South Africa Pt. 2: Cape Town Restaurants

After 30 hours of traveling to the U.S. and a weekend in NYC with my brother, I finally made it back to the mountains and back to my own bed. I was welcomed back by a nasty snow storm that still hasn’t let up. Since when is May included into the winter months?! This has made it even harder to come home, but the benefit of the snowy weather is that it gives me time to sit in my cozy apartment and reminisce of my trip.

Cape Town is one of the largest cities to really still have it all. They have amazing restaurants, delicious meat and seafood, vineyards, wildlife, nightlife, beaches and mountains all within twenty minutes of each other. What more could you ask for?!

As far as authentic African cuisine goes, there are two restaurants that you need to visit if you ever go to Cape Town. The first is called Moyo and is located in Stellenbosch, a beautiful wine region right outside of the city.

Moyo has a very cool atmosphere with tables up in treehouse-like buildings. They also have live music and African face paintings, but the things that truly makes this place amazing is, of course, the food.

There is a giant buffet with multiple stations. They serve you every possible African food you could think of. The buffet begins with every type of meat you could imagine, including ostrich!

Next came vegetables, then starches. A modern Zulu dish called pop, a cornmeal porridge, is popular throughout South Africa.

Then came the potjiekos, which are stews cooked in black pots over flames. The potjiekos pots are great because you can throw practically anything into them and make a delicious stew. I really wanted to bring one back with me, but it would have been a bit of a hassle. I guess I will just have to settle with my crock pot.

Next, yes there is more, came the tagines. Many of the girls were uneasy about these, but they included many authentic African flavors and were good to try.

Finally came the desserts with all sorts of pastries, cakes puddings. Once the meal was over I had eaten two plates of food and two plates of desserts, but boy was it worth it! Overall, I would have to say that Moyo is the place to go near Cape Town to really get the full experience of authentic African cuisine.

The second African restaurant that I think is necessary to visit is Mama Africa. It is in the heart of Cape Town on Long Street, a popular area with great nightlife, shops and restaurants.

This restaurant also has authentic African dishes and live music that is more the center of attention. I ended up buying a CD from the band! This is a great restaurant to go to before heading out for a night on Long Street.

I had delicious crocodile kebabs with peri peri sauce for an appetizer and mango chicken for my main. Peri peri sauce is a very popular chile sauce in South Africa that is a perfect seasoning for meats. The crocodile actually tasted very similar to chicken, but a little softer. It was delicious!

My friend had bobotie, which is beef mince baked with an egg topping and a sweet sauce. At first I thought it would be strange, but it was the best thing I tasted all night.

If you ever get a chance to visit Cape Town I insist that you take advantage of it! It was so beautiful and a great place for a foodie.

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