On our holiday at Lambert's Bay before Christmas
we booked to go to the most iconic place in the area. Muisbosskerm. They say
'The First and Original Open Air Restaurant' https://www.muisbosskerm.co.za/.
We had not been there for many years, but the reports are still good. It is an
informal beach restaurant, famous for its food - served in vast quantities and
very plentiful in choice. We booked on line before the holiday. It costs R350
per person, not including crayfish, for a veritable feast. Crayfish is not always
available, as it has a restricted season. We were lucky; it was in season
You take a tin plate and
start to help yourself from the various tables. There are stations cooking
different foods all around the venue
We were told that it started at 7pm, but
missed the first courses which usually include traditional farm bread and jam,
mussels and oysters
So, if you are going, get there early. But be careful not
to eat too much bread, it will fill you up and there is LOTS of food to come
Checking in with this very
friendly manager, we discovered we could indeed order crayfish which cost R70
for a half
He gave us pensioners rates! You get a coupon and it is served
later to those who have them
Where to start?! We began
with the fish table and had some braaied angel fish, yellowtail, snoek, & roll
mops
There were also bokkoms - the dried fish so popular on the West Coast – and
so not for us!
We found a table near the sea
shore and admired the views. We bought a bottle of Cederberg Sauvignon Blanc
for R180
to enjoy with our dinner. The prices of the wines are quite high, but
you have no choice, so you indulge
It is very rustic and very
busy
This lady was cooking
battered hake, probably the best dish of the day for Lynne (after the
crayfish),
so crisp and flavourful, tender and flaky fresh inside
There was a seafood
"paella" with calamari, mussels and "crab" sticks
The bokkoms
There are no utensils; you eat
with a large mussel shell. We knew this, so we brought our own knives and forks from our picnic case
Cutting any kind of flesh with a mussel shell doesn’t work too well. And there
is salad, roast potatoes, sticky sweet potatoes and mixed veg
And some fried
calamari appeared
A beautiful sunset on a balmy
West Coast evening with little wind
There is lots of seating
under cover. And no smoking is allowed
Lynne at our table
Later there are potjies - big pots that cook long and slow over the fire for hours. And you can see the
fried fish cooking on the fire
Wonderful little Hartlaub’s
gulls run up and down the surf margins
And lots of selfies. At this
point we took a little rest from eating
"Do you like that
one?"
The afterglow of the sunset
lasts for a long time
Time to get a new plate for
the potjies. There was a tripe dish, a chicken curry and a lamb waterblommetjie
bredie that night
Up close. The tripe had lots
of flavour, Lynne tried it and John went for the other two
The Cederberg Sauvignon Blanc
was superb with the food. We wanted to drink local wine and this is one of the
best
Kettles on for a brew or
coffee
The crayfish. Just legal in
size, well cooked, not overdone and very sweet
Half each, dressed with
garlic butter
And some steak from the braai
with a pepper cream sauce. Sadly, it was horribly tough
Evening draws on!
Stir fired veggies, but now
there is not much of anything left
You can see what Homer meant
when he said "wine dark sea"
Almost the end of the evening
and satiated people began to depart
Time for dessert which is
sticky, crisp koeksisters. And there was coffee
It is a great experience; we
thoroughly recommend a visit for lunch or dinner if you are up there
But just
remember to book. They are not always open
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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2019
