Big-hearted restaurants

Although I’ll miss the longer days, chilled white wine and most of all my flip-flops… the end of summer is not all heavy going. The colours around us are suddenly incredibly beautiful, red wine is a wonderful thing, and not to mention all those Autumn/Winter specials going on at the restaurants… I can’t keep up.  The good value deals are just pouring in.

For instance: La Colombe has just been voted the 12th best restaurant IN THE WORLD and they are serving a 5-course tasting menu with wine pairing per course for R380 per person, and for lunch, a 3-course menu with a carafe of wine for R280 a person.  From the 12th best restaurant in the world?  I think it’s the sale of the century.  Well done Luke Dale-Roberts and team for this incredible achievement.

Pete Goffe-Wood, one of SA’s top chefs has just opened up a gorgeous bistro in Hout Bay – with a view to die for, a fab wine list and not one food item on the menu is over R100. Read our interview with him and find out how he does it.

Out in the winelands (one of the Cape’s most treasured possessions) the world-class restaurants there are also laying it on for us – allowing us to dine out in style with views that are tantamount to a spiritual awakening – for a steal.

Mother’s Day specials are also popping up now on our specials page – so there’s no excuse to not treat Mom to a gourmet feast this year.

Half-price specials, 2-4-1 deals and complimentary glasses of wine are everywhere – the best excuse ever to get out of the house is being handed to us on a half price plate.

We (food sites and the public) are sometimes perceived as giving restaurants a hard time – especially when it comes to unhappy customers slating them in our reader reviews section – admittedly sometimes unfairly. But it’s interesting to note that about 70% of the reviews we get are positive, which to me is a true reflection on how hard restaurants are working to keep customers happy. According to what most of you have to say – South African restaurants provide a mostly pleasurable experience, and that’s a very good sign for the World Cup that’s just around the corner.

A huge congrats to Margot Janse and her team at Le Quartier Français for moving up 6 places from last year to take number 36 on the world’s top 50.

So “thank-you” to all the restaurants – the creative chefs, over-worked
managers and well-trained waiters. Keep up the good work. Let’s make
this World Cup a foodie success.