Cheese and Wine Festival at the Mojo Market in Sea Point

Always interesting to find an event in one’s own 'Hood. The Mojo Market in Regent Road was having a wine and cheese festival last weekend, so we decided to drop in on Saturday and see what was going on. No charge, you could go upstairs and taste wine and then come down and browse the food stalls and buy some lunch. There were just a few wine and cheese stands. A good move to get more feet through the door. They have been open for over a year and we are honestly surprised they are still there, knowing the local market as we do. It is not a real market, just a place with permanent stalls selling prepared food, drink and some retail items. Don’t go there looking for fresh produce or gourmet ingredients 

When they were converting a row of shops, we honestly thought we were getting a Fruit and Veg Market - which Sea Point really needs. We dropped in when it opened and were not very impressed with the selection of stalls selling their wares and food at the time. This has improved somewhat. Then we visited again, when Baskin & Robbins introduced their 57 varieties of ice cream to SA and had a counter in the centre. And that, sadly, didn’t work. We so miss the Maple Pecan ice cream.... 

So great to see Simonsig punting two of their MCC bubblies, so we enjoyed a sample of each. Sad to see that no literature about the farms, prices or buying information was allowed on the wine tables. When we asked, we were told that Mojo wanted people to buy the wines at one of the three enormous bars they have below. However, that would only be to drink there. They don’t have an Off Consumption licence or a wine shop that we could see, so it was a missed opportunity for the farms to sell their wines

Iona had three wines, the two Sophies, the Sauvignon Blanc, the delicious Rosé made from Pinot Noir
and their 2018 Sauvignon Blanc, which really impresses

We arrived at 1.30 and it was not very busy but, as the afternoon wore on, it did become busier

Klein River Cheese from Stanford had some of their cheeses for tasting and to purchase

Chopping up bits for tasting took a long time

And a selection of Fairview's La Capra range of wines to try

There is a large area with tables downstairs where you can eat the food you have bought, or drink

Nice to see Wimpie Borman from Groote Post with their red and white Old Man's Blends
(No, he is not underage, he’s married with children)

And more good MCC bubbles, Miss Molly from Môreson in Franschhoek

The table was ably manned by Herman from the tasting room at Môreson

Downstairs, there are four enormous bars. The Mojo bar, the main bar, sells spirits and beers

These make the market look like a nightclub and we wonder who the customers are, as their opening hours are 08h00 to 23h00

They also have live music sometimes and there was a band playing while we were there

Beer

Wine

Quite a few conventional food stands

We were nearly sold a voucher for this stall on line, thinking it was a restaurant

Perhaps it becomes busier later in the day

Ethiopian food looks interesting, certainly something unusual to try one day. They serve rolled up pieces of Injera bread

Their menu

Shwarma and Falafel stall. Something for the vegans here! And lots of different meats on the shwarma cookers

Beer on tap

Biltong stand

Children at tables next to the bar

Fish, we understand

Lynne became excited when she saw Dim Sum but, sadly, not a great selection

This Falafel has moved and there is a fudge and nut stall in front of it, with a hot dog stand behind

Prices

Lynne watching the preparation of wraps on the Mexican stall. It does look interesting and, certainly, the portions were huge; big enough to share.

Peace sign? or should we take this at face (hand) value?

Nice to see what you might be getting

Menu above

John is tempted

We plumped for a Pizza to share and were served by these enthusiastic and friendly staff. The small pizza (Weber?) ovens do have real hot coals beneath the pizza stones and cook quickly. It seemed that they were the most popular stand of the day, we saw lots of pizzas being enjoyed

In it goes

They have a clever production line

And about 8 minutes later our Fig, Brie and Prosciutto Pizza on a lovely thin, crisp base was ready, priced at R125

Our only criticism is that they cook the Prosciutto rather than put it on after the pizza has been cooked

A hot oven does nothing for this delicacy. Perhaps we should ask for it to be added later next time

Christiaan van den Heever of Beyerskloof was very kind and gave us some Synergy to drink with our Pizza; it matched perfectly

We sat upstairs and shared this and tasted a couple of other red wines from Groote Post and Fairview

Ah, information below the remains. You can buy an oven for home use!

Lynne did think this gentleman in the centre at the Beyerskloof stand might be one of our famous local residents
He was supported by several 'companions'. John said he was not Mr CR

And, just setting up as we left, was another cheese farm from Montagu

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