A travel guide through Cape Town 

I spent 4 magical days exploring Cape Town. A wonderful city and one that I hope I get to visit soon. Here some thoughts on my trip and what we did. We stayed in the gorgeous new hotel The Silo. I could not recommend it any more highly, from the decoration, location to the service it’s a gem. It’s a beautifully converted Silo with great views:

The rooms and bathroom were incredible:

The incredibly beautiful bathroom :

The gorgeous art in the hotel. Some of my favorites below. I was particularly impressed with Frances Goodman’s work with sequins and paste on nails that i started exploring so much more about her art. You should check her out!
Here is the itinerary of what we did, Day by Day

Day 1 

Lunch at Chef’s Warehouse and Canteen. Absolutely fabulous place. Simple yet yummy a great start to the vast amounts of food we were going to consume in this trip.

Walking around town to check out some sights and stores. The Highlight was the store Merchants on Long which showcases local designers.  

In the afternoon we had sunset drinks at the Silo rooftop, some amazing views.

Dinner was at Greenhouse. An absolutely wonderful experience – my second favorite restaurant of all that I tried in Cape town. Best quote from their beverage list: “life is too short to drink bad wine” also their menu had some wonderful insights, i particularly liked when they said: ” we invite you to our dining room to take part in a modern south african experience. An experience that’s as complex, joyful and beautiful as the country we live in.” Here’s the menu and some pictures of the great meal that was had.

• Coastal plan tempura.picled gamefish/ harmeous abalone : 
• mushroom, sherry & chocolate‘king kone’/the butcher bird’s pantry  the presentation was just beautiful!

• mielie bread, popcorn butter/bacon brioche & banana cream: my gluten-free version was a bit different from the original but still absolutely delicious 
• atlantic tuna, kimchi, radish, compression of apple, sesame dressing
• crustacean‘tea’ -brewed tableside. This dish was the perfect mix of fun and superb taste

• outeniqua springbok, boontjie slaai, niçoise vinaigrette,bonito flakes, miso. Springbok was the discovery of the trip. A small venison type animal that is the national animal of South Africa it was so delicious. 
• Celery refresher  this was DIY and i love interactive parts of the menu. you crushed the celery leaves and then with nitrogen made your own sorbet!
• peking lamb, yuzu gel, tsukudani, asian pesto, star anise roast leg, roastedgarlic, crispyonions, fermented apricot – absolutely perfectly cooked lamb
• chamomile sherbert, dehydrated yoghurt, burnt grapefruit
• The honey guide: a lot of honey in one dish but it was tasty. There was honeycomb, honey, honey cream.  
• Life and death of trees: a beautifully presented end to the meal, the little petit fours are presented in three “styles of trees” from alive in the bonsai – to the dead slab 

Day 2 

On the second day we took a fabulous trip to the wonderful Simon town and cape point. Not to be missed! It was probably my favorite part of Cape Town Tourism. The penguins in Boulders are adorable and the views from cape point are spectacular. some pics below: 

at night we had dinner at the Pot Luck Club. I was very disappointed that Test Kitchen was closed during our time there, so at least here we got to try Luke Dale Roberts cuisine even if in a more casual setting. This is what we ate ranked (we actually did a survey at the end of the meal with my fellow dinners) with pictures in the slideshow :

1.  Smoked beef fillet with black pepper and truffle café au lait
2. Beef tataki, hoisin dressing, coriander pesto and ponzu mayo
3. Fresh fish tartare, pickled kombu, egg dashi and miso tuile
4. Pot luck club fish tacos: fresh ceviche, black bean puree, avocado and sour cream
5. Pork belly phở orange master stock, kimchi turnips and sriracha daikon
6. Shredded confit duck leg plum vinaigrette, plum hoisin and chinese 5 spice crisp
7. Pot luck club peri peri chicken
8. Crispy calamari, yuzu compressed watermelon, black sesame emulsion and fermented peanutchilli dressing
9. Seafood tagine, saffron rouille, cauliflower and almond couscous

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Day 3

This day was all about Cape town tourism. First up: going up Table Mountain The ride up:

The wonderful city views from above:

We had Lunch at the Roundhouse Restaurant which is a fabulous idea after Table Mountain as it is really close, it is located in a beautiful historic house and has great Cape Town views. The food is nothing spectacular, but it is quick and nice, I had a good Malay Curry.

After lunch more touring:

• Bo Kaap – probably my favorite part of the city – how can I not love pink and colourful houses?
• castle of good hope, City Center and Company gardens

After that some Walking around and shopping in the V&A waterfront with Dinner at Harbour House. A decent meal but nothing to go back to.

Day 4

We took the first ferry to visit Robben Island. Although a bit long and somewhat disorganized, it is a worthwhile trip when in Cape Town. Below, the cell that used to be Nelson Mandela’s and some other Robben Island pics

We had Lunch at Woodstock exchange at a super cozy cafe, Superette, where I discovered my new obsession: Red espresso IT is amazing and have ordered so much to my house (surprisingly not so easy to find in the city or airport – very easy to find in amazon!). We also did some shopping there. The Store of note was definitely Kingdom. So many beautiful local clothes and accessories.

Do note that although Woodstock exchange is great and there are some other quite cool places in woodstock it’s not the nicest or safest area I felt for walking.

We then went to browse the watershed at the VA waterfront. So many cool stores and finds.

Dinner was at my favorite restaurant of the whole trip: La Colombe.  their motto “Food is our theatre, hope you enjoy the show” is definitely prevalent during the whole of the meal. It is an experience, not only for your palate but for the other senses and a place I definitely would want to go back for. Here is what we had:

• Chermoula, dukkah, beer, blackberry and sage
• Asparagus, king crab, swordfish, mustard, cucumber, sweet potato. Lovely dish even lovelier saying underneath
• Springbok, chipotle, miso orange, cucumber, chestnut, foie gras Again with the springbok and it is oh so good. Here was my favorite preparation of springbok in the whole trip, with an amazing blend of flavours 
• Chawanmushi, barbeque quail, aubergine, gem squash, coconut lick your fingers good!
• Tuna ‘La Colombe’  although it was sold as the most traditional and favorite of the La Colombe dishes I found it to be the most mundane. the presentation is gorgeous, but it is really just a tuna tataki
• Enchanted forest  this was my favorite part of the meal. i did not take any pictures as i was not expecting the wonderfulness that occurred. Whilst they change your table from fish to meat dishes, they take you to a side “enchanted” room. there, the mad hatter gives you potions and tastes in a sensory overload. Not only were the things tasty the experience was cool, unique, and as a Disney lover, quite fabulous.
• Wagyu bone marrow, truffle, pickled fish, herbs AND Char siu wagyu, langoustine, corn, bisque, bok choi, kimchi Wagyu is one of my favorite ingredients and double dish of wagyu can never be bad!!
• Braised lamb neck, sweetbread, loin, bolognese, smoked garlic, broccoli absolutely perfectly cooked lamb
• Klein Rivier gruyére, Karoo Bossie, quince, caramel, rooibos im not big into cheese couses but this was spectacular. it probably helped that rooibos and caramel are top in my book!
• Rose, strawberry, white chocolate, geranium my type of dessert ! if you have to do chocolate this is the way 
• The taste test  a cool way to end the meal. you had to pair little petit fours with the appropriate taste. I thought it was a simple test and got all right, but the waiter was amazed that we got them all right. apparently it’s not so easy for people – who would have thought.

to close off a bonus, Cape Town from the plane! its a lovely sight!