I’ve been feeling ‘bad’ about not jumping onto my blog post after visiting the Taste of Cape Town 2015 last weekend but, in retrospect, it’s really allowed me to consider what has really left an impression on me. What food do I really remember a week later? And which parts were my favourite? That I’d highly recommend (and not just play the remember game by telling you every single details of the event!).
First of all, it’s the first time I attended during the day and the night time. For YEARS I’d only visited in the evening and always just experienced the festival as a dinner. This year I went on the Friday evening AND Saturday lunch time and wow! They couldn’t be more different.
We had elected to go a bit later as parking was a pain last year and so were the greedy crowds. I REALLY hate when people push and shove for food. I call it the piggy syndrome and it’s enough to put me off my dinner. So this year we went a bit later which gave us some more space.
Unfortunately parking was full so we parked in Sea Point and took an Uber down. Magic. We made our way around the festival from the left side to the right. I’d studied the menu before arriving so had a few items that were on my mind. As we reached the last quarter the Caprice tent was pumping and seemed like a lot of fun. Unfortunately at 10pm everyone had to leave and all the festivities came to an end, until tomorrow.
So on Saturday I returned to the Festival with my Mom and friend from England for round two. I insisted that they had a number of dishes which included (and the best of the festival and to my taste):
Hemelhuis Nocchi
The Hemelhuis Nocci for R20 was sublime. Out of this world. A combination of delicate, soft little pillows with a beautiful white wine, creamy sauce with aubergine puree and something crunchy that I just can’t figure out. I think this was the best nocci I’d ever had. And for 20 Ronts! Amazing.
The LongRidge Pork
The Longridge pork with (I thought) fried rocket, chutney and crackling was delicious. I know it’ll send my cholesterol right through the roof but it was well worth it 😉 As will their Kahlua mousse, YO!
Azure
The Azure has always been a hit for me at the Taste of Cape Town and this year was no exception. Their slow braised compressed oxtail was everything my poor, peasant, ancestors could only dream of. Deep, shredded beefy goodness with a rich sauce, cut through by the light, soft potato espuma (foam). Sublime.
Camissa (Table Bay Hotel)
The Camissa dessert is also worth mentioning. The salted caramel cheesecake wasn’t very cheese cakey, however, the presentation and mint creameaux was fun and definitely worth the R20 (I think Woolies should rethink their R20 puds and raise the level to these standards 😉 ). Could you imagine how fat I’d be there. YOINK!
As it turned out, 90 minutes just wasn’t quite long enough to do it all. So on Saturday I took more time to enjoy the extra spoils. It was the first time I’d seen Rekorderlig in South Africa, a drink I discovered (and enjoyed) in Scotland.
I also enjoyed tasting Linique, a rosewater liquor that I was expecting to be pretty disgusting but was really fresh and delicious. I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised. Their Amarula shots were good too.
Thank goodness I had the Saturday to take things in again. I could see far better and enjoy the spoils the second time around. I’m definitely going to go on Saturdays from now on. The first night can be rather crowded but the Saturday was so peaceful and relaxing. Having a little lunch time toot went down a treat and I really enjoyed it (although I had expected it to be way busier).
If you’re looking to go somewhere special for dinner, keep these places in mind. They deserve our support due to their impeccable service, food and skill. I’d love to visit them in their home locations in the near future.
PS Another fun little stall was the spicy sausage stall. From wild to WOAW! Just about to blow my head off with that chilli sauce.
