Lunch in Franschhoek
May 17th, 2006, 11:03 PM
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Lunch in Franschhoek
After distilling the advice on this Board, we're hoping to have dinner in October at Le Bon Vivant. I'm in the process of narrowing my choices for lunch in Franschhoek with the leading contenders being: Delicious, Cottage Fromage, Le Pique Nique at Boschendal, Bread & Wine. I would be very interested in hearing the reactions of all you knowledgeable people.
[BTW, we will be staying one night at Le Petit Ferme.]
Thanks.
[BTW, we will be staying one night at Le Petit Ferme.]
Thanks.
May 19th, 2006, 09:54 PM
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Mediatorr,
Unfortunately Delicious has closed down so it cant feature on your choice list anymore.
If you are staying at Le Petit Ferme (great choice of accommodation venue by the way) I would strongly recommend having lunch there too as it is a 100% winner. With that said you will also be having breakfast at the venue so I would assume that you would be looking for variation in location. If this is the case then all will depend on what you intend doing on the day while you are in the Franschhoek region and whether you will have a car at your disposal.
Assuming that you will have a car available to you then all the venues you have mentioned are wonderful places to eat and I hate to say this but it does not come down to suggestion from others anymore as your decision should come down to where you will located at lunchtime while sightseeing on the day.
Cotage Fromage is a great little place which serves an interesting cheese platter but a rather basic menu. The setting is lovely, food is above average and location is good.
Boschendal is a wonderful experience in that it is a true picnic type lunch under the trees in a magnificent setting on the winefarm. To locals Boschendal would be regarded as being expensive however most visitors report back that they find it to be well priced. To have lunch at Boschendal you have to leave 2 hours free in your day schedule and if sightseeing is of importance to you then this choice might not be a good idea.
Bread and Wine is in a farmland setting and the food is wonderful. The menu is reasonable in size and out of all the venues you have chosen it is the closest to the village of Franschhoek.
Of all the places you have chosen I doubt if your will not enjoy all of them and what is more is that I dont think that you need have to worry about making reservations in the month of October as I am quite sure that you will be accommodated by all these venues on the spur of the moment.
With the above all said my opinion is that you should not make too much effort in planning where you will be having lunch and rather see where your sightseing day takes you. Wherever you will be at the lunchtime period is where you should select the closest venue at the time out of any of the above places.
Hope this helps you in your planning.
Very proudly part of the wonderful
nation of South Africa
Unfortunately Delicious has closed down so it cant feature on your choice list anymore.
If you are staying at Le Petit Ferme (great choice of accommodation venue by the way) I would strongly recommend having lunch there too as it is a 100% winner. With that said you will also be having breakfast at the venue so I would assume that you would be looking for variation in location. If this is the case then all will depend on what you intend doing on the day while you are in the Franschhoek region and whether you will have a car at your disposal.
Assuming that you will have a car available to you then all the venues you have mentioned are wonderful places to eat and I hate to say this but it does not come down to suggestion from others anymore as your decision should come down to where you will located at lunchtime while sightseeing on the day.
Cotage Fromage is a great little place which serves an interesting cheese platter but a rather basic menu. The setting is lovely, food is above average and location is good.
Boschendal is a wonderful experience in that it is a true picnic type lunch under the trees in a magnificent setting on the winefarm. To locals Boschendal would be regarded as being expensive however most visitors report back that they find it to be well priced. To have lunch at Boschendal you have to leave 2 hours free in your day schedule and if sightseeing is of importance to you then this choice might not be a good idea.
Bread and Wine is in a farmland setting and the food is wonderful. The menu is reasonable in size and out of all the venues you have chosen it is the closest to the village of Franschhoek.
Of all the places you have chosen I doubt if your will not enjoy all of them and what is more is that I dont think that you need have to worry about making reservations in the month of October as I am quite sure that you will be accommodated by all these venues on the spur of the moment.
With the above all said my opinion is that you should not make too much effort in planning where you will be having lunch and rather see where your sightseing day takes you. Wherever you will be at the lunchtime period is where you should select the closest venue at the time out of any of the above places.
Hope this helps you in your planning.
Very proudly part of the wonderful
nation of South Africa
May 20th, 2006, 10:10 PM
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Thank you VERY much, Selwyn. Yes, I was thinking that maybe we should find another place for lunch since we will be having breakfast at La Petite Ferme. But, maybe we should have lunch there, too, since it always gets such high recommendations. On the other hand, the reason I was asking now was definitely because I assumed it would be necessary to make reservations. If no, all the better. I'd always prefer to be able to play it by ear.
We will have a car and intend to visit some wineries and possibly the chocolate factory. Do you think we need reservations for that in October?
We will have a car and intend to visit some wineries and possibly the chocolate factory. Do you think we need reservations for that in October?
May 21st, 2006, 03:48 AM
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Mediatorr,
The Huguenot Chocolate Factory has changed over the years from being a place where you could watch the chocolates being made to what is today simply a chocolate shop selling delicious chocolates. Thus there is no need to make any reservations as one just walks in and buys chocolates in this very cute little shop.
Some other hidden secrets in Franschhoek that visitors seem to find out about are:
1. Go to The Old Corkscrew antique shop and see the amazing little secret in this shop. Go find out yourself as I am not going to tell you.
2. Visit the Le Cotte Inn Wine shop and dont just ramble around in the wonderful bottle store also go downstairs into their storage cellar. Fabulous place to experience and shop for wine.
3. If travelling out of Franschhoek when passing Plasier de Merle winefarm (28 km outside of Franschhoek on the way to Paarl) look on the other side of the road and you will see a big shed with the words "Die Kooperasie" on it. Stop and go inside and you will be amazed at what you will find. Once again I am not going to tell you what you will see as it is always great to find interesting secrets on your own when visiting new places.
4. If you dont want to visit any of the restaurants on your lunch time list then go to La Grange. This is a venue that is totally off the tourist trail and away from all the commercialism in Franschhoek. Wonderful setting with excellent food and quite a unique experience of an interesting shop to look at while you are waiting for your food to arrive.
5. So many people visit Franschhoek and never ascend the Franschhoek Mountain range. The reason for this is that one has to do this by travelling away from the village of Franschhoek and most people are caught up in the hype of the village and thus dont do this drive. You will be staying at Le Petite Ferme which is halfway up the pass. My suggestion is that when you leave your place of stay, instead of turning left to go back to the village of Franschhoek, turn right and travel up the mountainside for about 5 Km and you will be amazed how the wonderful overhead scenery of the town of Franschhoek unfolds. I also must mention that I really believe that it is well worthwhile to travel the Pass for about 35 Km further to the town of Grabouw and then return back via the same road as the wonderful scenic visuals of this road put all that you will see in Franschhoek to shame. This is something which I find that probably 95% of people who visit Franschhoek never do and when you see the visuals that they are missing, purely because they have been caught up in the commercial hype of the town itself, you will understand why I am suggesting that you do this ride.
Enjoy Franschhoek in October.
Very proudly part of the wonderful nation of South Africa
The Huguenot Chocolate Factory has changed over the years from being a place where you could watch the chocolates being made to what is today simply a chocolate shop selling delicious chocolates. Thus there is no need to make any reservations as one just walks in and buys chocolates in this very cute little shop.
Some other hidden secrets in Franschhoek that visitors seem to find out about are:
1. Go to The Old Corkscrew antique shop and see the amazing little secret in this shop. Go find out yourself as I am not going to tell you.
2. Visit the Le Cotte Inn Wine shop and dont just ramble around in the wonderful bottle store also go downstairs into their storage cellar. Fabulous place to experience and shop for wine.
3. If travelling out of Franschhoek when passing Plasier de Merle winefarm (28 km outside of Franschhoek on the way to Paarl) look on the other side of the road and you will see a big shed with the words "Die Kooperasie" on it. Stop and go inside and you will be amazed at what you will find. Once again I am not going to tell you what you will see as it is always great to find interesting secrets on your own when visiting new places.
4. If you dont want to visit any of the restaurants on your lunch time list then go to La Grange. This is a venue that is totally off the tourist trail and away from all the commercialism in Franschhoek. Wonderful setting with excellent food and quite a unique experience of an interesting shop to look at while you are waiting for your food to arrive.
5. So many people visit Franschhoek and never ascend the Franschhoek Mountain range. The reason for this is that one has to do this by travelling away from the village of Franschhoek and most people are caught up in the hype of the village and thus dont do this drive. You will be staying at Le Petite Ferme which is halfway up the pass. My suggestion is that when you leave your place of stay, instead of turning left to go back to the village of Franschhoek, turn right and travel up the mountainside for about 5 Km and you will be amazed how the wonderful overhead scenery of the town of Franschhoek unfolds. I also must mention that I really believe that it is well worthwhile to travel the Pass for about 35 Km further to the town of Grabouw and then return back via the same road as the wonderful scenic visuals of this road put all that you will see in Franschhoek to shame. This is something which I find that probably 95% of people who visit Franschhoek never do and when you see the visuals that they are missing, purely because they have been caught up in the commercial hype of the town itself, you will understand why I am suggesting that you do this ride.
Enjoy Franschhoek in October.
Very proudly part of the wonderful
nation of South Africa
May 21st, 2006, 03:56 AM
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Mediatorr
Oops!
A small error in the above posting is that I should have written
"Some other hidden secrets in Franschhoek that visitors <b>DONT</b> seem to find out about are"
Without the word "dont" all that I am suggesting would be far from being a hidden secret.
Very proudly part of the wonderful nation of South Africa
Oops!
A small error in the above posting is that I should have written
"Some other hidden secrets in Franschhoek that visitors <b>DONT</b> seem to find out about are"
Without the word "dont" all that I am suggesting would be far from being a hidden secret.
Very proudly part of the wonderful
nation of South Africa
May 21st, 2006, 07:40 PM
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WOW!!!!!!!!!!
Selwyn, that is some fabulous information. We will absolutely follow your recommendations. We are mainly going to Franschhoek for the setting and the food. Although I enjoy visiting wineries, they are probably a bit less important to us because we live in California and have visited wineries both here and in other countries known for wine. I suspect that we'll find plenty of wine even if we don't go to plenty of wineries.
We will be coming to Franschhoek from Prince Albert and will head into Cape Town (our very last stop) after Franschhoek. Would it work for us to go up the mountain and through Paarl on our way to Cape Town?
While I'm close to the subject, you may be able to help me with a different question. I have been told that there might be an interesting Jewish Museum in Oudtshoorn which we might be able to visit on our way to Prince Albert. Do you know anything about that?
I hope I haven't imposed too much with all my questions. Hopefully, they will be helpful to others as well.
Selwyn, that is some fabulous information. We will absolutely follow your recommendations. We are mainly going to Franschhoek for the setting and the food. Although I enjoy visiting wineries, they are probably a bit less important to us because we live in California and have visited wineries both here and in other countries known for wine. I suspect that we'll find plenty of wine even if we don't go to plenty of wineries.
We will be coming to Franschhoek from Prince Albert and will head into Cape Town (our very last stop) after Franschhoek. Would it work for us to go up the mountain and through Paarl on our way to Cape Town?
While I'm close to the subject, you may be able to help me with a different question. I have been told that there might be an interesting Jewish Museum in Oudtshoorn which we might be able to visit on our way to Prince Albert. Do you know anything about that?
I hope I haven't imposed too much with all my questions. Hopefully, they will be helpful to others as well.
May 22nd, 2006, 01:07 AM
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Mediatorr,
If you are in Franschhoek on a Saturday DEFINITELY visit Haute Chabriere and go on Achim von Arnim's 3 hour wine tour of his farm. No matter where you have been to as far as wineries are concerned you will never have experienced an event like this and believe me it is wonderful wine type experience. Haute Chabriere is right over the road from Le Petit Ferme.
Unfortunately the Franschhoek Mountains are on the other side of the Paarl region and you cannot experience them when coming in to Franschhoek via Paarl or the R62. I want to mention that the drive over the pass should take you at most 2 hours on a return basis and I really believe is well worth the ride.
As far as Oudtshoorn is concerned you are 100% correct in that there is a museum in the town that is dedicated mainly to the ostrich industry called the CP Nel Museum. http://www.cpnelmuseum.co.za/tour.php?synagogue The Jewish population of Oudtshoorn played a HUGE role in the development of the ostrich industry and prospered in the Oudtshoorn district. There was an old synagogue in the town which the Jewish population picked up in total and transferred it to the museum when they built a new shul in the town. The exhibition is a fascinating one and I HIGHLY recommend the visit if you have an interest in this type of experience. The museum is broken down into sectors and the old synagogue is one of the sectors whereas much of other parts of Jewish life in Oudtshoorn are also shown up in other parts of the museum. Overall I suggest you allocate 1-2 hours for this event
If you have an interest in Jewish history I would very strongly advise you to also visit the Cape Town Jewish Museum. http://www.sajewishmuseum.co.za/home/ This is a fabulous place of important history in Cape Town and is extremely well presented.
Hope all of the above helps you to enjoy your journey through the Karroo, Franschhoek and Cape Town region.
Very proudly part of the wonderful nation of South Africa
If you are in Franschhoek on a Saturday DEFINITELY visit Haute Chabriere and go on Achim von Arnim's 3 hour wine tour of his farm. No matter where you have been to as far as wineries are concerned you will never have experienced an event like this and believe me it is wonderful wine type experience. Haute Chabriere is right over the road from Le Petit Ferme.
Unfortunately the Franschhoek Mountains are on the other side of the Paarl region and you cannot experience them when coming in to Franschhoek via Paarl or the R62. I want to mention that the drive over the pass should take you at most 2 hours on a return basis and I really believe is well worth the ride.
As far as Oudtshoorn is concerned you are 100% correct in that there is a museum in the town that is dedicated mainly to the ostrich industry called the CP Nel Museum. http://www.cpnelmuseum.co.za/tour.php?synagogue The Jewish population of Oudtshoorn played a HUGE role in the development of the ostrich industry and prospered in the Oudtshoorn district. There was an old synagogue in the town which the Jewish population picked up in total and transferred it to the museum when they built a new shul in the town. The exhibition is a fascinating one and I HIGHLY recommend the visit if you have an interest in this type of experience. The museum is broken down into sectors and the old synagogue is one of the sectors whereas much of other parts of Jewish life in Oudtshoorn are also shown up in other parts of the museum. Overall I suggest you allocate 1-2 hours for this event
If you have an interest in Jewish history I would very strongly advise you to also visit the Cape Town Jewish Museum. http://www.sajewishmuseum.co.za/home/ This is a fabulous place of important history in Cape Town and is extremely well presented.
Hope all of the above helps you to enjoy your journey through the Karroo, Franschhoek and Cape Town region.
Very proudly part of the wonderful
nation of South Africa
May 23rd, 2006, 02:26 PM
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I still need to get our full trip report together, but I was just in Franschoek in early May and had lunch at La Petite Ferme (we were staying there) and at Bread and Wine. Both were amazing meals, and the lunch at Bread and Wine might be my favorite from our entire three week trip. The vegetarian onion entree at LPF was also amazing. I would highly recommend either restaurant.
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