Sushi and Chinese please!

It’s Friday! And given that we’re on the precipice of a weekend, this post should come as divine enlightenment…

Late-night-Chinese-food

On a very merry excursion to all sorts of central city venues for debauchery, jollity and merriment, we found ourselves quite under the weather/influence on the taxi trip home. Doing the route back to le loov-leh 17 on Loader (Cape Town’s chic bed and breakfast in De Waterkant), the heavens opened and revealed a luminous red sign, on Seapoint Main Road, reading - “Xiang Yuan”. With the excitement of teenage girls at the mall, we begged the cab driver to pull over and poured in to Xiang Yuan.

Now my love of  the place may seem ridiculously evangelical but, given that the time was almost 3AM, finding somewhere OPEN was a feat unto itself.

Xiang Yuan is simple, almost a little dingy – but definitely clean. The fresh sushi and authentic, hot Chinese food went down like glassful of YES PLEASE! – despite our bellies not being in the most alkaline of states.

The miso soup was well-balanced, warm and more-ish. Crispy duck – an enormous portion, great value for money and obscenely delicious. Lastly the sushi – fresh, unusual and beautifully presented. All in all, we left Xiang Yuan high-fives and smiles and spent the next day better for it.

So for all of you nocturnal and post-midnight movers, wanting out-ness, warm Chinese food or some sushi, be sure to add Xiang Yuan to your list of late-night hang-outs.

Most popular Restaurants in Cape Town

Doodling on the Internet recently (as one sometimes does), I came across tripadvisor’s reviews on Cape Town Restaurants.

With over 32 000 reviews of South Africa’s tourism spots (Hotels, Guest Houses, Restaurants etc), I found the results to be rather interesting.

Which 5 restaurants do you currently consider to be the most popular?

The interesting results (in order of popularity) are:-

1. La Colombe;
2. Millers Thumb;
3. The Opal Lounge;
4. Beleza; and
5. Bizerca Bistro.

I must say, I would never have thought of some of these eateries as being so popular, but it just goes to show what hidden gems there are (and for many of us, may even be ones we have never heard of).

I recently decided to visit one of those mentioned – namely “The Opal Lounge”. Boy! What an amazing experience. However, no review here, as I need to take my time to reflect on the awesome experience – and perhaps return a few times, just to savour again and again that what makes it just so very special – and deservedly rated as a VERY popular eatery. Watch this space.

South African Wine Course

Are you tired of having dinner with your snootier glass-twirling, wine-snorting friends – and wondering how it is that the opinion of  a person gargling wine in public, can be considered so solemnly? If like me, you are well fed-up with going out to dine with someone that assumes you can’t choose the wine (because, perhaps you can’t), then this course if for you.

IVY LEAGUE WEDNESDAYS

As a tribute to pop culture icon Barney Stinson (of How I Met Your Mother),  Ivy League hosts SUIT UP DANCEFLOOR!

New kid on the Long Street block,Ivy League , brings a bit of mainstream flavour to the townies and, while Long Street is our lovely, I admit it’s a great addition. Long ’s leisure now caters for everyone. Boutique eateries, karaoke pubs and quaint cocktail venues function earlier on until Fiction’s electro, drum and bass and dubstep, Zula‘s underground hip hop and live gigs and, now, Ivy League ’s more commercialSuit Up Wednesdays jump-start the evening.

Ivy League has hosted some good live acts – including SA’s own current 5fm favourite, Locnville. The atmosphere is hats off but laid back – beanbags, big dancefloors, a very accessible bar, balcony and beam (read, stripper pole), provide all the elements to catalyze uninhibited, sound-system-driven anarchy.

Tonight, and every Wednesday night, Ivy League hosts Suit Up Dancefloor. Cover charge ranges from free to R30 (depending on time of arrival and state of gender) and R6 a brand runs until midnight… need we say more.

Find out more about Ivy League’s plans for the weekend here.

And an ever-so-gentle nudge not to forget that the Filth boys bring us the fourth installment of Pure Filth Thursday tomorrow night at Chevelle.

With love, your personal pimp of party, 17onLoader.

Friday Night Festive

17onLoader presents another daily dose of how-to and where-to debauchery. The weather is fantastic! A little breeze, a lot of sun and a city made for sundowners – so we suggest you start there.

At 6PM The Old Bisuit Mill Launches their Mobile Boutique Fridays. The Mobile Boutique, mobile and upmarket, is the much needed platform for the designer-with-day-job. Like everything at The Old Bisuit Mill, we’re antipating a tailor-made experience.

Tonight at Tafelberg Tavern, Hope Street, is the A is for Awesome party. Starting at 21:00, A IS FOR AWESOME in collaboration with adidas ObyO, presents a great live set line-up at only R40.

Desmond and the Tutu’s, Haasbroek, Radio Elite, We-Are-Awesome DJs and last but certainly not least – Gazelle. Gazelle is climbing the ranks as one of South Africa’s best live acts. Lyrics saturated with social criticism, and a great back beat, Gazelle is far more than just a band gig. They whip out the canvases and costumes and turn a gig into performance art – Infectiously fun to watch, and definitely kids to look out for.

Most importantly! If you have missed the bridge graffiti, the gig flyers and facebook status updates- People Under the Stairs are in town! This underground hip-hop outfit formed on the fringe of LA’s late 90’s, underground hip-hop emergence. Pre-sale tickets have been available at shelflife for R60, and are R80 at the door. This duo are devoted to jazzy samples, danceable beats, intricate rhyming skills, and laid-back humor. Everyone who has been to a gig of theirs has spoken of the as nothing but transcendent.

So that’s the scoop on Friday – bring it in with a bang!

THIS WEEK THURSDAY

As usual Cape Town is partying preemptively , and it seems that in anticipation of the holidays and students’ release back into the wild, this week is set to be a winner. This week/end 17onLoader delivers daily doses of debauchery how-to and where-to…

PURE FILTH THURSDAY AT CHEVELLE

 Filth is a brand by young up-and-coming Capetonian guys, known for looking good and partying hard. Sporting sayings like “I sick like that” and “I speak Mike Tyson”, Filth gear is better suited to “reckoners” who can handle the heat of attention.

Filth merchandise is launching for guys and girls in A Store soon and can currently be purchased by “Filth foot soldiers”.

In the meantime, Filth is spreading the love of the brand. From the moment that the R30  ”I get flithy” is stamped on your wrist, mayhem of the dressed-down-but-dressed-well ensues.

DJs are as follows:

21:00 – 22:00 – Beebop & Rocksteady


22:00 – 00:00 – Pascal & Pearce


00:00 – 02:00 – Nesono


02:00 – 04:00 – Bruce Willis


** Drinks Specials**

R10 – Selected Beers & Shots all night and limited 2 for 1 drinks:)

It takes another kind of kid to bring casual to chevelle and make it work, but they did and they have and it’s an altogether brilliant time. See you there.

Darf es ein bisschen Vanilla sein?

Nachdem die ganze Woche schon die Eroeffnungsparty des neuen Cape Quarter war, bot es sich an das exklusive Menue des “Vanilla” – Restaurant zu erproben.

Dort angekommen wurden wir von einer sehr netten Dame an den Tisch begleitet und diese ueberreichte uns die sehr noble, sowie exklusive Menuekarte. Schon beim Lesen des Menues hatte man das Gefuehl, einem laeuft das Wasser im Mund zusammen. Es war eine fantastische Auswahl von Sushi, Fleischgerichten, diverse Fischsorten sowie Salate.

Wir (Dirk, Bernhard, Andreas) entschieden uns mit einem Cocktail, passend zu dem Motto des Abends “Martini Cocktailparty”, zu starten. Dieser hat so gut geschmeckt, dass wir alle schon mit grosser Spannung auf die Salate und unsere Hauptgerichte warteten.

In der Zwischenzeit wurde uns ein buntes Abendprogramm auf dem Piazza geboten. Es waren diverse Artisten am Werke, die mit sehr guter und passender Musik eines stadtbekannten Dj’s begleitet wurden. Das Rahmenprogramm rundete den bislang perfekten Abend ab.

Nach einer Weile kam dann endlich der langersehnte Salat, dieser hervorragend schmeckte. In der Zwischenzeit, in der wir auf den Hauptgang warteten, goennten wir uns noch einen oder zwei weitere Cocktails und der Abend nahm immer mehr Fahrt auf und wurde von einer auf die andere Sekunde besser. Nach etwas Zeit, kam dann der langersehnte Hauptgang.

Dirk hatte ein Pork Belly (gerollter Schweinebauch) mit einer braunen Sosse darueber. Bernhard entschied sich fuer Springbok und ich entschied mich den Norwegischen Lachs mit Lemonen Risotto zu probieren. Alle drei Hauptgaenge waren einfach nur umwerfend. Dirk beschrieb es, mit einer Symphonie im Mund, so gut schmeckte uns allen das Essen.

Zu guter Letzt mussten wir natuerlich auch das Dessert unter die Lupe nehmen. Dirk und ich entschieden uns fuer das Panna Cotta, Bernhard nahm eine Art Nusscookies mit Nusscreme. Das Panna Cotta war der kulinarische Hoehepunkt an diesem Abend. Serviert wurde es mit einer roten Erdbeersosse und verschiedenen Beeren. Man hatte das Gefuehl es zerlaeuft wie die Butter auf der Zunge und dann schmeckt man den gigantischen Geschmack – unbeschreiblich !

Ein dickes Dankeschoen an Dirk und Bernhard, es war ein wunderschoener Abend, welcher mit einem kulinarischen Feuerwerk beendet wurde.

Wer in De Waterkant unterwegs ist, sollte das Vanilla-Restaurant auf keinen Fall verpassen !

Gelato Mania!

Memories you can taste- that’s what they promise, and it’s what they deliver. Think Lindt orange, kinder joy, pistachio and nougat gelato. Couple that with the pretense of healthy eating for the conscience – peach and mango, watermelon or pineapple sorbet. If you prefer to make a meal out of snack (as is my personal eating trademark), douse some fresh, warm waffles – light and fluffy inside and crispy out – in melted Ferrero Roche sauce and gelato, and sit down to enjoy.

Gelato Mania, just around the corner from 17 on Loader – on the border of De Waterkant and Mouille Point – has sugar-cone-served goods that reduce me to a state of childlike, incoherent elation. I am somewhat ice -cream obsessive, and so often angered by false advertising of gelato (and the suspicion that I just paid an inordinate amount of money for what could in fact be chilled butter icing). However, Gelato Mania strikes a perfect balance. Their gelato is luxuriously creamy, but still heavy and cold, with the luscious flavouring of fresh, heavy-handed, real ingredients. Their croccangelo is not to be missed – I can’t explain it. I could try (something about Crunchie chocolate, halva, caramel and vanilla) but I just wouldn’t do it any justice. It is incredible though, and unlike any ice cream flavour that I have tried before. 

About the place? Something out of a Dr. Seuss set. Brightly coloured everything! Velvet textiles, twinkling chandeliers and wonderfully helpful and mischievous-looking staff (which I attribute to spending all day around more-ish sugar).

Gelato Mania is open late (I regularly make a 10PM late night sugar stop) and is also a perfect Summer time setting. With open air seating on Somerset Road, behind the stadium and on the way to the Seapoint shore-break, a perfect scoop stop on your way to the beach.

Get Jade(d)!

More reports from the border (of 17 on Loader’s Divine De Waterkant). Jade lounge seems to just have picked up as a definite on the Capetonian social calendar. Situated just above Mano’s restaurant in Somerset Road, admission is free and the unwritten rule of no one under 23 seems to apply only to those dressed to distress. From what I could tell, the restriction was just a formality to keeping Jade class, class, class. 

Through the downstairs courtyard, ascend the regal staircase and cross the Parisian checkerboard tiles and you’re embraced by the  golden glow that echoes through this up-market champagne bar. Fair warning, you will have to dig a good deal deeper into your pockets (or someone else’s) than usual, but the service is great. From inside a seething sea of people we were still served within minutes, and observed as the waitresses confidently juggled a tray of champagne glasses through the high tide – to those  lounging about on the sofas. 

Although I admit it is bizarre to review the bathrooms, what a relief (hehe) to enter into this velvety, wall-papered boudoir without even the slightest inclination that any other person had been there before. And while I cannot speak for the men’s bathroom, an altogether-too-merry woman in the queue assured me that it was just as grand.

The crowd seemed to be a wagon-full of Cape Town’s well-to-do socialites, a naturally older crowd but fantastically friendly and laid-back. Easy place to mingle and meet and, most delightfully,  inebriated-brute-free Jade’s patrons do the beauty of the place justice – and then some. 

The carpeted , well-lit dance floor does inhibit a fair bit, but the music was great – something for everyone and stuff that we’d recognize. 

Thursdays is the party day but Jade also swings out in jazz every Wednesday and, while I haven’t eaten there , I’m told a reservation on weekends is crucial - which speaks for itself.

Don’t expect mayhem or rowdiness, but overall a chic place to be seen, an opulent place to be, breathtaking city views and Cape Town’s finest (looking).

Divine De Waterkant: The Loading Bay!

By day (dumdumdum!) The Loading Bay operates under the guise of a coffee house, but a lesser known secret is that on Thursday night it’s home of Cape Town’s hotter hipsters – it’s burger night:) 

Usually The Loading Bay closes shop early on, but last night we stopped by to try out their nocturnal offerings. Burger day considerately caters for carnivores and herbivores alike, with a scrumptious beef burger and an exotic black bean-based patty version for the veggies. Burgers are accompanied by an option of ribbon fries or salad – we opted to keep it clean and green and weren’t disappointed. A light side salad of artichoke hearts, sweet basil and red and butter lettuce was the perfect light offering to accompany our hamburgers. The burgers were hefty hair-on-your-chest, quality meet, on fresh kitka roll, with cheddar, gherkin and fairy dust – I didn’t really stop to examine the contents after the first bite;)  R75, for a hearty meal, that I  didn’t once regret spending.

Definitely not a place to hit in a hurry – day or night, The Loading Bay kitchen prepares their food with  loads of love (and loads of time) – but it always seems worthwhile. There is also something comforting about knowing that the burgers weren’t waiting on a shelf to be defrosted – The Loading Bay appeases appetite from scratch.  

A choice of quencher? The evening’s menu offered milkshakes that involved cookies and Lindt chocolate and a range of alcohols. Please note though that beverages are hard on the wallet in here, and I must admit that it seems they chose their alcoholic beverages according to shelf display and colour scheme, but it certainly works out in their favour. Most importantly they stock my very favouritest Brewers&Union unfiltered lager – a perfect accompaniment to the big beef. 

The service is great and smiley, while the setting superbly combines chic with industrial and I can honestly say that I haven’t been to a restaurants like it (which is a fair achievement in this town). Leave The Loading Bay with an ice cream and espresso affogato if you are heading out, or a complementary fresh-out-the-oven chocolate pecan cookie with milk if you’re on your way in.

Take off the tie for this place and swing by for breakfast, coffee, after work unwinders and (on Thursdays) dinner. Also operating as stockists of rare books, BluBlood jeans, CreativeRecreation, Le Coq Sportif, Chotovelli and the Scotch clothing line, The Loading Bay is definitely on the trendster’s to-d0… and better yet, it’s just around the corner from 17onLoader guesthouse.