We celebrated my friend Gill’s birthday at Bihari’s in Milnerton. This upstairs restaurant has a wonderful view of Table Bay and Lions Head. I caught this shot just after the sun had set.
The restaurant was a little strange in that they had an amazing Italian espresso machine, but no coffee in stock with which to use it! That is a little like owning a racing car and not putting any petrol into the tank.
This row of palm trees provides a little shelter to the vlei from the ceaseless South-Easter. While they do look a little out of place on Zandvlei, I still rather like them.
Rocket and Avo salad – some healthy food for everybody commenting that I only post health-averse food photos. Hope it makes you hungry :-)
I missed the Argus Cycle tour this year, but watching the race has finally inspired me to get back onto my bike! Yesterday I went for a 45km cycle, as I did last weekend as well! I hope that I keep it up, because I plan to be back in the race next year.
You may have noticed me mentioning the howling South-Easter on this blog, but for the next couple of months the wind dies down completely. It is the best time to go cycling. The early mornings are wonderfully cool, and completely wind-free.
We had a late breakfast on Sunday at the Jonkershuis restaurant at Groot Constantia wine farm. Groot Constantia dates back to 1685, when the land was granted to Simon van der Stel.
It is still a very active wine farm, and also a big tourist attraction. The restaurant has a lovely outside seating area, and children and dogs are welcome to go along as well and enjoy the shade under the oak trees. There are also a few nice walking paths around the farm.
While my breakfast was very tasty, I was did find the portions very small (Lois had scrambled egg & toast, and only got 1 piece of toast), and I still had lunch when I got home. I did think that at R60+ for breakfast they could be a little more generous.
Having said all that, the view from the restaurant is wonderful, it is the oldest wine farm in South Africa, and it was a wonderful morning.
I have been looking for this for ages, and I am so glad to finally find it. Every South African knows the famous Mrs Ball’s Chutney, which is found on every South African table. Well a few weeks ago I read an article about Desmond Ball, who is Mrs Ball’s great great grandson. He is making and selling chutney, but according to the original family recipe (not the commercial Unilever version).
So, I was very excited to find it for sale at the organic market in Tokai (behind Builders Warehouse), and of course I immediately bought a bottle. It is without a doubt one of the smoothest and tastiest chutneys that I have ever tasted, and it is organic as well.
He sells it under the Amelia label (which is Mrs Ball’s first name), and if you find a bottle, you won’t regret buying it. By the way, there is a lot of myth and story about Mrs Ball; you can read here to find out more (it is fascinating reading).
This year I was not riding the Argus Cycle Tour, but that did not stop me from being on the side of the road taking photos, and offering some support to the 35000 cyclists that races that 109km route around Cape Town.
Both last year and the year before had absolutely shocking weather, with the wind hitting over 120km/h at some places. Well, bad luck did not come in threes. The weather was warm with a gentle cooling breeze just managing to take the edge off the heat. Absolutely perfect weather for cycling.
To the person that stopped and chatted to me on the side of the road. No, Boyes Drive is not the second worst hill on the race, in fact it hardly counts as a hill. Smits, Chapman’s Peak and Suikerbossie are far, far worse. But I couldn’t tell you only 25km out that the worst hills were still to come.
Speeding Union Jack
Pausing on the hill
A cyclist speeding along Boyes Drive
Cyclists at the top of one of the many hills on Boyes Drive
Tomorrow is the annual Argus Cycle Tour, and while I will not be riding this year, I will be on the side of the road taking photos. Approximately 35000 cyclists will race the 109km route around Cape Town.
These shots go a little back in my archive, I took them in 2008 – I was strictly point and shoot in those days :-), when I missed the race due to back surgery.
One of the many large bunches of cyclists
It is a little ironic for me because I rode both last year and the year before, and both years had howling gales. This year (when I am not riding) is promising to have ideal cycling conditions. Oh well!
Racing
Over the finish line
I seem to be eating out awfully often at the moment, and try as we do to stay at home, there always seems to be a really good reason to go out.
Today, it was lunch at the River Café with my good friends Nick and Jeanne, who are at the moment sitting on a flight back to the UK, so it was out last chance to see them in a while.
The River Café is a lovely restaurant at the entrance of Constantia Uitsig Wine farm. Although I have not been there in a while, the service and food were fantastic. The staff managed to maintain the fine balance between being there when they were needed, and not quite getting in the way. While they have a simple and small menu, there is a good variety of tasty and interesting foods.
I started with Won-ton parcels, with a side-salad of veges stir-fried in peanut oil. While the parcels were a little oily, they were tasty and firm; and the veges were fantastic. You could have ordered just the veges as a main course (they were that good!).
Now I know that a burger for main course sounds really boring, but in this type of restaurant you can be assured that you will not get a boring burger, and I was not disappointed. It was succulent, juicy and tasty. The home-made tomatoe relish was wonderful, and this was definitely one of the best burgers that I have had in a long time.
Lois had Gazpacho, which she proclaimed as very good, and both Nick and Jeanne had the fish, which was equally praised. On the downside, the restaurant is not the cheapest place to eat, but the food and service are good. While there are a few vegetarian options (for Lois), the selection is not huge.
However, if you want to go somewhere for a really good meal, this is a place to consider.
No doubt I will be blogging about another restaurant next week :-)
Believe it or not, Cape Town still has a steam train or two in operation. This particular train belongs to Atlantic Rail, and they run a service every Sunday from Cape Town to Simonstown and back. She is a Class 24 locomotive (No. 3655), and is so majestic as she drives past.
At R220 per person it is an expensive trip, but it still looks like a very civilised way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
You can book or find out more details on the Atlantic Rail website.
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