Cape Town Food

BVSC is a great place to meet friends for a drink (or perhaps a cigar in the dedicated smoking room), and share some tapas or a straight forward meal.

I've gone for a couple of lounge sessions, sharing a few beers, over the last year or so, but only in the last month have I enjoyed the food that BVSC has on offer.

I can heartily recommend the Tapas platter for R74.50, which could easily feed 4, and is a great base to add to other tapas for the more adventurous. It includes tonnes (seriously TONNES : this place's portion sizes are actually too large in my opinion) of feta, olives, humus, tomato bruschetta(???), diablos (dates wrapped in bacon : yum!), chicken wings, ciabatta, teramasalata(??? - we swapped out for more humus) as well as some deep fried brinjal discs. I normally grab some of their chili poppers too.

The decor and vibe is great - sort of like a VERY upmarket version of cubana; similar to how Rafikis makes Cool Runnings' vibe a little more palpable to the slightly older crowd (i.e. not students). The drinks are well priced, and the cocktails are made with a 'heavy' (or honest) hand, so when you are paying R28 for a cocktail you aren't paying for the orange juice.

My biggest criticism would be that the waitering staff have an URGENCY to get your plates off the table. This is strange, because they don't bother you otherwise, and there is no pressure to leave [I wonder if they have a crockery shortage? Or their dishwashing crew is a bit lacklustre], but with two different waitrons (horrible term), our plates have been cleared before the last bite has been chewed. This is really off putting and can make it a bit uncomfortable. I don't understand it.

Overall this place (near Mamu) is a wonderful place to spend a fun evening with friends. Having been there a couple of times with mates during the week I can say it is always pumping without being too crowded. I recommend booking in advance.

Labels: cuban, experience, good value, specials, tyger lake

Generally I don't like restaurants in malls. There is something unsatisfying about them, that said there are some really good resaturants outside of the big chain restaurants that dominate the malls.

One such place is Qing Sushi, next to the Primi Lounge at Canal Walk's La Piazza Italiano-Style food court (Can you say... VEGAS!). It's simple, small, VERY clean, the waiters are friendly (although last night we had one who seemed terrified of speaking to myself, Sian and PK) , the food is decently priced and the menu is vast.

For such a small restaurant, the variety of food is breath taking. There is the usual sort of sushi menu, and then a collection of Chef specials that last several pages; these range from innovative fish sushi, to a variety of vegetarian specials (good for Sian: recommended is Sushi on the Green).

The chef is very creative, with things like pancake handrolls, sushi rice balls, and literally pages of stuff you'd never see anywhere else, Qing sushi has an insane variety. They also have Thai curries, chinese food, japanese traditional food (udon noodles), tepanyaki and a range of other food. Their dessert menu is also pretty creative (deep fried frozen coconut milk?)

I had the assorted sushi platter, as well as some Inari Tofu Nigiri (if you've never had sweet Inari, I really recommend it to anyone; it is AMAZING sushi, when you can find it), Sian had some veg sushi rice balls (massive, very good value for money if you are feeling hungry) as well as Sushi on the Green. PK had the seafood soup, some scallop sushi rice balls, some veg spring rolls and some calamari california rolls (his came to less than R100 to give you a sense of value).

We enjoyed a bottle of Simonsvlei Chardonnay 2007, which was lightly wooded, quite enjoyable really.

To finish off we shared some of a R20 dessert, namely the previously mentioned deep fried frozen coconut milk balls, which really have to be tasted to be believed. It was served with a cream soda ice-cream (yes it exists), and a strawberry bubble gum ice cream.

All in all Qing Sushi is very good, the tastes are amazing, the variety stunning, and you are sure to experience some dishes you simply won't find anywhere else; if you are stuck in Canal Walk and you are looking for somewhere quick and enjoyable to eat, pop in and see what is on offer. I'm sure you won't be dissapointed.

One thing... Qing Sushi's sushi is more "classic" than "californian". What do I mean by this? Well for one thing the sashimi, the best test of the quality of the ingredients, melts like butter in the mouth and is EXCELLENT quality. But unlike many discount sushi restaurants, Qing don't use a lot of mayonaise to cover up the rest of ingredients. If you are new to sushi, this is a GOOD thing b.t.w., but may be different from some of the sushi bars you might have become accustomed to at the chain fish restaurants (CTFM, John Dory's, etc.). See if you can taste the difference.

Labels: canal walk, experience, qing, sushi