The Spice Route, Paarl
I love a Friday as it is our day for exploring Cape Town restaurants! There are so many restaurants in and around Cape Town that it would take years of exploring – and then there will be even more after that. On Friday we were off to Paarl, which is about a 40 minute drive from Durbanville. Our Friday choice was The Spice Route Restaurant, which is situated next to Fairview which we have visited in December last year.
Before you follow the winding path to the restaurant, you can pop in at the Deli of Brenda de Jager, which is in a quaint white-washed house just off the main road. In the deli you will find all kinds of preserves and fresh products, but also wonderful smelling spices like curries, cumin, turmeric, etc.
The Spice Route offers tourists artisanal producers who take you on a journey. On the route are different restaurants, e.g. Bertus Basson At Spice Route which offers traditional South African meals that have been slightly modernized. Bertus Basson is one of South Africa’s top chefs. Visitors have the choice of sitting inside or on the patio while enjoying a magnificent view of the Paarl Winelands. There is the opportunity for wine tasting or if you like chocolates, what about sampling some artisan chocolates from the Chocolatier. There is a beer garden for beer lovers and you could sample different types of beer with some biltong at the Barley and Biltong emporium, or you could watch the process of beer making at the CBC or Cape Brewing Company.
If you enjoy beautiful objects of glass, you could visit the glass blowing studio called Red Hot glass, where there are a lot of beautiful glass products on view, but watch your step when you enter the studio. You certainly do not want to break any of those glass objects – it would be a costly encounter.
When we were seated, we received freshly baked bread served with Apricot Butter and Smoked Snoek Pâté. For lunch Deon’s choice was the pork belly and I settled for the line fish of the day. The braised pork belly was served with carrots; leeks and salsa verde and the line fish was accompanied by chorizo, mussels, fennel, parsley and chives. Unfortunately there were no chicken dishes on the small menu. Our food was creatively presented. Deon was very happy with his meal, but I thought that my fish was slightly overcooked. It was, however, an enjoyable meal with a view to die for.
Thank you for sharing this informative one. …