Tag Archives: Aquilla

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 9 September

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The MyCiTi Bus is to start rolling in the City Bowl, Sea Point, Century City, Duinefontein, and Melkbos on 2 November Brett Herron, the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Transport,  has announced via Twitter.  The start date for Camps Bay is 30 November, more than a year behind schedule.

*   The petrol attendant strike commences today, originally forecast for last week.

*   SA Breweries has launched an advertising campaign, in the form of a self-produced advertorial, in the Sunday Times Food Weekly, encouraging beer to be paired with food as the beer’s flavour released in the malting process is similar to that in cooked food, it claims in rather technical terminology!   Food and beer pairing tips are provided, with a poor photograph showing an unappetizing looking dish with a small part of a Castle Milk Stout label:  flavours must be compatible, strengths must match, ale can pair with what red wine pairs with and lager with white wine pairings, and the greater the bitterness and the higher alcohol content, the heavier the dish should be.

*   Excellent feedback was received from German wine writer Mario Scheuermann Continue reading →

Restaurant Review: Caffé Hausbrandt, Cape Town’s 4th best TripAdvisor restaurant!!!

When Cape Town was voted as the top city in the world in the Travelers’ Choice Destination Awards by TripAdvisor in April, we wrote about our scepticism about the value of the awards, given that this prestigious rank on TripAdvisor, with millions of reviewers the site brags, has not led to any increase in accommodation enquiries. 

We also wrote about the laughability of any TripAdvisor accolade, knowing how easy it is for accommodation establishments and restaurants to have reviews written by friends and family, a growing criticism that TripAdvisor has tried to address.  The height of absurdity was TripAdvisor’s list of Top 10 restaurants in Cape Town.  My eye caught the name of Caffé Hausbrandt, a restaurant which I had never heard of before, which was number 3 on the TripAdvisor list at that time, and which has now dropped to 4th position, in the Top 10 company of Le Colombe, Opal Lounge, Miller’s Thumb, San Marco in the Waterfront, Constantia Uitsig, Fork, Brio, Savoy Cabbage, and Carne, none of which have ever made the Eat Out  Top 10 Restaurant list, other than La Colombe!

A recent trip to the city centre was a good opportunity to try out this ‘top restaurant’, and I found Caffé Hausbrandt on Greenmarket Square, which opened nine months ago in a space where a competitive coffee shop to Vida e Caffé, owned by Ian Halfon, used to be.  My first impression was one of disbelief, in seeing an information bureau and ice cream/coffee shop rolled into one.  The entrance is dominated visually by the ‘Safari Information Centre’, which belongs to Searl Derman, the owner of Aquilla Game Reserve, sharing the space with Caffe Hausbrandt, but the latter’s branding is barely visible.  The interior looks reasonably smart, but an ice cream chest, a coffee making counter and cash register, a shelf of brochures for Safari, and an upstairs seating area are an odd mix.  Space is very limited inside, and that is why most customers would sit outside to enjoy the sun and the Greenmarket Square buzz.  It is not without its irritation however, with street musicians and pushy salespersons trying to flog their CD’s and other wares. 

The Manager of the outlet is Margot, and I could hear her German accent immediately.  She seemed very defensive, almost irritated, and less than friendly.   Her waiter seemed to have a greater role in attracting tourists into the shop than waitering, proactively enticing them in to try the ice cream, irritating as he was very loud and pushy.  He also was the ice cream dispenser with an attitude, and it was clear that he did not have much knowledge about the ingredients of the ice cream, only reading the labels that the customer can also see!  Margot proudly told me that she had made the Apfelstrudel herself.  When I switched to German, she seemed more friendly, and more ready to answer questions.  Odd was that the cake was served with a standard size knife and fork.

Tables are white with red chairs outside, and an all-weather couch as well.  Each table has a simple Hausbrandt menu and an Aquilla brochure in a holder.  This is clearly a coffee shop aimed at attracting tourists, with the hope that they will make use of the Safari information and booking service too.  The South African Caffe Hausbrandt branches are on Greenmarket Square, on the pedestrian mall on Waterkant Street, and in Melrose Arch in Johannesburg, and are owned by Austrian Gert Uppinger and local Jaco Viljoen. 

The menu is simple – a selection of coffees, muffins (R14,50), croissants (R11,50), chocolate croissants (R14,50), Manner Schnitten (Austrian wafers at R15), waffle and ice cream (R28), and a few cakes served with cream (R25).   Cappuccino costs R16,50, and was served on a smart silver tray, oddly with a small glass of luke-warm water.   The ice creams take center stage, it appears, and seem to be the only reason why customers enter the shop, the Icezeit Gelato flavours changing weekly.   A small cup of ice cream costs R15, and R18 on a cone.  It was delicious, very thick and creamy, and is made at the Waterkant Street location, I was told, surprising given how small it is, really just being a take-away outlet with a few chairs outside, and even smaller than the Greenmarket Square branch. 

Hausbrandt is an Italian brand of coffee established by Austrian Hermann Hausbrandt in Trieste in 1892 it would appear (the website is not very helpful in providing information), and has branches and sells its coffees around the world.  In Cape Town Lufthansa’s call centre now has a Hausbrandt vending machine, and the brand is served at Raith Gourmet shop in Garden Centre (plus its new Constantia shop), and at Andiamo in the Cape Quarter. On TripAdvisor, 14 reviews had earned the Greenmarket Square coffee shop 4th place on TripAdvisor, many reviews being in German, and almost all praised Caffé Hausbrandt for its excellent ice cream!   Most of the reviewers were from overseas, and not locals.

Caffé Hausbrandt, Greenmarket Square and 32 Waterkant Street, Cape Town, and Melrose Arch in Johannesburg.  Tel (021) 422-3308/(021) 421-0901.  www.hausbrandt.co.za.  Twitter: @Hausbrandt1892.   There is no information about the Icezeit Gelato on the local Hausbrandt website.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Twitter:@WhaleCottage

England fans Sweet & African Eagle Sour Service Awards

The Sweet Service Award goes to the England supporters, who so bravely and in a sportsman-like manner accepted the outcome of their Round of 16 match against Germany just less than 2 weeks ago.   Despite the loss, they partied and no reports of hooliganism were received, something which has been associated with English soccer fans in the past.

                       

The Sour Service Award goes to Enver of African Eagle, for the poor service a group of Whale Cottage World Cup guests, who had booked the company to do a day-tour to Aquilla, received.   The company’s guide called the Whale Cottage Camps Bay Manager Marianna at 5h45 to obtain directions!   They called again, to say they could not find the house, and were given the correct address again.   It took a further 30 minutes for them to reach the guest house.   An hour later the guests returned, saying that they had asked to be returned to Whale Cottage Camps Bay, as the driver was still looking for other clients at 8h00, when they should have reached Aquilla already and had breakfast there!   It took Enver 24 hours to return Marianna’s call of complaint, due to a message that had not been passed on to him by his staff.  When he took ownership of the problem, Enver immediately apologised and explained that he had used a new Portuguese-speaking guide, who had been requested by other booked clients, but who did not know Cape Town well.   Enver promised to drop off bottles of wine for the Whale Cottage guests and chocolates for Marianna, to apologise for the poor service.   The guests have long since checked out and the promised wine and chocolates have not been received! 

The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog.  Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com.   Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.