Trip Report - Part 1 Capetown
 

Our family of 4 (boys ages are 13 and 15) recently returned from our trip to SA. Seeing as I used this forum alot to make our plans, I thought I would post some things about our trip.

We stayed for 5 nights at The President Hotel in Bantry Bay. This is located pretty close to Camps Bay in Cape Town. The hotel was only ok - the pool was small and somewhat crowded and the hotel rooms were also smallish. The location was great though.

In Capetown we rented a car for 3 days, which I would highly recommend. The driving is very safe there and it is pretty easy to get around. We drove one day to the winelands. The countryside is beautiful in Franchoesk and Stellenbosch. Stopped at the Graham Beck winery - was nice.

We did go up Table Mountain - great views, although I do think that the cost of the cable car is a bit expensive considering how inexpensive everything else in SA is.

Did a drive to Cape Point through Chapman's Peak - highly recommend this. The scenery is breathtaking and you can make alot of stops along the way. Be sure to stop at Boulder's Beach to see the penguins, Hout Bay and Cape Point national park.

The waterfront area is great to shop at. Being from Canada though, I would say that the stores are not anything special, it is the location on the water that is nice.

For dining we ate at some pretty great restaurants. Again, we found the prices of the food extremely reasonable compared to what we usually pay here.

African Cafe - great for authentic dining experience - recommend it.

Nelson's Eye - amazing steak restaurant - recommend it for the carnivores in the crowd. We had a great Merlot there called Backsberg - haven't been able to find it in any stores in Capetown or in Canada. If you can find it and you like Merlot - this was excellent.

La Perla - Italian restaurant - again, good food.

I would suggest reservations at all of these as they were pretty booked up when we went.

Overall Cape Town was great. You can easily spend more time than we had there. We didn't get a chance to see Robben Island as it was already booked for when we were there - you should make reservations before your trip if this is something you would like to see.

I'll post about the second part of our trip - the safari next.

Hi Kirby - Thanks for sharing!

Please tell me more about the location & amenities of the President Hotel. We will be spending 4 nights there next week.

Can we walk from the hotel to any beaches, restaurants or attractions?

Thanks!

kay5

I live 250 yards from the President Hotel so I reckon I can give you a good overview.

Location wise you can catch a free busride to the Waterfront region which is about 15 minutes away by bus. You could walk to the Watrefront but be aware that it would be an hour walk.

You are within strolling distance of Saunders Beach however this is not a wonderful beach at all. Also bear in mind that all surrounding beaches will be Atlantic seaboard beaches so the water will be chilly. (14C - 60F)

You could walk or taxi to Camps Bay with walking being about a 40 minute expertience which is very scenic along the route. I would advise that you do this walk once and thereafter use a taxi to go to Camps Bay. The beaches at Camps Bay and Clifon are wonderful to sit on BUT they all have cold water.

While staying at the President Hotel you are about 15 minutes from the downtown region of Cape Town.

There are a number of restaurants that are close to the hotel and in this regard special mention has to be made about a new eatery in the area called SALT. This is a restaurant that is in the Ambassador Hotel which is a 4 minute walk away from the President. Great venue and if you decide to go make sure that you book in advance asking for a window table.

It seems as if you are going to spend a lot of time outside and possibly on beaches so please remember that our sun is strong with a high UV rating. Use a sun block with a sun protection factor (SPF) of over 25 and slap it on more than twice a day. You cannot believe the importance of this tip when it comes to the Cape Town sun.

I hope that you enjoy and have an exciting stay in my city. When visiting Cape Town this is not too difficult to achieve. :)

Very proudly part of the wonderful ((R))nation of South Africa

Selwyn -

Thanks for replying regarding the President Hotel and vicinity. (And all the other great advice you give on this discussion board!)

The husband & I love to take walks, especially near water, so I'm glad to hear that the hotel is well situated for that. We arent much for "swimming", just beach strolling. I packed 50 SPF sunscreen and brimmed hats so we wont fry!

We love to eat where the locals eat - "diner"-type restaurants (very casual) - and love seafood. I'm looking forward to the Fish-n-chips I keep hearing is popular in Cape Town.

Any suggestions?

kay5,

I have posted this mail on the Fodors board before and am simply reposting it so as to save you the effort of having to go through the Fodors archives.

If you are looking for a Cape Town fish restaurant my suggestions would be:

Willoughby's in the Waterfront (no pre-booking at this restaurant)

Baia in the Waterfront. (4210935) Excellent fish restaurant and first class dining facility however on the expensive side (by local standards).

The big hidden secret fish place in Cape Town is Tangos (7126631) This is a venue that locals seem to have kept to themselves. You will hardly ever see tourists at this local family type fish venue. It is rather far out of the city center (25 minutes away in Kendall Road) but imho this is the very best fish restaurant in Cape Town. When you are in this restaurant you soon realize that fresh fish is being brought through the door minutes after being caught in the local Kalk Bay harbour. Furthermore if you want to find great varieties of local fish Tangos is the place to eat.

<b>Now here is the real typical fish and chips venue to eat at.</b>
If you have a lunchtime restaurant opportunity may I suggest that you stop at <b>Kalkies</b> in the Kalk Bay harbour. This is a real typical Cape Town experience to want to savor with fresh fish being served that was caught on the day in the Kalk Bay harbour. Furthermore you wont find tourists at this venue as it seems to be too down market from the outside so what you finds is that all the locals eat there because it is such a treasure. Try and experience this great culinary experience when in our city.

Btw when it comes to eating fish most establishments will serve you local fish in the form of Cob (Kabeljou, Kingklip (Local to Cape Town), Red Roman, Cape salmon and Yellowtail. When it comes to the shelled variety of fish you will be able to find crayfish (smaller than American lobster but definitely more substance to the meat and sweeter), prawns (Shrimp in the USA) and maybe giant prawns (prawns in the USA). All in all when it comes to shelled fish I say again be forewarned against being ripped off and DONT think in Dollar terms when ordering, think in Rand terms relative to what you will have already learnt as far a local values are concerned.

A restaurant that I would definitely <b> not miss </b> eating at while in Cape Town is the <b>Africa Cafe.</b> This is an experience you will not find anywhere else in the world let alone Africa. A MUST DO EVENT in my opinion when visiting my city. Go to www.africacafe.co.za and let the website convince you about my above suggestion. :)

You might ask well where do the local eat? Two places where you generally wont find a tourist in sight due to locals booking out the venues are The Bayside Cafe in Camps Bay (438 2650) and Millers Thumb in the Gardens area. (424 3838) Both these establishments are great places to eat at and the reason as to why locals eat at these venues are simple: Great food, excellent prices and wonderful local atmosphere. Be aware that if you dont pre-book you wont get in to these restaurants on week nights as well as weekends.

Theres another interesting new kid on the block in Cape Town in the form of the Caveau Wine Bar &amp; Deli. This is not a full blooded restaurant in that it is a wine bar and meeting place. If you want to meet some friendly locals this is the place to go to in Cape Town. The the wines and snacks are excellent. Great place. http://www.caveau.co.za/

Spicy foods in Cape Town could land you up in many places:

Wangthai is a Thai restaurant that serves very spicy foods.

Zorinas Cafe (4249301) at 172 Loop Street is a little hidden gem. It is actually a take-out venue with a little hidden restaurant behind it. No bookings, just arrive. Unquestionably the best samoosas and curry in town. Only open at lunch times and certainly worth the visit.

The big secret for wonderful spicy food is Bibis (7618635). This is a restaurant I would recommend very highly. Fabulous Indian cooking. Once again this venue is about 25 minutes out of the city centre and is situated in lower Kenilworth This is where our local Hindu community eat and the food is simply out of this world. Fair warning, no alcohol is served or allowed in this establishment.

If you are looking for a quality dining type restaurant take a look at 95 Keerom Street. (4220765) Excellent dining at slightly higher than normal prices. Nice atmosphere.

If you are looking for wonderful atmosphere then one of the best places to visit is one of the oldest restaurants in Cape Town viz. The Pizzeria Napolitana (4345386). This restaurant has been in Sea Point as far back as I can remember as a school kid growing up in Sea Point. The reason as to why this venue is still around under the same ownership of a third generation of the same original starting out family is that it offers great Italian foods and fish dishes at incredibly reasonable prices with a marvellous atmosphere in the eaterie thrown in too. Till today if one wants to visit this restaurant one generally needs to book about 3-4 days in advance. If you are looking for pasta in the Sea Point area then The Pizzeria (the name by which we all know it in Cape Town) is a great place to visit.
If you do visit this establishment and you want to order pasta then order the canneloni - To die for culinary experience!

Talking about pasta if you are in the Gardens area there is a place by the name of &quot;The Pasta Factory&quot; that is well worth visiting. The restaurant is unique in the manner that it operates. The system that this family concern uses is unique and difficult to describe in a mail however rest assured you will be surprised by the pleasant ways of the establishment inclusive of the excellent food. Reasonably priced too. The &quot;Pasta Factory&quot; works on a first come first serve basis. Btw the only reason as to why I am suggesting pasta places is because I have noticed that when visitors travel to Cape Town for lets say 4 nights on one night somebody in the touring group always somehow or other asks for pasta or pizza. Personally I would not advocate this because Cape Town has so much to offer in terms of local foods and especially fish but its a case of horses for courses so just in case you have an interest in pasta I have made the above two suggestions.

Make no error there are many other wonderful restaurants in Cape Town that are well worth visiting. The above restaurants are NOT the normal run of the mill recommendations that will be made in most &quot;eat out book&quot; recommendations. Willoughbys, Baia and maybe 95 Keerom Street could well come in for mentioning in some of the travel books available or possibly by others writing to this page. The restaurants mentioned in my list are the ones that locals frequent and my advice always remains &quot;when in Cape Town do eat what the Capetonians eat&quot;.

As a sideline an interesting website where you can see some whacky Cape Town restaurant reviews is at http://brianberkman.com/?ToDo=rest Go read the site and have Brian Berkman entertain you with his foodie writings.

Enjoy our great city when you visit us .

Very proudly part of the wonderful ((R))nation of South Africa