Of South Africa and Food

(Francesco) Well well, it is a long time I have been in here and I believe it time to say something about how I the food is or has been so far. Today we had a nice trip in Cape Town, but this will be described later ... in this nice break I have (and given the free internet in our hotel) I want to talk about food!!
Where to start .... the safari lodges! No, first the restaurant I have tried before Elke joined. Moyo in Melrose Arch is the first one I have visited with most of my MBA class. It was funny as it was heavily designed in the way every white person would think of Africa. Heavy wood, funny dressed people singing, etc. etc. From this point of view, not that nice. As regards food, I had some very nice spicy tiger prawns with rice followed by a less interesting dessert. Overall, it was nothing really impressive in terms of food but it is worth a visit with a large group. BTW it is a chain ..
The next one I remember of is a chain on pasta and pizza called "Primi Piatti". I have to say that the pizza's are not too bad and the pasta ... well, ok. They cook al dente or actually almost a bit raw!! But their Napoletana sauce is horribly salty. Let's say this is fast food at its cheapest and again did not impress me,
I ma sure I visited another seafood place but I do not remember the name and it was not particularly tasty. They even sold us simple small tiger prawn as they were king ones!
Finally we had a really nice dinner (from which the photos) at the Cradle Restaurant at the Cradle of Humankind. This was impressive from the wines they served to the dishes. I do not recall the names of the wines, they were Southafrican and I am sure I have a photo somewhere. The starter was a delicious pumpkin and truffle soup, followed by a really tasty lamb (see photo) and a pannacotta with red fruit compote'. I loved it ... plus we had lots of fun!!!!
Now, what about the food at the lodges. It has varied quite a bit. At the first one, the Cybele, we had something in between dutch and french food. It was delicious ... really delicious. I still remember the vispotjie (fish and potato pie) and the chicken & prawn currie, and a nice rack of lamb. It was as good as it gets (including presentation) in our starred places. With nice ingredients, great bread and nice wines.
The second lodge we visited, Kirkman's Kamp, we had braai (the local BBQ) the first day and the second day a normal dish (meat or chicken). Everytime served by a soup in front and with a little tart slice with mango or avocado sauce. the best part were the soups! Thick and spicy, they were more than welcome. At lunch, we were given a light lunch based on salads, veggies, bread, cheeses, pasta salads and roast with chutneys. Followed by icecream. Overal the quality was good and the style somewhat European but very much spiced up!
The last lodge in Zimbabwe, the Matetsi Water Lodge, it was spicy food like stew or fish, lot of veggies, pumpkin curries. All extremely tasty with nice bread and cakes. And all done by them as you would expect in a country in serious troubles like Zimbabwe. Great spicy food.
What more??? In Cape Town we have a few resto's lined up (starting from tonite). At lunch we stopped somewhere along the scenic route for some fish and I has some really tasty fresh crayfish. This is a good start.
Ciao for now!!!