9 Days in South Africa: Wine, Penguins & Safari (20 to 28 Feb 2020) Trip Report Menu
Day 1: Singapore – Stellenbosch
Day 2: Stellenbosch – Stony Point – Cape Town
Day 3: Cape Town – Old Biscuit Mill & Super Rugby
Day 4: Cape Town – Lion’s Head
Day 5: Cape Town – Bo Kaap, Chapman’s Drive, Cape Peninsula, Muizenberg, La Colombe
Day 6: Cape Town – Phinda
Day 7: Phinda
Day 8: Phinda
Day 9: Phinda – Singapore
Day 5: Cape Town – Bo Kaap, Chapman’s Drive, Cape Peninsula, Muizenberg, La Colombe
Our time in Cape Town had coincided with strong south-easterly winds known as “Cape Doctor” and we woke up hearing the loud winds.
With Mrs feeling better, we set off rather early for a long day ahead.
Route for the day
First up was Bo- Kaap. It is the oldest surviving residential neighbourhood in Cape Town and famous for the colourful buildings, similar to La Boca in Buenos Aires.
The primary group of residents in Bo Kaap are the Cape Malays, a diverse group with some tracing their ancestry to migrants from the Malay Archipelago during the Dutch colonial period.
We wanted to go on the free walking tour of the area the day before but had to skip as wife wasn’t feeling well.
Early start for the souvenir seller
Guys from the local community which looked after our car for 20 ZAR
After snapping some photographs, we drove to Kleinsky’s in Sea Point for breakfast. Mrs had the bagel while I had the noodle soup.
It was a glorious day as we drove from Sea Point towards Cape Peninsula.
Between Clifton and Camp’s Bay
We were surprised to drive past a town ship in Hout Bay. Apparently residents in Imizamo Yethu organize tours for tourists who like to learn more about their community.
There is a toll fee of 50 ZAR to use Chapman’s Peak Drive, a scenic route between Hout Bay and Noordhoek, with view points along the way. We stopped at one which overlooks Hout Bay.
One of the many curves on the 9km route
An engineering feat
We stopped by a supermarket in Sunnydale and picked up some supplies before continuing onward.
After Simon’s Town
There was a queue to pay to get into Table Mountain National Park at Cape Peninsula. It cost 640 ZAR for the both of us to visit.
As there were road works on certain stretches where only one lane could be used, cars may have to wait up to 20-30 minutes for their turn. The scenery made up for the wait though.
We first drove to the lighthouse at Cape Point. As we were still recovering from our hike up Lion’s Head, we didn’t walk all the way up to the lighthouse and just visited the gift shops and took some pictures of the scenery.
Luckily the baboon wasn’t on top of our car.
Then we drove down to the famous Cape of Good Hope sign.
Rocky beach
Could see windsurfers in a distance
Honestly we spent more time traveling to Cape of Good Hope than on the actual site. I wasn’t quite sure if the site was worth the entrance fee; most visitors are probably visiting due to the famous name.
We retraced our way back up the east coast of Cape Peninsula and headed to Muizenberg.
Turning right into Muizenberg
The brightly coloured beach houses
As the waves in False Bay are calmer than the other beaches on the Atlantic Ocean, Muizenberg is the surfer’s capital in Cape Town. Although we didn’t do any surfing, we did dip our toes in the cold water.
The last place of the day was Constantia. On the back of a colleague’s recommendation, we made a dinner reservation at La Colombe, located inside Silvermist wine estate. We were early and had time to explore its surroundings for a bit.
When the restaurant opened, we were invited to have a palate cleanser before being shown to our table.
Only the 9-course Chef’s menu was available for dinner and there’s a vegetarian version as well. Since I was driving and Mrs was still recovering from illness, we declined the alcohol pairing.
Chef’s menu
There was a real sense of anticipation when the food started to arrive. First up was the trio of appetisers.
Springbok, mushroom, liver parfait
Lamb roti
Marlin tataki, burnt lime
The second dish involved the staff doing the cooking in front of us.
Sweet potato, wagyu drippings, bone marrow
The third course was a soup / curry. Special utensil is required to cut the passionfruit open.
Mussel, passionfruit, curry
Fourth course was the famous La Colombe tuna. We were asked to guess the special flavour inspired by the chef’s recent travel (which I forgot what it was).
Tuna ‘La Colombe’
Next up (no. 5) was Kerala-style duck, prawn, coriander. I don’t recall it being particularly memorable.
That was the last dish before palate cleanser.
Mandarin and kalamansi
The sixth dish is Thai coconut linefish. We were quite familiar with the flavours of this dish.
By then, I was stuffed and just picked on the food from the next dish onwards.
Dish 7 – Karoo lamb, kohlrabi, bolognaise
Finally it was time for dessert.
Dish 8 – The Cheese chest
Dish 9 – Strawberry, coconut, cashew, rose
Just when I thought that we were done, pralines were served.
I remembered to take a picture of La Colombe’s dining area after getting the bill. It came out to be around 3,800 ZAR for the both of us.
Just before we left the restaurant, we were presented a handwritten note in the shape of origami crane to thank us for joining the experience of a ‘food theatre’.
This is probably the single most expensive meal that I ever had (outside of Chinese wedding banquets) and it was really an interesting experience. The flavours were generally quite good and the presentations were very attractive as well. While I wouldn’t say that it was the best food that I ever eaten, the price is considered very affordable for fine dining and I would recommend the experience to any Cape Town visitors.
