Kalk Bay and Cape to Cuba restaurant.

We came back to the Kalk bay/Simon’s town area on Monday to have another crack at the Olympia cafe, which was fuller than a minibus, and to fetch Sarah’s cell phone from the kind gent that found it under our table at “Skebangers” in Noordhoek. Who says there is no good left in this world.

Kalk Bay is a lovely little village between Muizenberg and Fishoek and it has seemingly really caught on in recent years. Tons of antique shops and little speciality stores are here and doing a roaring trade. TIP, if the traffic looks heavy along the coast road from Muizenberg, take “Boyes Drive” along the mountainside, this could save you an hour of bumper busting on a weekend.

Kalk Bay is Cape towns only hand line fishing harbour and unless the swell is huge, scores of tiny fishing boats leave before dawn to catch Snoek, Yellow Tail, and whatever else they can get on the line. (I am going with them soon and I will write a full review then) If the swell is too high they are often seen fishing off the dock catching Elf (Shad), Hottentots (Bream) and maybe Galjoen (South African national fish).

Across the road from the Olympia Cafe in a old railway shed is the “Cape to Cuba” restaurant, which is the subject of this review and the highlight of my weekend.

The owners Bart and Deona Van Vuuren own an antique shop in Kalk Bay called “Cape to Cairo”, they are seemingly obsessed with Cuba and have shipped half of it to Kalk Bay to adorn this restaurant in a sea of colourful bric-a-brac, that will keep your eyes busy for hours. https://www.capetocuba.com

I can’t imagine the amount of time and effort that went into decorating this place, and you will have to see it to believe it. All the articles in the restaurant are for sale, including the tables and chandeliers. Some of the prices are a little scary though. I can’t remember the last time I went chandelier shopping , but for R16000 ($2300) it better be a doozy. The large restaurant is broken up into many cosy alcoves and crannies and although quite busy seems intimate. If you arent hungry, there is an outside bar to sip cocktails and slobber on a Cuban cigar.

I jumped all over the mojito’s and excellent caipirinha’s that stream endlessly from barmen dressed in white Cuban slacks and Che Guevara beret’s. The girls don brightly coloured Frida Kahlo outfits, sans eyebrow, but complete with plastic hibiscus in the hair and fuchsia lipstick. (Great for tips)

The food was excellent, but what stood out as fantastic, were the Coconut and Crab soup and the Mussels with dill. Goodness gracious they were good and I will return just for them. In all, everything was just great, the music, food ambience and even the service was very good by Cape Town standards. The bill was on the heavy side, at around R150 to R200 ($20-$27)per head inc tip, but highly recommended all the same, this is a must!

PS: After lunch pop across the road to the Olympia cafe’s bakery (Around the corner) and try a Florentine, yahoo!