.: Lunch at Paulina's, Rickety Bridge in Franschhoek

Rickety Bridge in Franschhoek, nestled under its hill with the vineyards before it

The sunny restaurant terrace with good cover for a hot day – do specify when you book if you want to eat inside or out. The koi pond is a cooling feature.

Lynne studies the menu

Lounge area on the terrace where they were preparing for a wedding

Our favourite choice of the day was the Cape Malay curry with rice and sambals, one of which tasted like Mrs Balls chutney. It contained Prawns and chicken which is more normal for a Durban curry but the sauce was pure Cape curry, spicy without being too hot and with loads of turmeric

The extensive menu

The good wine and beverage list

Seafood risotto, with slightly al dente rice

Spanish style very spicy calamari with chorizo was flash cooked and with the calamari slightly underdone. This was served with a coriander dressing. The deep fried capers were a very good addition.

Crisp belly of pork with a good chilli ginger jam, wasabi mash and excellent crisp shredded vegetables.

The chocolate plate contained a sliver of chocolate tart, white chocolate mousse, a chocolate brownie, and a scoop of very, very good chocolate ice-cream

The pudding plate had a malva pudding, a bread and butter pudding and a sticky toffee pudding. The banana custard ice-cream was finished so they substituted a commercial vanilla ice-cream.