Dirkus

Coffee – Cape Town – “Rcaffe”

16 September, 2010 by Dirkus 2 Comments

Stumbling down Long Street early one morning last week, I was in dire need of a good caffeine fix - ahead of meeting up with my lawyer - which as you know, is often not the most pleasant thing to do at any time of the day, let alone when all good citizens should still be safely ensconced in their pits and in the arms of Morpheus... However, I digress, "Rcaffe" (I am told it is pronounced “aar – café) is a real gem and a great find, right in the heart of good old Cape Town! (For those who can remember that far back, it is where the old "Yellow Pepper Deli" was situated). And - it's in Long Street close to The High Court and Huguenot Chambers (why the reminder of all things legal I ask

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Eating Out

“Excuse my French” – Kalk Bay

30 October, 2009 by Dirkus Leave a Comment

Browsing around a second hand furniture shop in Kalk Bay recently, we perchance stumbled upon this little gem - "Excuse my French". Situated right on the railway line, and within spitting distance from the "Brass Bell" - with views to die for, we discovered one of Cape Town's best kept secrets. The menu? Great coffee, and real French-style Crepe's made by the affable French proprietor, Yoel. But enough said, this is the sort of spot you have to discover for yourself; to linger under a real old "stoep", covered with "latte", and to drink in that quintessential ambiance that makes Cape Town so unique and wonderful.

Tagged With: Cape Town, coffee, crepes, excuse my french, false bay, Kalk bay, what to do in cape town

Eating Out

Beluga, Sevruga, Service, and PR.

4 October, 2009 by Dirkus 2 Comments

I came across the following interesting blog article written by Chris von Ulmenstein of The Whale Cottage Portfolio this past weekend, which got me thinking about Beluga, Sevruga, Service and PR. In her words: “The Sour Service Award goes to ‘Blonde’ Oscar Kotze of Beluga restaurant, for asking this writer to leave the restaurant when invited for lunch as a member and Chairman of the Camps Bay Accommodation association. Kotze is a director of the Caviar Group of restaurants, which also owns Sevruga and the Caviar deli, as well as Blonde restaurant, which is to open in February. The reason for the eviction appears to be that Beluga sister restaurant Sevruga received a Sour Service Award from WhaleTales more than

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About Cape Town

How does Green Point Stadium match up?

30 August, 2009 by Dirkus Leave a Comment

Over the past week I have been fortunate enough to visit two of Europe's greatest football clubs, namely Manchester United and Camp Nou, Barcelona. I though it may be fun to share some pictures to compare them to our very own Green Point Stadium: This picture of Green Point Stadium was taken on 29th August, 2009. Some interesting statistics: Seating capacities - Manchester United: 76 212 Camp Nou, Barcelona: 98 787 Green Point Stadium: 68 000 What struck me about both Camp Nou and Manchester United is the HUGE Mega stores selling all merchandise soccer related, ranging from footballs, shirts, and shoes, to baby booties, coffee mugs, dog blankets and cat collars!!!! Will Green Point Stadium be following

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Eating Out

Review: “Addis in Cape”.

2 August, 2009 by Dirkus 1 Comment

Our “Brutal Review of Cape Town Restaurants Group” visited the “Addis in Cape” restaurant Thursday evening, and rated the venue as follows:- Our telephonic booking was attended to in a polite and professional manner and our specific seating requirements were met. As to the actual seating itself, it is most original – the setup lends itself to an intimate dining experience. We found the overall impression and content of the website to be informative and interesting. See http://www.addisincape.co.za/ Our greeting at the door was both warm and very welcoming. On these aspects, Addis scored an impressive 82%. As an overall impression of the venue itself an equally impressive 85% was awarded. We

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Interesting People

Great service in Cape Town!

26 July, 2009 by Dirkus Leave a Comment

Capetonians are generally maligned for their poor levels of service. But, to paraphrase a well known song by Bob Dylan I believe that "the times, they are changing". Take for example, this recent online article - http://www.news24.com/Content/SouthAfrica/News/1059/9efced02e97441388d36772ede9ad3bd/16-07-2009%2003-07/Capetonians_more_satisfied in which it is indeed heartening to read the following:- "Cape Town's citizens perceive the level of services provided by the municipality to have improved in the past year, and satisfaction with service delivery has risen since the last survey was done." I don't believe that this improvement is confined to the Council - in fact, I think that generally, and in all sectors across the City,

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Eating Out

Eastern Food Bazaar Cape Town

30 June, 2009 by Dirkus 9 Comments

Quite a few of us Brutal Reviewers braced the cold recently, to take in the sights, sounds and most importantly, the exotic foods on offer at "The Eastern Food Bazaar" in Cape Town. Situated in what was until fairly recently the old "Wellington Fruit Growers" building in Darling Street, this food emporium is a visual and culinary delight. Stepping through the front door reminded me of places I had visited in Zanzibar, or Istanbul. Despite the gaudy neon lighting, the murals; wood paneling; motifs and huge wooden doors transported me into another world. The self service counter extends from Darling Street through to Longmarket Street - and the array and selection of what is on offer is mind boggling. Whilst relatively

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Out of Town

Tankwa Karoo National Park

22 June, 2009 by Dirkus Leave a Comment

Part I Ever heard of the “Tankwa Karoo National Park”? – I hadn’t until a friend of mine suggested we spend some time exploring the region. It’s only about a four hour drive from Cape Town. We took the scenic route from Cape Town, travelling via Bains Kloof Pass (for some interesting facts on Andrew Bains and how he came to construct the pass, see http://media1.mweb.co.za/wellingtonmuseum/bainskloofpass.html ). After having driven through Ceres, we took leave of the greener parts of the Western Cape, and gradually began that Oh so typically unique Karoo experience ….. wide open spaces…. long, straight dirt roads…. blue, blue skies…… and … well, that sense of being at one with nature, the universe and with

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About Cape Town

TABLE MOUNTAIN NOW IN POSITION 5 IN THE NEW 7 WONDERS OF NATURE RANKINGS.

10 June, 2009 by Dirkus 1 Comment

"Our Mountain" is now officially ahead of Mount Everest, K2 Mountain and Mount Kilimanjaro..... The ranking has improved from # 29 just last week! “We are really excited that our campaign is capturing the imagination of the SA public. Now we need to sustain interest in order to keep our rankings high until July 7,” said Sabine Lehmann, CEO of Table Mountain Aerial Cableway who is championing Table Mountain’s cause. The outcome as to which will be the New 7 Wonders of Nature will be are determined by votes from us locals, other South Africans, and of course fans from abroad. SO VOTE TODAY AT www.votefortablemountain.com and make sure our Mountain is up there in the top 7..... We then invite you to share some time with us

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Wine & Wineries

“Wacky wine weekend”

6 June, 2009 by Dirkus Leave a Comment

So, with Cape Town still asleep, and pretty overcast, damp and wet - it's time to head out to the country where, sources tell me, the weather is awesome. Head out to the Breede River Valley to experience the "Wacky wine weekend" For further info, go to http://www.wackywineweekend.com/content.php?contentID=8

Tagged With: breede river, June 2009, robertson, wacky, wine