6. A week in Cape Town
As usual, we needed some respite in Cape Town, arguably one of our favorite cities in the world. As we have been to Cape Town so many times, we decided to avoid the wine farms and rather focus on relaxation and perhaps doing a few things we'd never done before.
The first challenge was getting to Cape Town. Unfortunately most of the regional airlines in South Africa have gone under. We used to fly British Airways Comair, Kulula and Mango and they all don't exist anymore. South African Airways is a fiasco that has a remnant fleet that can't be trusted. That leaves SA Airlink and FlySafair. There's also a new one called CemAir. FlySafair was around when we left even though they were smaller so we decided to use them. SA Airlink used to fly to remote areas that weren't accessible to most airlines, but they've rebranded and they seem to be heading to major cities - so we might try them next time.
I was really impressed with FlySafair. Their website is easy to use and they have a lot of extras that you can pay for to make life easy, like priority security at the airport. Their fleet of Boeing 737's was mostly the newer -800s and higher, but we did fly back on an old -400. The crew on both our flights were excellent, the flights were both extremely punctual and overall it was a really good experience.
With a cute menu I settled on a mini-bottle of wine which hit the spot on this 2 hour flight.
We took off into ominous clouds and flew through a particularly purple thing that caused some bounces for a few minutes before things cleared up.
Clearing up
Flying over the ocean before doing a 180.
Finals
The first thing we did was head into Cape Town and book into our boutique hotel, Atlanticview Guest House. It was a lovely place and we had such a great room. It was the Royal Suite and luckily lived up to its name. The staff were very professional yet approachable. There were guests from all over the world there. We know because each night there is a wine and canape evening and we met a few people. The views in Cape Town are sensational if you know where to stay, and Camps Bay is usually one of those places. With the vast ocean before you, and table mountain behind you, you can't go wrong.
Sitting here and reading and swimming was such a pleasure.
Dusk bliss
Camps Bay
One of the infinity pools
Sunset
Sunset from the dining room - while the boutique hotel does offer dinner, we decided to rather go out and explore the city.
View behind the hotel
The morning breakfast platter
Despite our attempt to explore we headed down to the V&A waterfront which remains one of our favorite places despite our many visits. They have dismantled the Ferris wheel and they're moving it to the other side of the shopping mall to get better views of the ocean. Prior to dinner we did some shopping as we are attending a white wedding next year and Cape Town is one of the better places to buy white attire. Naturally, we found everything we needed and for a good price too.
They've made the mall quite attractive to football fans with a big TV and open air space for people to watch some of the matches. There were fans of many nationalities walking around in their football shirts. Later that evening we wandered into Karibu, a restaurant that serves South African delicacies. What a lovely place with exceptional food and a great wine list. It was so good to eat some of my childhood favorites along with one of my most missed wines, Raka Quinary.
Venison potjie - delicious!
Koeksisters & ice cream - good god, take me now
The next day we visited the Cape Town aquarium which is surprisingly something that has evaded us all these years. It really is a hidden gem and shouldn't be missed. There are numerous exceptional tanks, as well as various halls like the jellyfish exhibit, the penguin hall etc. We spent a good 4 hours there and found it fascinating. The penguin feeding is something we both enjoyed.
Clown fish madness - I have two clown fish at home and this blew my mind.
Got to keep that sand clean!
I didn't like this penguin. He stared at me for entirely too long and I felt judged.
After this we headed to a nearby restaurant and had a delicious seafood platter for two while enjoying a view of the bay.
I always forget how windy Cape Town can be. I've seen people blown down the street and holding on to traffic lights in the past. On one evening we were lying in bed and wondered if the hotel could handle much more. Luckily the wind always dies down, even if it takes a few days. It's also great walking along the sea point promenade if the conditions are good. People walk their dogs there, work out in urban gyms and just chat in an extraordinary setting.
One day we booked afternoon tea at the Mount Nelson hotel. Choosing either a seating at 12:00 or 15:00 we went for the earlier one and joined the people in their oversized sunglasses and wide brimmed hats in a nod to an ostentatious past filled with scones and clotted cream. Very interestingly, our server was the head tea sommelier for the restaurant. Afternoon tea at the hotel serves over 200 types of teas and he knows them all. He's also an expert on all teas and it was amazing to listen to him talk about tea pairing as surely as a wine sommelier does.
Stylish Menu
Scones with cream and jams
Sandwiches and treats
Petit fours to take home
My only advice when attending afternoon tea here is to arrive hungry!
As usual we lined up some culinary delights for our trip to the mother city. We used to eat at a great restaurant each night but the food is too rich and so much wine inevitably brings you down, so now we limit our visits to two great restaurants spaced well apart with average dinners in between.
Our first big treat was Fyn. I booked this on a whim in May after looking for some great experiences without knowing that it is rated as the 36th best restaurant in the world and the best restaurant in Africa. It was a great evening!! The restaurant is on top of a building in a high ceilinged palace with an Asian inspired menu. You can have the full experience or a contracted one, with or without pairing and with or without caviar. We went for the full experience with caviar and without pairing.
Beautiful setting
Chutoro & ikura hand roll, Tempura dune spinach, tentsuyu, Guinea fowl wonton, tori paitan, sea lettuce, Ostrich egg chawanmushi
Caviar
Hokkaido milk bun, burnt mushroom custard
This was something baked in a leaf but it escapes my mind.
King trout, smoked barley, Cape Malay curry vinaigrette, yuzu atchar gel, Chokka, truffle, ink mayonnaise, Sashimi, daikon, negi aioli, Tsukemono
Crayfish cooked in kelp, roast shell emulsion, tomato
Grilled wagyu, brassicas, mountain ‘caviar’ & kosho
Honey palate cleanser with crickets. Created by a sustainable food farm 'just cricket' is promoting edible insects. Optional, but I tried them - crunchy and tasted like pork crackling.
Petit Fours
Robata pineapple, rice ice cream, shichimi, ginger syrup
What an amazing evening! Fyn has got to be one of our favourite restaurants ever.
Of course the next night we were lucky to get a reservation at the Pot Luck Club which is a restaurant built on top of a grain silo. With a large glass elevator going to the top, it is a private haven that many desire to eat at because of its exceptional small plated foods. Our server told us that the recommended portion is 6-8 dishes per person, and we paired this with their delicious house red.
Grilled octopus
Duck in many forms - sensational
Lamb Roast
Wagyu steak
We felt so privileged to eat at this delightful restaurant. Hilariously, an American couple sitting next to us at Fyn met us again here - it looks like we were both doing the culinary rounds!
All good things must end and even though we'd tried to moderate our diet we were starting to feel chronically satiated in South Africa. Luckily we could soon fly back to Canada and resume our normal diet, at least until our next trip. With that we boarded our return FlySafair flight to Johannesburg.
Take off over False Bay
Evading some angry African clouds