Eating Indian at The Roti, Sea Point

We love to eat good Indian food and when a new place opened up in Sea Point, we headed straight there. Sadly, it was Valentine’s Day and they were totally full, always a good sign. We finally got there recently and wanted to tell you about it. Roti is on Regent Road, opposite the Sea Point Post Office. It was an estate agent's premises and has now been converted into a fairly large and airy restaurant. They do cater for large tour buses, but the food is good and they serve authentic Indian food, not Cape Malay or Durban curries.

The entrance, with security

Plainly but tastefully decorated. 

Poppadoms come free with two dips when you sit down. Our bill for 5 dishes and 2 steamed rice came to only R400 before service. We took our own wine and were not charged corkage

We sat at the back nearer the kitchen, as it was a very cold evening. The restaurant was almost empty when we arrived at 7.30 but soon filled up. Service was polite, but a little slow as a large celebratory Indian group arrived. Perhaps a good place for an early supper.

John chose a lamb Rogan Josh – he always orders this when first visiting, as he wants to see how well they prepare it. This was a good one. Lynne originally fancied having an aubergine curry, but the one they serve is a puree rather than pieces of Aubergine. So she had a Prawn Malvani, one of their specials, which was cooked medium hot for her, even though it is normally a 3 chilli dish. It tasted authentic with a good thick sauce, but the prawns were very small and sparse for the R130 charged. We had this with a small bowl of steamed rice

Our vegetarian friends had an Aloo Mint Tikki (potato and pea fritters) as a starter, the Aubergine curry and a Dhingri Dolma (mushrooms and paneer) with steamed rice. Ronnie goes there often for lunch and is working his way through the fish and vegetarian menu.

We had not intended to have dessert, but they had cooked a huge quantity of cardamom rice pudding for the wedding party and they very kindly gave us each a bowl of it. Not to everyone’s taste, John still has bad memories of boarding school rice pudding but the rest of us enjoyed it very much. Not too sweet, creamy and beautifully fragrant from the cardamom spice

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

Lunch at Ocean Jewels, Woodstock

If you love fresh fish, you will know how lamentably difficult it can be to find in this huge seaside city. And if you care about sustainable resources, you will want to buy and eat only green rated SASSI fish. Julie Carter sells her fish in the market at the Biscuit Mill on Saturdays, where she also cooks up some great seafood delights. But you don’t have to wait till Saturday, because Julie has a shop, Ocean Jewels in The Woodstock Exchange on Albert Road, where you can buy fish to take home and also enjoy a great lunch, as we did this week. Julie’s father and husband are also local fishermen, so you know the fish is fresh

There are lots of trendy shops and businesses in this building. Parking is a small challenge

Ocean Jewels, on the ground floor of the Woodstock Exchange. For warmer weather, Julie has some outside benches. And some decorative seagulls

As many people in the area eat here regularly, Julie has quite a varied selection on the menus and she does change them often. This is one

Julie Carter, proprietor of Ocean Jewels, behind the order counter

Another chalk board menu. There are Banting options. Sweet potato chips instead of the usual wedges

The fresh fish price list and the SASSI board

Julie invited us to lunch and then produced some lovely food. One look at those crispy wedges and Banting was forgotten. This was John’s choice of the fresh angelfish with calamari combo – R50. It came with avocado slices, a spicy tartar sauce and a wedge of lemon. There are other condiments on the table

Lynne’s choice was the Salmon and Calamari combo – R70

A taster of the smoked snoek samoosas; the lightest samoosas we have had in many years, with great flavour. They are not huge parcels of doughy pastry - R5 each

The light and bright restaurant. They do not have a licence, so you could take your own wine. They sell other non alcoholic beverages, but each table has a jug of water, with slices of lemon, and glasses

This is the Angelfish taco, served with a good salad - R50

The Tuna and Calamari Combo with a salad – R60

People are very happy to share tables. We were happy to share with Linda Harding of Squashed Tomato media consultancy, whom we know, and she was having lunch with a friend, Leila Badsha, who was introducing her to Ocean Jewels

Julie with two of her staff

and the others who help to make the magic. We will definitely be back

We left with a large piece of beautiful fresh salmon

The centre is full of interesting artworks

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014

The Oranjezicht Organic farm and Market

Last Saturday was a rare one for us; we had the day off and were in town. And it was one of Cape Town’s perfect mid-winter Champagne days, bright, clear, sunny and warm. So it was our first chance to visit the Oranjezicht City Farm and Market which is at the top of Upper Orange Street and open every Saturday from 09h00 to 14h00. To quote them: "The Oranjezicht City Farm (OZCF) is a non-profit project celebrating local food, culture and community through urban farming in Cape Town. The farm is financed primarily through the funds made at the Market Day.” Check out their web site

This fantastic organic market garden was started and run by the local community on an old unused bowling green and historic site. On Wednesday afternoons you can go and pick your own vegetable from the garden, as a guided self-harvest is held between 4-6 pm, weather permitting. Parking is a bit of a challenge but we got there about 11 am and found some on one of the side streets.

A view from on high of the well laid out market garden with a view of the city centre and Table Bay in the distance.

All the stalls are covered, so if it rains, their goods are protected

Good advice

Musicians playing some good music all morning, with a visitor enjoying the music and the winter sunshine

There is food available to eat and places to sit down. We so hope this area doesn't expand too much and drive out the market traders who are selling a wonderful selection of fresh organic and other foods for you to sample and take home to cook and eat. This is still a true ‘Market’ and there is no alcohol on sale

Lots of fruit and vegetables for sale from the garden and some potted plants, seedlings and herbs to take home

Under the dome. Lots more seasonal fruit and vegetables and products to see and buy

Two happy customers with Cheryl Ozinsky, a mover and shaker who, with others, motivated the community to start this superb venture.. You may remember Cheryl from when she was the successful head of Cape Tourism. John has known her since the inception of the Waterfront in the early 1990s, when they were both involved in its set up

Buying fruit and veg for the week

The garlic is small, but very potent. We went home with a bag of it

Dried herbs, fruit and even vegetables

Cheryl packing fresh mushrooms for a customer

Yes, you do need some olive oil

Our old friend Jane Selander of Constantia Cheesery, selling her cheeses

Organic nuts and fruit from another old friend, Peter Owen of By Nature, who still sells at the Biscuit Mill

Some wicked delights and hey! A raw pizza on the Banting seed biscuit base. Clever

Some beautiful loaves and some popular botterkoek to take home

And even some gluten and carb free bread. We were able to taste it. Hmmmm, not sure that flax flour works that well

An old friend from the Long Beach Market, Don Yeowell, with their range of jams and preserves

Fresh pumpkins piled high, at reasonable prices...

... displayed on the Woodstock Bakery's 1964 Chevrolet C10

There is a huge children’s playground below the market, lovely on a sunny day

and lawns to picnic on

Friends and families exploring the vegetable garden

Cabbages, kale, broccoli and cauliflower protected from butterflies and their caterpillars

Companion planting of pansies, which are edible, and kale

Borage and herbs like thyme are companion planted amongst the lettuces to prevent insect predation

Early peas, heading up their wigwams, and more companion marigolds in another veggie patch. Healthy broad bean plants in the background

A solar powered water pump keeps the leiwater flowing

Lavender and morning glory

Rows of brassicas and onions

Nice to meet old friends; organic wine farmers Tanya and Willie de Waal of Scali wines in the Voor Paardeberg, were there enjoying the day with their children

Turning the formidable and enviable compost heap, which was steaming nicely

Lynne getting BIG ideas for our small veggie patch

These are going to be magnificent cauliflowers

A very clever method of planting, if you don’t have much space

How the eye is deceived. We saw this kale as dark maroon but the camera sees it as green

There are, of course, beautiful views of our Table Mountain, which the city surrounds - how many other cities have a mountain in their middle?

A sentiment we are happy to agree with, even though we do sell you imported luxuries

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© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2014