We met owner Carol Collins recently at an event at Den
Anker and she asked us to come to supper at Readers, her restaurant in Tulbagh.
It also is a serious cat lovers gift shop and, while you eat, various charming
moggies visit your feet and the fireplace. They are not allowed on the tables.
The restaurant is in the oldest house on Church Street (c.1849), the famous Cape
street that was destroyed in the 1969 earthquake which has been beautifully and
historically restored
How charming the old building looks at night
The cat collection in the shop at the entrance
More in a farther room
There is a dining room on either side of the
entrance hall
We had a table in the warm corner, next to the
fire. The nights in Tulbagh are still a bit chilly
The menu for that evening
Lynne ordered the pork chops topped with slices of
warmed apple and camembert. It was an enormous serving with two huge pork
chops. This is country food, they don’t mess about with small portions. It was
served with three roast potatoes. And we shared a dish of mixed vegetables
John chose the Lamb Strudel, which was crisp
pastry filled with minced lamb. This was topped with some cream cheese and
served with red cabbage and roast potatoes. Also a very generous portion
We were rather full after our main courses and
asked to share a dish of ice cream. It turns out that Carol is famous for her
interesting and adventurous ice creams. We were given three flavours: Balsamic
vinegar, interestingly fruity and not at all vinegary; Coconut, ginger and
honey with lots of coconut; and Curry and cumin - spicy rather than curried. All
are creamy and rich
Then she insisted we try the Cape Brandy pudding
which has ginger pieces in it and each portion had a different flavour of ice
cream. We swopped to taste both. One was a lovely dark and rich Christmas
pudding, a huge success and a great alternative at our warm Christmas tide to
the real thing. The other flavour was lemon, honey and poppy seed with rooibos
tea, ice cream with a crunch
We had a very gemütliche evening chatting to the
other guests in the small room and to Carol at the end or her service. Thank
you Carol
John
spotted these local craft beers as we left. We will have to try them soon. We
know Miss Molly as an MCC brut wine, now for the beer
Note: we do not use flash in
restaurants because it can be very disturbing to other guests when we take
numerous photographs. In situations like this, when light levels are very low
(candles), picture quality suffers
© John & Lynne
Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2016
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