Everyone needs one of those brash, loud and vibrant places to grab a general meal from when you’re out with friends, or in the mood for loud and brash. Primi Piatti in the Waterfront is just such a place. They’ve recently revamped the décor and it’s looking slicker than ever but still bursts with activity. Young and old, everyone always seems to be satisfied and we can definitely recommend the Con Pollo Pasta and Delicata Pizza.
Service may be a little distracted at times, but what else can you expect from a restaurant that’s nearly always packed?
If you’re looking for something in between loud and brash however, try their raised area near the entrance. You’ll still experience the buzz without being in the thick of things.
Primi Wharf / Shop 7226 / Upper Level / V&A Waterfront / Tel: (021) 419 8750
Posted on: October 29th, 2008 RLBalducci’s
When you’re looking for a good spot to grab some good quality dinner before a movie at the V&A Waterfront, Balducci’s used to be the ideal place. We love their magazine style menus, slick, if somewhat outdated, interiors and excellence service. Unfortunately that same menu is significantly overpriced, with little that will inspire you. A glass of wine alone will go for R50 and above!
Sadly, since they’re removed our favourite pizza’s from the selection, and the pasta’s have gone down in quality, we always steer clear of this once great restaurant, no matter how tempting our memories may be.
Balducci’s / V&A Waterfront / Cape Town / Tel: (021) 421 6002 / www.balduccis.co.za
Posted on: October 29th, 2008 RLKnead
When you enter Knead you’re immediately struck by the bakery buzz of the place. With rustic, home-style seating and open kitchen, baking and pizza oven areas, there’s bound to be some activity to keep you entertained. Don’t expect prompt, or particularly accurate service, but if you can get past this, Knead has a fantastic selection of breakfasts, light meals, snacks and pastries to tempt you. And tempt you they will!
We strongly recommend the homemade lemonade, Bunny Chow, Pizzas and Bread Platters. If you have a sweet tooth, some of the pastries may be a little savoury for you, but they’re still delicious and well worth a try.
Knead Bread and Pastry Shop / Wembley Square / Solan Street / Cape Town / Tel: (021) 462 4183 / bread@kneadbakery.co.za
Crème Café in the Gardens Centre in Cape Town is one of our absolute favourite breakfast spots. This is largely because they are still willing to serve you an incredible plate of Eggs Benedict piled high with bacon, ham and egg and smothered in hollandaise sauce at 2pm. Hmmm… my mouth is already watering. Another popular choice is the Bacon and Egg Croissant and if you make it there at a decent breakfast hour you can enjoy the buzz of the café on a Saturday morning.
Service is always friendly, the meals well-priced and you’re bound to see customers of every shape, size and age. See you there!
Crème Café and Espresso Bar / Gardens Shopping Centre / Gardens / Cape Town
Posted on: October 29th, 2008 BHYum
Near Deer Park, at the top of Vredehoek, you’ll find one of Garden’s longest standing restaurants. Although Yum has won a number of accolades over the years, they’ve maintained their humble nature. With all the action happening in Yum’s bar / lounge next to the restaurant, you may find the restaurant a little empty and cold at times. Its “neighbourhood spot” atmosphere encourages you to bring your friends and have a relaxing afternoon but don’t think you’ll be slumming it. Yum’s menu boasts some very seductive and memorable choices to keep everyone happy, we recommend the Bacon and Blue Cheese Burger, the Lamb Wrap or Lamb Shank.
If you’re looking for a spot to have a chilled afternoon with your friends, Yum’s the spot for you. If you feel like a mid afternoon cappuccino or sitting outside eating a dessert, Yum’s good for that too.
Yum / 2 Deer Park Drive / Vredehoek / Cape Town / Tel: (021) 461 7607
TH: *** ½
GS: ****
RL: ***
BH: ***
Average Rating: *** ½
Ahhh, the time had come. After planning for our hopes, our dreams, our aspirations, we had finally come to the point of making our first Featured Restaurant visit. It had to be special! It had to be memorable! So, after much deliberation we finally settled on Aubergine, a long-standing Cape Town establishment that regularly features in the country’s Top 10 list of restaurants. Needless to say, we had great expectations for the evening.
Disappointingly, the one word that comes to mind when we think back on Aubergine is “subtle”. Normally, being tasteful individuals, we would consider subtly a good thing, but, from its unassuming exterior to the subdued decor and understated elegance, little about Aubergine stood out, including the food.
On arrival, the building is, aside from the neon purple signage, unremarkable. For a restaurant with reputation, we were a little disappointed by the lack of drama or fan fair but this was quickly forgotten once we stepped inside. As our coats were taken, we took in the delicate interior balance between contemporary African chic and old world cottage comforts. We couldn’t help but notice another cosy and private dining space in the mezzanine loft above our own seating area.
On the subject of seating, they could have sacrificed a little style for more comfort - the woven leather-backed chairs were a perfect fit for the room, but not for the human body, or, oddly enough, the tables.
Now that we were seated however, it was not long before we were presented with the always difficult task of choosing our meals for the evening. The wine list boasted an impressive variety of both local and international wines, including an amusing section of wines produced by South Africans living abroad. Our only criticism would be that the wine menu did little to help us in our choice, being light on detail, but this was forgivable, given the presence of the sommelier.
In the end though this didn’t matter as, being in the mood for an indulgent evening, we chose the Degustation Menu, a 5 course set menu with wine pairings. As many of us were hesitant towards the Veal Tongue starter, we were pleased and impressed to find that variations were easily accommodated. That versatility extended to the sommelier chosen wine pairings that accompanied each course - one of our party is unable to drink to reds, and this presented no problem at all.
Shortly after placing our order, the amuse-bouche arrived, a common trend in Cape Town’s more upmarket establishments. In spite on being described as a delicate combination of this-and-that served with a salad, it looked a little more like chicken sandwich meat and some grated cucumber. That said, it was a nice combination of flavours and well presented, which we hoped was a sign of things to come.
Alas, the starters were disappointing with only the Aubergine Soufflé standing out. As it is one of the restaurant’s signature dishes, this was to be expected, but we had hoped to find the same dedication to the other choices. While we enjoyed the selections and appreciated the wine pairings, none were particularly memorable.
This tone continued throughout our meal. Although there were high points in the form of a Crustacean Soup with prawn skewer, fresh Kiwi Sorbet palette cleansers and Ostrich Medallions, we soon realized that the problem with these sorts of menus is that your meat is generally served as the chef recommends, a dilemma for those who don’t like their dishes on the rarer side, or in this case, near living. That said, each dish was beautifully presented and the Ostrich incredibly tender.
The “Cheese Platter”, a course we were all looking forward to by the waiter’s description, was anti-climactic as is was neither a platter nor the expected cheeses. Much like the rest of our experience the two phyllo pastry parcels of gorgonzola and a blue were fine, but not particularly note worthy. The same could be said of the dessert. It was…nice. And we hate that. Dishes in an expensive and sought after restaurant should be extraordinary. They should blow your mind, and leave you dreaming of, and craving, a particular flavour for weeks!
Although the food wasn’t remarkable and the wines, while from notable wineries, unexceptional, we were, on the whole, content. Service had been excellent, the ambiance enjoyable and the dining acceptable. And so, we asked for the bill. Our mistake really, we should have known better. This was, in fact, the most memorable point of the whole evening.
As the rest of the set meals are priced at around R500 per person, we were expecting the bill to be about R2000 for the four of us, more than we’d usually be willing to pay but, seeing as this was a special occasion we’d thought we’d splash out. The bill came in at R2600, excluding tip. Let us say that again – R2600! What the hell? Naturally, when you get a bill like that, it tends to jade your experience. You start reviewing the meal, weighing up if the experience justified the cost. After some discussion, we decided that while, overall, the meal was fine and the wine well-matched, neither were so notable that we’d find ourselves excitedly reminiscing of the flavours of the sauces, textures of the meats or complexity of the wines. In other words, no, it was not worth its hefty price tag. Don’t get us wrong, we would have paid the amount happily and still boasted about the place had we felt it was deserved, but as it was, we handed over the credit card with a somewhat bitter taste in our mouths.
Would we recommend Aubergine? Sadly, the answer is no. While it might deserve it awards and acclaim in some eyes, we feel the hype is unmerited and the prices aimed exclusively at tourists and those who are trying to impress future parents-in-law or wealthy clients. Two weeks later, we can barely remember what we ate.
Ambiance: ****
Service: *****
Food: **
Wine: ***
Bathrooms: ***
The Aubergine Restaurant / 39 Barnet Street / Gardens / Cape Town / Tel: 021 465 4909 / www.aubergine.co.za
Posted on: October 28th, 2008 RLDonatella’s
Donnatella’s in the V&A Waterfront “pledges to be a trendy bistro/espresso bar, dishing up light meals and breakfasts, with a vibey atmosphere and lounge-worthy couches.” Which is all very well; they had energetic music playing, individuals seemed to be doing the above-mentioned lounging and the menu presented the promised light meals. If only the clients had looked like they wanted to be there, it hadn’t been so extremely cold and our waitress had actually been able to communicate. The wind whistling through the centre doors a few steps away was so distracting that we tried to move tables several times in order escape it, but to no avail. When asked what was on the “Gourmet Club Sandwich”, the waitress replied, “sauce”. Wow. Thanks, that was informative. Somehow I suspect that a sandwich of R58 has a little more than sauce to recommend it.
My verdict, take a jacket, go for coffee but don’t expect much else.
Donatella’s /Shop 152 / Lower Level / V&A Waterfront / Tel: 021 421 6665
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