The food in Cape Town was consistently the best we encountered during our trip. Which is saying something considering we went to Portugal, Thailand, and Singapore. Right down the street from the Airbnb was the Korean Soju restaurant which I was pretty excited about. Believe or not, not only are there no Korean restaurants in Baton Rouge they are hard to find in New Orleans. The only one I ever made it to in NO is now closed. So, I was ecstatic to discover this place not even a block away.
The owners were Korean, as in immigrated directly from Korea, so we had high hopes. I had the seogogi dolsot bibimbap (쇠고기 돌솥 비빔밥), one of those deceptively simply dishes that is so hard to get just right. Thanks to my friend JS, I even have the proper bowl…which I have just realized won’t work on our new convection stovetop.🤦🏾♀ Anyway, sogogi, is beef. A dolsot is a stone bowl. And bibibmbap* is a traditional Korean mixed rice dish that is also super common. I mean, you’ve probably heard of it and, if you’ve been to Korea, definitely had it. I’d argue it is more ubiquitous than kimchi-jjigae (김치찌개).
The balance of rice, vegetables, spicy gojung (고추장, the Korean chili paste that is in everything), the beef as an accent, and, my favorite part, the toasty, crunchy rice, was perfect. SM had the pajeon, pretty sure it was the seafood one (해물파전), which was massive and yummy. And, of course, the table was loaded down with delicious banchan (반찬), the endless side dishes that come with every Korean meal. It was so good we went again. This time I ordered the kal guk soo (칼국수)…which was made with rice noodles. You win some, you lose some.
When we went to Greece for two weeks almost two decades ago people told us we would quickly get tired of eating that “heavy” Greek food. They were wrong. This is partly because my husband’s fabulous Greek coworker took it upon himself to show the Americans around. Traditional Greek food is full of fresh vegetables and seafood as well as the more well-known moussaka and spanakopita. While there is no food to which I would gladly limit myself, it would take a lot longer than two weeks for me to get tired of Greek.
We hit a couple of great Greek places in Cape Town: Mykonos Taverna on Main Rd and Café Neo near Green Point Park. At Mykonos Taverna we split a mezze platter. I am all about the mezze. While I may not be able to limit myself to one type of food, I could probably eat nothing but that style of food for the rest of my life. Mezze, tapas, appetizers, small plates, such a great way to have a little bit of everything. Which was exactly what was on the platter, a little bit of everything.
We dropped into Café Neo for ice cream for LB and wine for us not realizing they also had delicious Greek and Lebanese food. Unable to resist we ordered a couple of small plates. The kibbeh and a vegetable dish whose name escapes me. Kibbeh is made up of bulgur and lean ground meat mixed with spices and blended into a kind of dough that is then filled with more ground meat and spices. They, plus the sea view, were worth going back for. I also want to give a shout out to the hummus at Newport Market and Deli. Hummus is another one of those deceptively simple dishes that is so easy to get wrong. The Market, also near the park, had the best hummus I’ve had since Jordan.
Across from the Korean Soju restaurant was He Sheng Chinese. They had xiao long bao, y’all! I got introduced to xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung and fell instantly in love with their Taiwanese/Huaiyang version of these wonderful and deservedly famous Chinese steamed dumplings. Called soup dumplings because inside are little pockets of gelatinized broth made from chicken, pork and cured ham. When the dumpling is steamed the gelatin melts into this rich and stunning broth. So, so, good. This place is popular and the space is small. Reservations on a weekend are probably a good idea.
The V&A Food Stalls are well worth the visit, for both the food and the location. That said, nothing really stood out here more than other gourmet food halls we’ve been to in other parts of the world. Another food hall, Mojo Market, has a more local feel and live music. With a little to get to bed we left just when the crowds arrived.
At all of the above LB basically switched between white rice and fries. Fruit on the side. When we went to Muriel’s Hout Bay, basically a waterside fry shack, we figured we’d at least get some fish into her. Nope. Worst seafood experience we had in the Cape Town area. Calamari was too chunky, chewy, and greasy. My fry loving 4yo refused the ones here. First time that has ever happened! Hopefully, just a one off. Lovely service and fantastic views from the deck. Speaking of waterside fry shacks in Hout Bay, we also went to Snoekies after it was recommended by locals with kids the same age as LB. Also a fish and chips joint it has great views and a manned playground. No wine, though! Here LB ate both the fish and the chips.
Another tip is at Deli Coffee & Co. Stir, stir, stir the red latte/flat white! Otherwise you end up with nothing but honey in the last few sips. And ask for lightly sweet. I mean, I have a sweet tooth but, damn! Also, want to mention that the service here was slow. By local standards. The fries were underdone and the side salad standard. The pies were good. Where the service was excellent was at Zen Zero in Camps Bay. I left my hat and a server ran almost a block in 30+C° heat to return it then left before I could offer a tip! Also, the food is almost as good as the fantastic views.
The one thing we didn’t have was a good South African braai. But, for that, we’d need to go there when our friends are there.
*When my brother first moved to Korea back in the early aughts Korea had not hit the mainstream as it has almost twenty years later. He knew no one and everything was an adventure. Including the food. Alone at a restaurant he ordered the bibimbap. When the bowl of rice came, he moved it around a bit then started to eat. A Korean man walked over, took the bowl away, stirred vigorously, and handed it back. That’s how he learned where that the mix in mixed rice comes from.