Whilst working in South Africa recently, I was lucky enough to experience some of the culinary delights of Cape Town and the surrounding area. There was never a shortage of fantastic places to eat, and I was particularly excited about having some interesting fresh food having lived in the bush in The Waterberg for the last 3 months. After trying a few, the restaurant that proved to be my favourite was called Hemelhuijs. The restaurant itself is very modern in both its menu and decor - there is a face on the wall made out of croutons, bright furnishings, and plenty of light let in through big glass windows looking out onto the street.
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| The crouton mosaic! |
Their menu offers a healthy array of fresh salads, meats and vegetables. The menu itself is presented with wonderful big photos, making it very difficult to choose a dish! Anyway after much deliberation I chose their vegetable platter which was perfect having overindulged in both food and wine all week! I received a board with avocado, corn on the cob, butternut squash, rocket, beans and sweet roasted carrots, accompanied by some tasty homemade humus. It was the most delicious and fresh meal that I have ever eaten in a restaurant; colourfully presented and washed down with a delicious glass of Usana Pinot Gris. My friends enjoyed their gnocchi and kidneys too. For dessert we all decided each to try a different pudding from their freshly baked selection of sweet treats. I had slight food envy when I saw the cheesecake and apple tart - perhaps my taste has not fully adapted to the Afrikaans traditional milk tart that I chose!
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| Vegetable Platter with Hummus |
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| Traditional Afrikaans Milk Tart |
The next day I had planned on climbing Table Mountain, however the weather was miserable so I paid Hemelhuijs another lunchtime visit. This time I had a maple baked parsnip salad with whipped herb cheese, navel orange and mustard dressing to which I added slow roasted duck. The mustard dressing came in its own glass container on the plate, no pre dressed leaves meant the rocket and lettuce leaves still had a nice crunch, complementing the tender duck and soft parsnips. To follow I decided to try a thyme infused hot milk with Dulce de Leche which was amazing, sweet and warm but with an interesting hint of thyme.
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| Duck Salad |
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| Thyme infused milk with Dulce de Leche |
Both my trips to Hemelhuijs were simply delicious and at a very good price too, the total for the duck salad came to only 150 rand which is about £10 for a dining experience that you would be paying well over £20 for in the UK. So if you are visiting Cape Town I would highly recommend this as a restaurant to put on your list of places to go.
Enjoy! Z x
