Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Fish and Chips at Skafti, Yzerfontein

Lynne was just not up to cooking on our first night in Yzerfontein, so we decided to try out one of the restaurants;
Skafti, which is just at the beginning of town opposite the great Spar supermarket, is known for its seafood
We chatted to a couple from Johannesburg at the next table, who had ordered a huge mixed seafood platter to share,
and some oysters, and it all looked very good
They were enjoying a bottle of Sea Salter from Groote Post, which the restaurant manager told us is extremely popular
It is one of our favourite Sauvignons and we know that it goes so well with this sort of food
Skafti has a very good wine list of local wines
The Darling wine farms are all close enough for visits and the wines are worth taking home

Another family having a long dinner with many wines and lots of good food

We ordered the Hake and Chips and they were sensational
A good-sized portion of VERY fresh fish,
pearly and flaking in a very crisp, but not greasy, batter and super crisp and crunchy chips
It’s served with a lemon butter sauce

A strange piece of art on their wall

John took this picture through their window, looking down the hill at the road into Yzerfontein from the R27
It was Friday evening and many weekenders were streaming in

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Portuguese-themed meals at Lulas, Yzerfontein

Lulas Portuguese Restaurant may be Yzerfontein’s best restaurant; it certainly is ours
We had two meals there and were tempted to go again
It is easy to find, being located at the end of the northern beach, and you can see it from the beach
You do need to book, especially at weekends, because it is extremely popular

The menu is large and prices are very reasonable. It is unpretentious and people flock there
They do not have a licence, so you may take your own wine
You can buy drinks from the social club behind the restaurant, however, which is licensed,
but you have to be a member to enjoy their facilities


We were having dinner with Charles and Janet Withington and each pair brought three good wines from our collections
Not to drink them all, but to taste them with the food
Charles owns the Darling Wine Shop and sells a comprehensive range of Darling and other wines


L to R. Perdeberg Courageous 2016 Barrel fermented Chenin Blanc. Just the best Chenin in a long time, rich and layered with wood support; we need some more
De Grendel Koetshuis 2020 Sauvignon Blanc, a classic herbal and green style that we love
Axe Hill Distinta 2016 from port grapes, made in Calitzdorp, superb with the spicy red meat dishes
Neil Ellis 2013 Rodanos, a blend of Shiraz, Cinsault and Grenache, another which is excellent with red meat
Drie Paapen 2017 Bloemcool. Classic Cabernet and Lynne’s favourite red of the evening with layers of fruit and elegance, so well made by Fairview cellarmaster Anthony de Jager (but who calls a wine after a cauliflower?)
and Groote Post 2017 Kapokberg Sauvignon Blanc, another outstanding example of Sauvignon Blanc
All were so special; we had a draw at the end to see who would keep which of the remains
Our Zimbabwean waiter was fascinated at what we were tasting, so Lynne gave him a taste of them all and he was in raptures. Another good palate

Lulas is humble and unpretentious and we sat on the terrace which is covered and wind shielded
Janet and Charles had starters of deep fried calamari tentacles
We had lots of wine chat while we waited for food and sampled the wines

The Trinchado starter - beef in red wine and paprika. It comes with very good chips

Good Hake and chips with a Portuguese cream sauce

Lynne's portion of Lulas, the Portuguese name for baby squid, (and the restaurant) which are grilled
and served in a light, lemony garlic sauce, with lemon and sour cream and chips. Fresh, tender and scrumptious

Beef in red wine, chilli, garlic for John, with more crisp chips
You can order salads but vegetables are not served in profusion in Yzerfontein

The next time we went to Lulas, it was for lunch with a friend from Cape Town who loves Rosé wine;
this is one of our all time favourites, from Quando in Bonnievale
Summery and crunchy with fruit, almost a light red wine on the palate, and made from Mourvedre
The perfect wine to have if one person is having red meat and the other fish or seafood

We ordered a plate of chips to share and they came covered in a spicy cheese sauce!
We loved this interesting variation

The grilled calamari rings starter

This huge portion was a starter of two seafood kebabs on Bubble bread (a sort of pita bread/pizza base)
Too large for our guest, who took the remains home for supper

Tomato rice as a side with the kebabs

Lulas burger, topped with crisp onion rings, bacon and cheese -  excellent

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Rosemead Bakery and YzerBru, a bakery and a professional micro-brewery in Yzerfontein

Several Cape Town friends drove to join us for a day,
so we gave them tours of the town and took them out for lunch at places we knew they would enjoy
The first is YzerBru, a small micro brewery that makes very good beers
What we loved is that you can do a tasting of three of them, or all six in 100 ml glasses

The excellent Pale Whale IPA

One of the most beautiful bougainvillea plants we have seen;
white and frilly with pink edges to some of the flowers

Loraine's Vir-gin and Tonic was pronounced delicious and just right for a hot day

Excellent, hand-cut, crispy chips. Yzerfontein does seem to have the secret of crisp chips right wherever we go

At the Rosemead Bakery, next door, they serve these huge sandwiches on their excellent sourdough bread
This one came with optional bacon; there are several vegetarian options

Lynne ordered one of the specials - an open sandwich of smoked trout, cream cheese and dill on sourdough bread
However, she thought that it was very ungenerous, as it was very small
She had asked for it on their softer Rustica bread, but it came on Sourdough with a very tough crust
When she questioned why it was so small when the others were having such enormous sandwiches
and she was rather hungry, the manageress arranged for her to have it on a croissant. That was generous

They are unlicensed, so we had brought a Buitenverwachting Sauvignon blanc 2020,
which was crisp and green and delightful with the food

The bakery interior. They bake a very good selection of artisan breads, pastries, a variety of croissants, Pasteis de Nata
but, while you don’t need to book a table, you do need to get there early to buy the breads and pastries,
as they are very popular

You can order ahead and they will keep them for you
You can watch the bakers in the morning in the open area where they prepare their loaves and pastries




Nicole James the manageress

Our bill


Back to the Brewery on Sunday with another beer loving friend
and a Belgian Blonde

The burgers were good, but did not look spectacular. Lynne's smoked Pork Belly Ribs were spectacular
and it’s a very generous portion. This is the 400g. There is a larger portion



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Thursday, February 10, 2022

The Birds of Yzer

Our little flat had a balcony looking over a garden with huge aloes and an empty plot
The balcony gave us a great bird-watching position and we even had one spectacular bird experience on it

Every morning, we were entertained by young, mostly male, malachite sunbirds (Nectarinia famosa)

A young Malachite sunbird (Nectarinia famosa) in profile on an aloe leaf


Young Malachite sunbird, rear view with fluffed feathers


Go away, this is my aloe!

I'm staying

OK then, I'm off!

This young kestrel visited us on three successive days, perching on the TV dish on our balcony
We could approach as close as 2 metres from him, very quietly

John agrees with John Maytham of Cape Talk Radio, a serious twitcher,
that he is a juvenile male Rock Kestrel (falco rupicolus)
Lynne disagrees and says it is a Lesser Kestrel (falco naumann). Let us know your opinion, please

The Kestrel in profile

perched on the television dish, with wings open

facing the camera

oblique back view

grooming his tail

and stretching

A Cape bulbul (Pycnonotus capensis) on an aloe leaf

A young malachite sunbird hen

A Hartlaub's gull (Chroicocephalus hartlaubii), also known as the king gull, striding out on the beach

Worm Hunt. Hartlaub's gulls hunting worms on the beach


Evening light with Hartlaub's gulls

Hartlaub's gulls looking for worms at the edge of the waves

Gull reflections. Light effects and reflections on the wet sand


Courting white-backed mousebirds in a potato bush

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