Saturday, May 07, 2022

Elgin Cool Wine Festival - 5. Almenkerk

Sunday morning and, after a huge breakfast at our accommodation in Gordon’s Bay,
it was time to head for Elgin for our second day at the Elgin Cool Wines Festival
It is harvest time in the valley for the apples and pears that they grow so successfully, as well as the grapes

Pink Lady apples ripening on the tree

The view from the entrance at Almenkerk vineyards, our first stop of the day,
looks far over this fruitful valley towards the sea, which is just behind the long hill

and you can look over the vines and orchards in this hilly area

More lovely autumnal colours

Looking towards the mountains, you can see more of the mixed hill farming,
some sheep grazing and a charming farm house

Almenkerk winery is a lovely modern building, designed by Derick Henstra, set well back into the hill behind it
The lawn in front was to be used for the Barrel Rolling competition

Looking down towards the dam below a new vineyard and an orchard

An unusual flowering plant that looked like a red lobelia but seems to be a salvia,
red autumn sage, apparently very good for attracting butterflies

Almenkerk, Belgian owned, had a food truck serving proper Belgian Waffles

and a tasting centre outside for festival goers

A look into the spotlessly clean cellar being patrolled by their young Great Dane,
who was a great favourite with visitors and us

Owner/winemaker Joris van Almenkerk in the barrel cellar, chatting wine with two festival visitors

The day before they had a race which began early and they had many visitors at that time
Sunday morning was a lovely day but people were slow to get out of bed and only turned up a bit later


Another magnificent view across the Elgin Valley

It is protea season and this was a lovely arrangement of Queen Proteas

The Almenkerk wine range

Children admiring the Dane, who was quite unperturbed, lying in the sun

We sat and chatted to Natalie and Joris and their daughter while we tasted their festival wines

Natalie Opstaele

Joris and their daughter sharing a Belgian waffle

There were four wines to taste and we began with the 2020 Sauvignon Blanc,
which is crisp and dry with the classic Elgin fig leaf nose and the same characteristic flavours

The 2019 Chardonnay has good lees notes with white peach and nectarine fruit; it has lovely richness with long flavours

The 2014 Syrah also has lovely fruit and spice on the nose
Rhubarb, mulberry and licorice wood on the end with spice continuing too

and they saved the best till last with the 2015 Merlot. Beautiful fruit on the classic Merlot nose, sweet cherry with some spice
On the palate soft as silk and a nice tingle on the tongue
Dark toasted wood and good supporting acidity with morello cherry and some chalky tannins, delicious

All the wines have 4.5 stars from Platter and the Merlot a double gold from Michelangelo

and, kindly, they invited us to share this lovely cheese platter with them while we chatted

It was a lovely way to spend a relaxing morning in Elgin and why we love visiting this lovely wine area,
populated with very hospitable and charming people

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Posted by MENU at 3:30 pm 0 comments

Fish and Chips at Trawlers, Gordon's Bay

Gordon's Bay is a quiet town out of season
This was taken at 7 o'clock on a Saturday evening, so the season is definitely over

We wanted some good fish and chips for supper and we knew that Trawlers is a good place to get them
It is a legend and has been serving good seafood for years. Sadly, we were their last customers
Their only seating is on their verandah or on the chilly open air seats and tables

The menu

Two Hake and chips at R78 each. We had asked for crisp chips and, initially, they served us Slap (i.e. soggy) chips,
 which are just oily, half cooked and much loved by many South Africans
Luckily, we insisted that they put them back in the deep fryer and they obliged, so we did get good chips
The fish was very fresh, with pearly flakes and quite delicious
We had taken along a bottle of ros̩ wine РFalse Bay, second label of Waterkloof - and our own wine glasses
- we always travel prepared!

A bit lonely on the stoep!
We were observed by one man living on the street, but not bothered by him
and we did leave the rest of our chips for him afterwards; it was a massive portion
There were few people out, but we did see quite a few security cars driving past
No Saturday night youths with nothing to do, looking for trouble
We walked there and back and it only took about 10 minutes at the most

Our bill

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Posted by MENU at 2:47 pm 0 comments

Friday, May 06, 2022

Big Skies Guest House, Gordon's Bay


We were invited to the Elgin Cool Wines festival to write about it this last weekend, so accommodation was a priority for us
Sadly, our tickets arrived just the day before, when all the affordable accommodation in Elgin had been taken
So, thinking laterally, Lynne looked at Gordon's Bay, just 15 minutes down Sir Lowry’s Pass and found Big Skies,
which is only two roads from the sea front

They have eight rooms and prices are good
They also have very admirable facilities; in fact, they had thought of everything to make our stay easy
The furniture and decor are a little dated, but it was very comfortable, with an air conditioner and en suite bathroom with shower

Spot the bathroom door; yes, it’s the door with the coy Victorian gent and lady in brass
There is a fridge and a tea and coffee station with supplies

Small but completely fit for purpose and good hot water
and we had a TV where John was able to watch some Rugby in the early evening

In the hallway, a small cooking station
with an ice machine, microwave, kettle, glasses and crockery and cutlery should you wish to prepare some food

There is a small lounge, also with a TV, perhaps for rainy or windy days not spent on the beach

Not one inch of the property had been wasted
and there was an outdoor barbeque and some picnic tables and benches

Some local brochures and some amusing signage in the hallway

Upstairs is the breakfast room which has views of the sea over the rooftops

Breakfast was included in our booking, but is usually a very reasonable extra charge per person
The breakfast buffet had almost everything you might ever want, including a toast machine
The tea and coffee station has all sort of options but, if you want real coffee, you can ask for a plunger

The bar seemed popular with the guests in the evening

and from it you get a view of the swimming pool below

Another seating area.  We walked down to the sea front at 6.30 to get some fish and chips at Trawlers (a separate story)
which took us right past the local police station which is on the next corner
There were several security company cars in the area, so it seemed safe to walk at night

and we were able to park safely overnight in the front yard

Juice, muesli and cereals, also a selection of yoghurts, jams and fresh fruit. We both had juice, fruit and cereal



Lynne had the full English Breakfast which was fresh and well cooked
We did hear another guest say "I am not English so NO I do NOT want baked beans!" Which were very good

John opted for an omelette which came filled with raw tomatoes and bacon. Sadly, it was rather soggy





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Posted by MENU at 12:46 pm 0 comments

Thursday, May 05, 2022

Meze Supper at the Greek Fisherman, Sea Point

We feel the loss of La Mouette, the fine dining restaurant that used to occupy this lovely heritage Sea Point building
on Regent Road, but are glad to see that The Greek Fisherman, which was in the Waterfront, has now moved here
The upstairs is now a separate bar

We were shown, initially, to a table next to the fountain, but moved before our food arrived, as it was dripping on us a little
We ordered a beer while we waited for our food. It would be good to see them offering some craft beers
We had a very pleasant and attentive waiter named Ken, and the restaurant was very full and busy

We love good Greek food and decided to stick to their Mezze dishes
We began with the very good creamy Humus and the Taramasalata dip, made from fish roe
Of special note is the Pita breads, light and very good, not the usual stodgy lumps. You get one with the dips

Lynne chose the grilled calamari and was delighted that it came with good crisp chips
Lynne actively avoids frying anything at home (other than onions as a base of a dish)
we know that it can be unhealthy and we hate the smell of frying oil that fills the house,
so chips are a rare treat when we do go out to eat

John loves sardines and was happy to see them on the menu. Fresh and grilled, he did enjoy them

We ordered the Biftekia (beef mince done on skewers) and they were nicely moist and full of flavour
we also ordered the Tyropita, small filo pies stuffed with cheese and dill
They came a bit late (3 to a serving) and sadly missed their photo shoot, as they were wolfed down quickly!

The bill including beer and service

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Posted by MENU at 6:28 pm 0 comments

Freedom Day Street party in Regent Street, Sea Point

Sea Point came alive on our Freedom Day public holiday. Regent Road was closed off to cars from Church Road down to Solomons Road. And it was such fun. Perhaps not for people trying to get home at 6, who had to divert to Kloof Road or Beach Road, but residents came out in droves, both during the day and until 9 at night. We decided to go at 6 and see "what was occurring". We started at the Church Street end

There were all sorts of businesses on the street, like this popular Lamb Spit roast
R150 for Lamb and Chips and R120 for lamb on a bun

The Mojo market was pumping and people were happy sitting out on the pavement enjoying the passing parade

Two venues selling draught beer, one was craft beer from Lowland Spring, the other was Heineken

and the bars inside MOJO were busy

Seating on two floors

Outside the Clarensville, a good Reggae Band

and people could bring their dogs too, as well as children in prams

As we went further down the road and it became darker, it began to be quite crowded

and certain restaurants like Kama (our favourite Sushi place), Sundoo and 3 Wise Monkeys were really popular

Another band outside Spar was keeping people happy

Some were bopping along and many of us were singing along!

We heard that Latitude was selling large gin cocktails and beers; we were thirsty, so beer it was

We met friends who live in Sea Point and Green Point and stopped for a chat while we enjoyed our drinks and then, at 8, we went seeking something for dinner. We decided to try The Greek Fisherman which has moved from the V&A Waterfront and taken over the La Mouette/Europa building. (See our article about that)

Will this happen again? We hope so, but then we don’t live on Regent Road, so we wait to see what the neighbours think. We are sure that the businesses involved, who have been very quiet during lock down, had a great day. We chatted to two local police officers on our way home at 9 about how well behaved it had been. There was some discarded rubbish, but not much, plenty of bins had been provided and used

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Posted by MENU at 5:16 pm 0 comments
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