The Cape has so many wonderful places to visit. We
find that, unintentionally, we neglect some of them and rather take them for
granted. We had not been to visit the seaside ports on the other side of the
peninsula for at least three years and thought it was time. So, on a lovely
Saturday last week, we took along some friends and had a marvellous day out in
Kalk Bay and Simonstown
A church in
Kalk Bay that has been turned into the local theatre
We needed
refreshment and our friend Anne, visiting from Australia, wanted to visit an old
haunt, The Brass Bell. We were not impressed at all by the state of the place,
it needs a lot of TLC and they do seem to have commandeered half of the beach
and the tidal pools, leaving rather small space for the locals or visitors to enjoy
the beach
Off to the
harbour to see what was for lunch
A fishing boat
had just arrived with a large catch of mackerel. Not a fish the locals know
very well; we see them canned more often than fresh
Bright and
shiny and fresh from the sea, they are sold in threes
The harbour
seals were vying for heads and entrails
We didn’t have
a booking for anywhere and most of the upmarket restaurants were full, so we
decided to try an old standard for the first time. Kalkies is on the dockside
and this is the menu. Very good prices for very fresh sea food. It is now on
our list of places not to miss. Certainly the locals patronise this place a
lot
Rules, damn
rules. We certainly didn’t see anyone sleeping on the tables in this busy vibey
place. And, sadly for the men in the party, no bare chest undress
This must go
down as the bargain of the month! R25 usually buys you a sandwich, if you are
lucky. We did see a couple eating the Crayfish too, but they had one and a half
rather small crayfish for their R160
Another menu,
showing what was available on the day
We chose
outside for the fresh air
Basic, but it
works for them - no washing up
The friendly
and very efficient “front desk”, where you order and pay. Food is then delivered
to you via a number system. We were amazed at how quickly we were brought our
food
Our waitress
was a real character, full of fun, amusing quips and fast comebacks. She
really took to our friend Ronnie. She told us she had been there 20 years, so
Lynne said she must have started at 6 years of age. “No, two” was the fast riposte!
And when we asked what was for dessert, she said “Cake... fish cake!”
Most of us
ordered the hake, calamari and chips. Crisp batter and superbly fresh fish,
cooked to perfection. The calamari were tender, but you need to eat them while they’re
hot. The chips were a mix of crisp and some ‘slap’ – barely cooked - the way most
Capetonians love them. We just don’t get this, why would you like flobby chips,
but they do, slathered in vinegar and salt
We also had
two portions of Greek salad
It is still
very much a working harbour for the fishermen
Opportunistic redwing starlings are everywhere, grabbing what they can find
The fat
harbour seal knows that if he poses on the dock he might get fed fish scraps by
the tourists. Do approach with caution though
There are the
usual souvenir stands all around the harbour and we liked the meerkat carvings,
something we hadn't seen before
Then it was
off to visit historic Simonstown, our Naval base, full of unused Naval ships
and Victorian houses
We were in
need of a coffee and some cake and found this nice place called Monocle and
Mermaid
It had a rather familiar looking interior for those of you who
remember our Main Ingredient shop in Sea Point
So we sat down
to enjoy slices of some flourless chocolate cake, a slice of red velvet cake
and some Florentines for those of us who don’t like cake that much. And the
coffee is really good
Time to head
home
© John &
Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015
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