Cape Town Food

Opposite Fat Cactus in Mowbray is a little dilapidated (moderately) gem of Greek. I love the food there – it never fails to hit exactly the right Mediterranean nerve for me.

I went their last week with the GF, and two great friends who are firmly on a diet drive for the new year – hoping that the menu would not be too much for them, and that they’d find something acceptable.

Since they needed the contact details and location (78 Durban Road, Mowbray, Cape Town. Telephone: +27 (0)21 686-4314), I went online to get them for them… and as I meandered around the food review sites I saw a lot of people dissing Greek, saying it was student chow, and not great, shabby etc.

This really made me feel sad – because for me Greek is a great example of a laid back Greek restaurant, where the menu isn’t intimidating (having good descriptions of each of the menu items), the food is always fresh, and the eating area and kitchen (which you can see into) is always clean and rustic.

Greek is Fat Cactus’ sister restaurant (along with the excellent Joe Fish in Pinelands I believe, but more about that some other time) – and is great value for money.

Our friends had the calamari salad, which I have had before there for lunch – and it is excellent – they seem fairly pleased. The GF and I had the usual as it were, the 5 mezze with pitas – for R129 – an absolute feast for 2 – we had dolmades (stuffed fig leaves), hummus, roasted feta with sweet chilli source, grilled houloumi and melitzanes (fried aubergine in batter). What can I say? DELICIOUS!

We stayed much longer, having cappuccinos (their coffee is excellent – I love it when restaurants invest in a good espresso machine, and Greek has done so – nothing smarts more than having a good meal ruined by crap coffee – Greek’s is excellent!) – and sharing some baklava, which has changed from when I last had it there – no longer the traditional square baklava, the chef has changed it into a slightly denser cigar shaped baklava, laid on yoghurt and drizzled with honey – this is the same one they serve at Joe Fish – slightly less rich and decadent than other baklavas around the city (such as Magnifico in Canal Walk – the only reason to risk the mall) – but also leaves you feeling less of a complete glutton for having dessert.

The service has always been friendly and attentive in my opinion, I doubt I’ve ever been served by the same waiter twice though, since its in a student area their is obviously a bit of staff turn over but everyone is always friendly, quick to serve and well timed as when to check – there doesn’t seem to be any overarching Maitre D’ or similar ensuring this happens – so its a testament to the staff that they get it right so often.

Clearly, if you read this far you know I LOVE Greek. Why? The food is excellent, fresh, different, good value for money and authentic. The staff and service is top draw. The kitchen and restaurant is CLEAN, and authentically flaky in the positive sense (in the Greek fishing village way – worn but well cared for).

To have a feast, with several rounds of coffee and desert, with tip for 4 people for R440 it is a recession proof dining experience. I love it, I love it!

9/10 [Reviewed on 7th Jan 2010]

78 Durban Road,
Mowbray,
Cape Town.

Telephone: +27 (0)21 686-4314

p.s. I promise to take pictures next time.

Labels: Greek, Mediterranean, Mowbray, Restaurant, Review

// posted by Andrew la Grange @ 10:35 PM 0 Comments

I've been very bad, and not said much on this blog for a while. I'm going to do my very best to rectify the situation, and get blogging in a much bigger way about food.

I've still got lots of great photos and stories to upload about the box of goodies from Eat-In, as well as some of the adventures I've been having around the WC checking out great places for food and foodies.

But I just wanted to quickly recommend a really cheap, quick and enjoyable restaurant that I've noticed is struggling, when it really shouldn't be, and I thought I'd just encourage anyone reading the blog, or ultimately searching on the net for a great Chinese buffet in Cape Town.

I generally don't like buffets. I find them strangely intimidating, whilst at the same time disappointing because often the food is not at its best, not really hot and fresh, and often a general let down.

Not so at Chopsticks in Durban Road in Little Mowbray in Cape Town. This road is blessed with a cornucopia of great restaurants, and you can see why the spoilt-for-choice residents of this little corner of the city would struggle to decide what to each.

In the general area are such greats (and not-so-greats) as Sakura, Greek, Fat Cactus, Chai Yo, Curry Quest, Bruegels, etc. A very competitive little street to do business in.

Chopsticks has an excellent Chinese buffet, offering spring rolls, two choices of soup, prawn chips for starters. You just help yourself. The starters are freshly prepared, and constantly replenished through the night; not much gets to stand around and the kitchen staff keep a careful eye on what's there to be eaten so that things are always ready for table.

The mains offer a lot of options for meat lovers and vegetarians alike. All the classics of sweet and sour chicken and pork, as well as various chop suey, vegetable and tofu options about. The sticky ribs are awesome as well. Several types of rice and noodles are available as well.

Bowties are on offer for dessert, which last night we enjoyed over a large pot of green tea (only R10 for four cups, a classic way to end a meal).

The waiters are friendly, a lot seem to be students, and the drinks are very reasonably priced, and they have a fairly decent budget wine list. I'd say that you can also bring a bottle of your own along, they do charge R20 corkage though.

Which is fair considering the entire buffet costs R58, a real steal for a three course meal. You can also order off the menu, and apparently they have a buffet over the weekends which costs more which includes sushi on offer (sushi is of course available through the week as well).

The R58 buffet is available Monday to Friday. The restaurant can feel a bit empty, which is one of the reasons I want to promote this restaurant because based on the friendliness of the staff and owners, the wonderful food and the good service, I'd expect this place to be packed, especially in such trying financial times as many people are experiencing.

As Sian pointed out to me, Chinese food goes through fashions, and at the moment its in a dip. Probably true considering the myriad of Chinese restaurants offering sushi. This is unfortunate, since traditional Chinese food, well prepared such as at Chopsticks is a wonderful taste sensation. The food is fresh, not fatty and really filling.

They have a bar and smoking area if you so require.

Full details available at dining-out.co.za

Chopsticks

97 Durban Road
Mowbray
7700

Tel: 021 685 0876

Labels: Buffet, Cape Town, Chinese, Mowbray, specials, sushi

// posted by Andrew la Grange @ 5:14 AM 2 Comments