Pt. 1 – The Old
Given this is the sixth time I’m doing this particular trip,
fairly little is new. In reality, most of what I did on my first full day and
third full day in Cape Town was treading on old ground, with a few small but
notable exceptions. The time in Cape Town started in the way I think I’ve
started my last two first full days, with a morning to lunch-time hike of The
Pipe Track, from the starting point at the intersection of Table Mountain and
Lion’s Head, continuing on through the backside of Table Mountain down to
eventually Camps Bay.
It's a most trusted 90 minute jaunt. A few periods of
uphills, a few periods of rocks, but mostly pleasant terrain and endless
incredible views, from Lion’s Head on top of the initial part of the hike,
through to the cascading series of peaks I would learn the next day were titled
the Twelve Apostles, with the truly glistening Atlantic situated on past Camps
Bay. There are enough interesting parts of the hike to keep it moving, from the
actual pipe you have to walk on in portions, to the few gorges and couple streams,
to the amazing trees that dot all over the Western Cape landscape. The Pipe
Track also saves its best gift for last which is a drive back through a really
swanky part of Camps Bay back to Cape Town, mainly the first few roads which
have expensive homes with garages at Street Level and the houses built into the
cliff underneath.
When back in Cape Town, with my parents running late on
their tour of Stellenbosch (had about 25% of me regretting not joining them,
having not done a Stellenbosch tour since 2016 – my 2nd trip), I
went to Between Us for lunch. It’s a really nice little spot with a large, well
crafted if homely menu served with intention. I got a Bean & Almond soup which
was interesting but worked really well with a couple really soft bread rolls
that accompanied it. For my main, I got an oxtail ragu which was excellent.
After lunch I regioned my parents at the AirBNB. My Dad left for Newlands
Cricket Ground to watch the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup (completely coincidental
timing), and I took my Mom for a tour first of the Waterfront during the day,
where she fell in love with it again, and then an unexpected tour of a 6x2
block park in the north end of the city center.
Technically I had been there before, but it was on my very
first trip in 2013, since having experienced a combination of forgetting about
it, and not finding time. Granted, It’s a skippable spot, but we only reached accidentally
after realizing a food market in the area had permanently closed. The park is
surrounded by old government buildings and Cape Town’s art museum. It was as
well manicured and well replete with views of Table Mountain as you would
expect anywhere in Cape Town.
On Saturday (Day 9), the main event was Kirstenbosch
Gardens, a place I had been to three previous times, but never really ventured
from end to end since my first visit there in 2016. My mom is an avid gardener
so she took to it immediately. Honestly, even as for me or my Dad who are not
nearly as avid, the allure is quite something. Vast space of well manicured
gardens and trees and forest and lush green everywhere, all with the imposing
Skeleton Gorge peak (a part of the backside of Table Mountain) overhead. We
spent a good two to three hours there, which made sense given it was the main
event of the day.
Dinner on Saturday was at Belly of the Beast, a pet favorite
of mine. The 30-seat restaurant serves one sitting at 6:45pm, with a 6 course
(made to 8 with throw in palate cleansers and petit fours) tasting menu. What I
love about the place is that it is food I could conceivably make. There’s no
molecular gastronomy at work. It is just great ingredients, worked on by great
chefs made with care and precision. For instance, their opener was homemade
bread with two dips of a duck terrine and duck liver parfait. Both were so damn
good. Their fish course was a grilled bream with cape malay sauce. I could make
a version of that dish easily. Theirs was far better than I could hope to
match. Their main dish was a lightly cooked lamb rib with pinot jus and
asparagus puree and it was great. Belly of the Beast is just a reliable option
with such high quality food, and with the current exchange rate, you get it all
for $45.
Night both days were somewhat consistent, what with the
focus of Thursday through Saturday nightlife in the city. On both days I first
stopped at The House of Machines, which is increasingly becoming a go-to on my
trips. Both because it is closer to Modular, the remaining EDM club in the city
center, than Long Street is to it, and as mentioned previously my feelings
about Long Street are on a consistent decline. House of Machines has a good
crowd, great service, a great vibe and atmosphere – though granted this is one of
the more common positives I’ve noted about Cape Town is how generally pleasant
everyone is.
After The House of Machines was Modular. I still prefer the
now closed Reset, but Modular has taken full advantage of its unrivalled position,
expanding to Bar Lido next door which is more of a traditional club vibe (more
tables, larger space, more trendy music) but is reachable down the same alley
with the same entry fee. Modular is still way more popular as on Thursday Night
it was quite crowded when I left around 2:15, and on Saturday it was already a
15-person line when I arrived at 12:30. The line moves quickly, mostly because
there is no real crowd control. Great ventilation, ample bartenders and again
the right vibes of people in the place make it all still work though. The
options here are more limited than other major cities for sure, but Cape Town’s
reliable nightlife is every bit still as reliable.
Pt. 2 – The New
Why did I hop around a bit? Because I want to talk about
what new things I did over these two days as well. Actually first, let’s do a
quick interlude…
Pt. 1.5 – The Old & New
When I visited Cape Town in 2020, I left my personal phone
in an uber. I still had my work phone and through that was able to get in touch
with the driver who said it wasn’t in the uber and either (1) the next passenger
took it or (2) he was lying. Well, this time around on Thursday I left both my
phones in an uber. I realized quickly, but with both phones it was tough to do
anything. I tried calling my work number (my personal was on airplane mode) 4-5
times, and when we got back to our AirBNB I tried to no avail to contact the
driver through Uber or other means (all 2FA options basically required me
needing one of my phones). Somehow, on maybe the 10th attempt at
calling my phone, he picked up. If anything he was cautious, wanting specific
details on where he picked us up and dropped us off before agreeing it was
indeed me. We scheduled to meet at 9pm, where he promptly showed up at 9:03 and
gave back both phones. Anyway, this is a long way of saying we were supposed to
go to Miller’s Thumb for dinner Thursday (old, been there, it’s great) but
because of this we couldn’t, and ended up at a place called Mano’s.
Pt. 2 – The New, return
Mano’s is right around the corner from our AirBNB, on Main
Road in Green Point. It was always full with a mix of young and old folks. It
seemed enticing. It also allowed me to stay close enough to meet the Uber
Driver with my phones. It was a last minute call, but it was pretty good. We
split a smoked salmon salad, a Mozabiquan Prawn Curry and really, really well
cooked sliced lamb chops. This was on the face of it the type of place that
would mess up lamb chops like that, but they served them confidently with
nothing but lemon, and they were great. Mano’s is the type of place I frankly just
haven’t gone to in Cape Town, moreso focusing on places that are more touristy and
flashy and what not. But if I were to live here, I would need places like Mano’s
so its certainly cool to realize that not only do they exist, but they’re
pretty great.
The other main "new" these last days was the Neighborghoods Market which is only open on Saturday and Sunday in the Old Biscuit Mill, the same area that The Pot Luck Club is located. The market itself is far better for its food than its good - with most of the wares for sale the same stuff available any day at The Watershed in the Waterfront. However, the food and the great sense of community and living and joy en masse that is gathering there because of the food, is phenomenal. We didn;t to in search of food, but it all looked so good that we already decided to come back Sunday for our lunch. The market has live music, a couple full bar stalls and then a large warehouse with food stalls everywhere and rows of tables in the middle. It was such a cool, vibrant scene, that I truly can't believe I hadn't seen it before. Even on your sixth time, there are a few hidden gems within Cape Town left to uncover.
