Royale Eatery

I have been going to Royale for so long that it never occurred to me to blog about it until I took a sabbatical from the eatery, went the other day again and it reignited my memory that it is actually one of my favorite burger joints in Cape Town.

Their website states they have over 50 burgers and counting, I have had about 10 of the 50 and all were great. My favorites are the Sweet Petunia, a basted beef patty with mushroom, rocket and mustard mayo and the El Burro, a beef patty blended with chorizo, coriander, and chillies, topped with mozzarella, smoked jalapenos, avocado and roast tomato salsa (pictured above).

They make everything fresh on site with different options of vegetarian, beef and chicken as well as basting or home made tomato relish and my favorite addition of wheat free, plain or wholewheat rolls. The sides are fries, sweet potato fries, salad or a mix of all and comes with tomato sauce, whipped sour cream and chilli sauce.

I don't need to say anymore, great vibe, great place, Royale Eatery.

Royale Eatery
237 Long Street Cape Town
021 422- 4536


Pictures and article copyright by Tamsyn Wells

Potluck Club

I finally got to eat some of Luke Dale Roberts food, his restaurant, The Test Kitchen wins best restaurant on Eat Out every year and he has won since his days at La Colombe so I made a booking for myself and my foodie friends at The Potluck Club and Gallery as it serves Tapas and we love tasting and sharing.

I am not entirely sure but I think they moved from downstairs at the biscuit mill to the top floor of the Silo Building so not only is the food, atmosphere and well pretty much everything amazing, you are also surrounded by one of the most beautiful views I have seen in Cape Town, millions of lights and the Mountain of course.

The Menu is laid out as Salty, sweet, bitter, sour etc aiming at all the taste buds which the chefs achieve perfectly although Luke Himself was not there the chefs do a great job and they are interesting to watch pushing out plate after plate of perfection, we started with Edamame beans to nibble while we waited for each dish to arrive. First was seared tuna on a tomato salad with radish and micro herbs, the tomato dressing was so tasty and the tuna perfectly seared.

I have tried Wagyu burgers before but we had never tried it as a cut of meat, this one was served with Argentinean Chimichurri and costed a rather hefty R140 cooked to perfection and the herb sauce was delicious although we all thought maybe to over powering for the delicate Wagyu and I would have been happy with just a slice of fillet, it did not have the melting soft texture you would expect from Wagyu but tasty nonetheless and now we have tried it.

This dish looks very simple, battered hake which you can get anywhere in Cape Town but the harissa mayonnaise on the side made it the best fried piece of hake I have ever had with crispy baby potatoes and mayonnaise.

                                 

The dishes come from the kitchen in order from light to heavy, next was fall off the bone Moroccan Lamb with yoghurt and flat bread and sticky beef shortrib with asian flavours both these dishes I would have again.

The two pork dishes were my favorite but all the other dishes were very close, the pork belly topped with grated Halva and a baked salted apple won the night but the pigtails were really interesting and happy I finally tried it served with a honey mustard dressing.

                              

The desserts were light and fresh, Champagne, strawberries and cream with a difference and the other was passion sorbet, tapioca and fresh fruits with a delicate sugared tuile biscuits.

We ended off the evening with a cheeseboard served with my new favorite cheese accompaniment, honeycomb and a final glass of Peter Bailey Port, 11 dishes later we were a happy bunch, with 2 bottles of wine and four Gin and Tonics the bill came to R1300. Potluck has really been amazing so much flavour in such small dishes I will definitely go back.

Potluck Club and Gallery

375 Albert Road (in the Biscuit Mill)

Top of the Silo Building

Woodstock

Tel: 021-4470804

Pictures and article Copyright By Tamsyn Wells

Orinoco

I visited this little Latin American restaurant with friends for lunch today, it's called Orinoco run by Migdalia Bellorin a Venezuelan beauty. I drive past it often and have always wanted to try it so when my friend mentioned he went to chef school with the owner, it created the perfect opportunity to sample some Latin American food for lunch on my off day.

The interior feels like you are entering Migdalia's own house, she welcomes you with her rich accent and you feel very comfortable in this colourful cafe' style restaurant.

The authentic decor also whisks you back to memories of over seas travel and makes you want to book your next trip, it seems Mexico has influenced her greatly in the menu and the knick knacks found garnishing the interior.

I started off with a fresh juice, I chose the Caribbean and I would happily go back just for this, fresh, perfectly balanced thirst quenching juice, I make my own at home and even this one impressed me. On the table to nibble on is bread, marinated olives and two chili sauces all amazing, well seasoned and you can buy some to take home.

For starters we had Empanada's a traditional dish which is basically bread wrapped around a filling of meat or cheese, they are R20 each and served with guacamole and pico de gallo (tomato and onion salsa). Definitely a new addiction for me from now on.

For mains we all went with the pulled pork burrito, I did not have cheese in mine but it was so fresh and you can tell everything is home made from the burrito wrapper made with Corn masa to the slow braised pork inside, even the salad had juicy slow roasted cherry tomatoes on top. 

There is a chalk board of daily specials and a dessert menu which we had no space for today.
They are open 10am - 6pm Tuesday and Wednesday, 10am - 10pm Thursday and Friday, 6pm - 12am on Saturdays. Total bill for three people was R375.

Orinoco
17 Bree street, corner of Prestwich and Bree street
021 - 418 45 44

Pictures and article Copyright by Tamsyn Wells

V&A Market on the Warf

This great market opened in December in the Waterfront and is situated where the old Musica Mega Store used to be near the Aquarium.

I had the pleasure of eating what has been labelled the best burger in town which you can find at the Bite Me stand on the second floor of the market and boy when you see it you really do want to Bite into it!

I was drawn to this stand after drinking a few Weiss Beers at the bar, firstly for it's eye catching appeal and secondly the aroma of the Burgers, Panini's and Prego's grilling while sipping on my beer. I went out in search of the grill and found the stall responsible for my growling stomach and i'm so glad I did.

For between R50 - R60 you bite into this juicy, tangy garlicky burger in a ciabatta roll topped with lettuce, tomato, tzatziki and an addictive basting sauce. There are a few different options including, cheese, feta spreads, caramelized onions, fried eggs and bacon. For a manly hunger go for the Morning Glory which pretty much has all the above mentioned on it.

My other new favorite thing is the Bubble Tea, a new franchise to hit Cape Town which is a choice of different combinations of powdered tea's with floating caviar type balls , served in a special sealed cup which allows for a flavour bursting sip of cold tea.

 I chose Hazelnut Oolong with Blueberry Bubbles and also went home with a huge tub of chilli marinated olives from the olives and tapenade stall.

Visit the bar for great Local beer's both on tap and by the bottle and grab the chance to hang out with all the vendor's creating a friendly family vibe.

Some of the other stalls are an Oyster bar, coffee bar, interesting funnel cakes which i'm going to buy next time I have a sweet tooth, the creamery Ice Cream, gourmet sandwiches, Indian curries, a deli, a biscuit bar where you can pimp your own biscuit, fresh fish, sushi and a vegetarian Asian stand, all of which I could remember. Pretty much anything your heart desires.

I would choose to eat here over any other place in the waterfront, all home -made with care and attention to detail as well as very affordable as a take home dinner/lunch instead of cooking.

Tweet Bite Me Burgers @bitemeburgers or get them on facebook Here .
Have your own bar for your Party : Keg King, Martin Tucker 0834106010
Buy Fresh fish from Ryan Nienaber from Green Fish 0721104709.

Market is open from Wednesday to Sunday from 09:30 to 19:30

Picture's and article Copyright By Tamsyn Wells

Dinner and dancing at Pigalle

It was one of my good friends birthday this weekend and she is always my most glamorous friend, dressed to the nine's so it was fitting for her to host her party at Pigalle with a dress up theme of 1920's pin up. Pigalle is one of the very few places where there is sit down dinner and dancing in Cape Town.

The birthday girl is also the owner of Absolute Collection a wedding and corporate event company so we were all spoilt with goodie bags filled with fun 1920's treats like red lipstick, feather boa's and black eyeliner, stationary on the table matched the theme and we entertained ourselves with Polaroid camera's capturing all the fun of the night.

We had a shortened A la Carte menu and my starter was a moreish plate of calamari, just enough garlic, lemon and butter with tender calamari, we both said we could just eat this all night and I could not resist mopping up the sauce with their very fresh baked bread. The other options were a Carpaccio and a Mussel pot.

For main course I chose the Beef Fillet with red wine jus, mashed potato, spinach and caramelized onions. This was although a standard beef dish that you could find in many restaurants around town, I could not complain about anything, all seasoned perfectly, cooked just as I asked and really tender and juicy. The other options were a plate of prawns which I would have loved to eat at home where you can get messy or Norwegian salmon with mashed sweet potato.

For dessert we were treated to a great birthday cake idea from Cakes by Wade which was a doughnut cake glued together with marshmallowy Italian meringue, just the perfect ending to the meal sweet and gooey, what more could a girl want, worked off by dancing to the live band and lots of laughs. Happy Birthday my friend.

Pictures and article copyright by Tamsyn Wells

China Town

I visited China Town yesterday, the newer one behind Canal Walk, interested to see if there would be some good bargains or interesting goodies that can only be found there however I was a bit disappointed to see that there are loads of little shops there but they all pretty much stock the same items, there are a few which stock a mix of the items in the picture above, a few that do clothes and a few that do food but all stocking the same with a few variations. This means you have to scour through all the shops in the hope of a few hidden goodies suited to you.

I wish they had dedicated shops for different goods like a hardware store, grocery, clothing, shoes etc but when you in the mood it's fun to look at all the "junk" they have to sell.

I was hoping, as it was lunchtime that there would be some cooked food stalls like springrolls or stir fries on offer to take to go but there was only one or two restaurants offering chinese foods. I bought a packet of Simba chips for R3, a delicious coconut water in a can for R8 ( this I will go back for), I bought a little sewing kit with 16 different coloured threads as I only have one colour to fix buttons and hems which was maybe R10, I will go back to the food store for the Shaoxing wine as this I see in a lot of asian recipes, there was also rice wine and lovely frozen Dim Sum which I have had before.

Its worth a walk around even if you only visit the bottom floor like I did.

China Town
Sable Square mall, Muir St
Open 9pm - 5pm 7 days a week

Copyright by Tamsyn Wells