River Café, Constantia

On the outlook for a relaxed weekend summer lunch in the shade, we decided to give the River Café a go.

The Place – The River Café is located at the entrance to the Constantia Uitsig wine estate and the least posh option of the three restaurants located on the estate. What we hoped to be a spot in the shade on a hot humid day turned out to a little bit claustrophobic, surrounded by trees and bushes, not allowing in any breeze. However, we managed to find a nice enough table in the middle of the patio and our server was adorable; her service was textbook perfect, which could be interpreted as inexperience, but when coupled with her genuine friendliness was actually quite endearing. Her only slip was disappearing after we had finished our meal, so that we had to go up to the front desk to pay. The tables and chairs outside have maybe seen better days and feel a bit tired, but the inside seating area provides a more formal setting for those that need one.

The Menu – is quite small, and dominated by meat & fish. The only two vegetarian options were a vegetarian salad (phew!- the number of restaurants in Cape Town not even offering a vegetarian salad option is quite astonishing) and hummus with pita bread. Not feeling like any of those, we ordered the 'River Florentine' (potato, onion rosti, with smoked salmon, spinach, poached eggs & hollandaise sauce) for R79, without the salmon. We were asked immediately what we would like as a substitute for the salmon - we chose roasted peppers. Being asked how you want your poached eggs doesn't happen very often, so that was great: "runny please". The other dish was a 'Caesar Salad' (with cos lettuce, anchovies, boiled egg, croutons, bacon, parmesan & Caesar dressing) for R 65.  

The Meal –  Both dishes looked delicious, although late in heat of the day, the ingredients didn't exactly ooze freshness. The River Florentine was good, the hollandaise sauce well balanced, and the rosti and creamy spinach tasty. The star of the dish was the roasted peppers, the optional addition. Disappointingly one of the 'runny' poached eggs verged on being hardboiled. A few greens might have added some freshness to the dish. The Caesar Salad was very tasty with just the right amount of anchovies and bacon; a solid dish even although the lettuce was succumbing to the heat wave. 

The Wallet – Considering the fairly small portions and the quality of ingredients the dishes are relatively overpriced. Even with the option to substitute the salmon for peppers, R79 for two poached eggs on spinach and potatoes is a little extreme, especially sine there are superior offerings in the vicinity for almost half the price. The Caesar Salad was tasty, but at R65 also on the expensive side. 

The Rating – 4.5

Would we go back? We'll just add a bunch of question marks more at the end: ???

About the place: http://www.constantia-uitsig.com/pages/restaurants/river-cafe.php

La Cuccina, Hout Bay

We're always on the lookout for a convenient place to work during the day: a combination of good coffee, good food, comfortable seating, power outlets, and WiFi.

The Place – is nestled nicely into the back of the Victoria Mall in Hout Bay. The restaurant itself is spacious and full of light, the rustic country style interior has a farm stall feel to it. The atmosphere and range of seating options make it conducive to getting work done and flexible enough to accommodate the odd business meeting. The welcome here is always warm and friendly. We asked for a table close to a plug-in, since there was none available the waiter immediately offered to bring us an extension cord. Awesome! 50MB free WiFi per day. Cool! As soon as we sat down two glasses of water appeared and our coffee order was taken shortly after. Service in general was very friendly and efficient. The manager kept a good hand on things, making his rounds to ensure everyone was happy.

The Menu – When I read it my face lit up for two reasons: lots of delicious sounding stuff AND all the meals are clearly marked with codes for Gluten Free, Gluten Free option, Wheat Free and Vegetarian. But that's not all! For breakfast, lunch and dessert there's an amazing looking buffet with something for everyone. This time we decided to go with something off the menu. We ordered a 'Veggie Full Breakfast' with two eggs, grilled Halloumi, sauteed spinach, grilled mushrooms, roasted cherry tomatoes and two slices of toast' for R52 and a chocolate croissant for R17. 

The Meal –  The espresso and americano might not have the star power to lure you back there on their own, but were certainly passable. We ordered a second round. The breakfast was FULL indeed, definitely no need for lunch after that one. All the elements on the plate were tasty, the Halloumi cheese verged on salty but was balanced out quite well by the remaining components. The chocolate croissant was light, but oozed enough chocolate for a sweet tooth. We appreciated the fact that we were not rushed to move on once we had finished and could get on with some work. Our waiter returned every so often to check up on us, top up our water, and take an order for peppermint tea.

The Wallet – Considering the high quality and freshness of ingredients prices are more than fair. Some people seem to go there to work quite regularly and stick around for a while. If you factor office rent etc into it, you eat almost for free!

The Rating – 6.0

Would we go back? Absolutely! Next time we'll test drive their lunch buffet and maybe ramp up the rating...

About the place: http://www.lacuccina.co.za/