprout Salad

Sesame Chicken Kebabs

Malawi Mbatata Cheese and Sim Sim Balls - Sweet Potato, Cheese, and Sesame Seed Balls

Chanua Fish - Hake in Chickpea Batter

Tanzanian Mchicha wa Nazi - Spinach in Groundnut Sauce

Moroccan Warm Lentil, Chickpea, and Rice Salad

Zimbabwean Sweet Corn and Sweet Potato Mash

South African Karoo Lamb Stew

Xhosa Spinach and Maize Meal Balls in Fragrant Sauce - Steamed mielie meal and spinach balls in carrot sauce flavored with paprika

Portia's Spicy Chicken Drumsticks

Broccolli & Nut Salad

Basmati Rice

Cape Town - Food

When people think of good food they don't tend to think of South Africa. But Cape Town is really a culinary capital and we had some delicious meals.  We didn't take any pictures but perhaps this information will be helpful to other visitors.

The first night we arrived was Christmas Day. We'd been travelling for 40 hours and hadn't eaten anything but airplane lounge food dinner two days before. I knew a lot of restaurants would be closed on Christmas Day and the ones open would likely have specialty meals. I emailed our guesthouse, de Tafelberg, in advance for a recommendation and a reservation. I knew after our travelling we wouldn't want a 3 hour meal. We also didn't want fast food after all the nasty stuff we ate for two days. They recommended Societi Bistro, a neighborhood Italian restaurant. It did not disappoint. We were really happy with our casual sit down meal with good, cheap wine.

Day two in Cape Town was a Sunday. A lot of restaurants are also closed on Sundays in Cape Town. We chose to eat at the Asian restaurant Wakame in Mouille Point for the view of the beach and ocean and for the seafood. Unfortunately it was too windy to sit outside. We had some really good food like the deep fried soft shell crab and the tuna tartare. I ordered the special Mozambique prawns which are huge. Except our waiter suggested that I order 6 of them. I couldn't eat more than 3 and I was stuffed. When you hear Mozambique prawns think more like the size of a small lobster, not a shrimp.

The next day we ate a very light lunch/snack at Den Anker at the Waterfront after our Robben Island tour. Den Anker is a Belgian restaurant. It's a little pricey but good. The only downside was due to the crazy snow in Europe that had shut down a lot of the airports, the restaurant hadn't been able to get their shipments of Belgian beer and were out of a lot of them. Obviously, not the restaurant's fault.

Our final Cape Town meal was at Fork, a tapas restaurant. If you know me, you know I love small plates and tapas more than any other food. I like being able to try a lot of different things and I love appetizers way more than a main dish. Fork did not disappoint. They have a really innovative menu of small plates. Besides some traditional choices, they had more exotic choices like kudu and ostrich. We didn't try the ostrich but the kudu was quite good!

Cape Tour

A tour of the Cape peninsula is a must do on any Cape Town itinerary. It was one of our favorite days on the trip. We started out at the Waterfront and drove along the coast along the beaches in Sea Point, Camps Bay, and on into Hout Bay. After leaving Hout Bay we continued our drive along Chapmans Peak Drive, a beautiful drive along the very edge of the coast high in the air.

At the end of Chapmans Peak Drive we saw a sign for wine tasting. Since we had some time before our lunch reservation, we stopped to go wine tasting at Cape Point Vineyards. They have a lovely menu with snacks and a cheese tray if you'd like a light lunch.

However, we were eating just down the road in Noordhoek at Foodbarn. Of course the name "Foodbarn" does not conjure up ideas of high quality cuisine. But you are wrong! This place is quite a foodie haven.

I had the Bistro menu which includes an appetizer, entree, and dessert. I can't remember what my appetizer was but it was seafood and the sauce it was in was delicious. My entree was "Andouillette": Spicy pork belly and chitterling sausage, wrapped in a crispy spring roll, served with sauteed apples and potato fritter, finished with an apple cider and thyme juice. Not surprisingly, I had a cheese plate for dessert. All that wine makes me want lots of cheese.

Nick ordered off the a la carte menu. His entree was hands down the best thing we ate the entire trip and one of the top things of our lives: springbok in a vanilla jus.  Foodbarn was a wonderful restaurant with a casual feel.

After our leisurely lunch, we continued our drive along the coast. Down in this part of the peninsula it was much more deserted and the wind was much stronger. It truly feels like the end of the world. We continued down to Table Mountain National Park to see the Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. It was freezing cold and there were hurricane like winds. Since we had a marathon hike up a very large hill it was kind of nice that it was so cool. Johannesburg is 1500 km from the Cape of Good Hope while Antarctica is only 3000 km. The Cape of Good Hope is not actually the most southern point of Africa. But it was close enough for us.

Last stop: Boulders Beach in Simon's Town for the penguins. I love love love penguins and was so excited to see them. In fact I wanted to climb over the railing to touch them and go swimming in the water with them. In reality, you are confined to a boardwalk elevated above the beach and the penguins are down on the beach below. They were quite adorable and not smelly at all. If only I could have fit one in my suitcase.

The Waterfront

The Victoria and Albert Waterfront is a shopping, eating, accommodation, and activity destination in Cape Town. It's a little touristy but not overly so and definitely worth a visit. There are several luxury hotels. There's all sorts of excursions that involve the water from shark diving to tours of Robben Island. There's restaurants ranging from ice cream stands to nice dining. And there is any kind of shopping you could ever want to do from crafts markets to high end local stores.

Robben Island

Buy your Robben Island tickets in advance! I'm not a last minute person by any means. In fact, I'm often over eager. But I was trying to be more laid back and waited until 6 weeks before we left on vacation to plan out what we wanted to do in Cape Town. There was one boat left with 2 tickets available for us to do the Robben Island tour. ONE. During the whole 4 days we were in town. In my opinion, this tour is a not to be missed experience and gives a great background as to the history of apartheid and the resulting racial tensions that are still in South Africa today.

First, you board a ferry boat to take you to Robben Island which is a couple miles offshore. The ferry boat is very nice. You can sit inside in the comfortable seats and air conditioning or sit outside on the top or stand along the deck.

Then you are loaded into busses. There, a guide drives you around the island, showing you different sections such as where the guards lived and explaining the history. We really lucked out and had the best guide ever. I know he was the best since he'd been the one to show Obama and other visiting dignitaries such as kings and queens around the island. And speaking of dignitaries, there are rooms and conference facilities on the island for them. Knowing the history of the island, and seeing how creepy it is now that it's deserted, I'd never want to stay on the island overnight!

The next stop is the actual prison facilities. There, we were transferred to another guide, all of whom had been political prisoners on Robben Island at some point. This part of the tour was just heartbreaking to hear about the conditions they lived in and how blacks versus coloreds were treated. White people weren't brought to the island at all. They had better prisons on the mainland.

Finally, the last part was a return on the ferry to Cape Town. The Robben Island tour was one of my favorite activities of the two weeks we were in South Africa and it's a definite do not miss.

Here is an explanation from Wikipedia about the differences between black versus colored under apartheid: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_under_apartheid#Coloured_classification