Tag Archives: Zanzibar

Restaurant Review: GOLD Restaurant not so shiny for all tourist diners!

 

Last week I was invited by German visitors to join them for dinner, and of the three options I provided, they chose Gold Restaurant in Green Point. It was my first dinner at Gold since the restaurant had moved from Strand Street, its previous home. It was a noisy evening, a part I had forgotten about and not mentioned to the visitors by me, and the food offering as well as service made me reconsider whether I would recommend it to guests, having done so once before, with good feedback then. Continue reading →

Restaurant Review: Batavia Café proudly Cape Town; a French, Spanish, and Cape Malay mélange!

Batavia Cafe exterior Whale CottageI drive down Rose Street in Bo-Kaap almost every day, and have been watching the slow progress made in a restaurant opening in what was one of my favourite coffee stops.  After about six months of Haas having moved out, Batavia Café opened two weeks ago.

Old Haas fans may be disappointed with the lightweight decor, and design items for sale, following a similar concept as Haas in promoting not only its food at the Batavia Café, but also design in the Batavia section, by CapeBatavia Cafe Clothes and art Whale Cottage Town designers such as Issa leo (menswear), Lazuli (womenswear), BO.NE nature made (African animal skulls), work by artists Annette Visser and Ina Grobbelaar, Gruparte (graphic posters and prints), and Oh dear Megan (jewellery designer). The first floor which housed the Haas ad agency has been let. The seating area in the little courtyard offers the most privacy.  Many mixed-colour bunches of flowers, or a single stem in  a Continue reading →

Fantastic Fantinel Italian wines now in SA, good pairing with Mondiall menu!

Fabtinel branding Whale CottageYesterday we went Italian at worldly Mondiall, enjoying nine very fine and fantastic Fantinel wines, with a broad spectrum of Prosecco, light white wines, and rich earthy red wines, introduced by Dr Marco Fantinel, President of Gruppo Vinicolo Fantinel. The company is adding South Africa to its list of elite distribution points.Fantinel DR Marco Fantinel Whale Cottage

We were served a glass of Fantinel Prosecco Extra Dry as the welcome drink, and served canapés of ceviche on sesame crisps, as well as pork belly.  The pork belly canapés appeared just as we were going upstairs for the tasting, and were finished before I could photograph them!

Dr Fantinel traced the development of the company back to his grandfather Mario Fantinel, a hotelier and retaurateur in Fruili, in Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 2 September

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  The petrol attendants’ strike, threatened to have started today, has been averted for the time being.

*   The World Travel Awards Europe winners have been announced: Yorkshire Best Region, Portugal Best Golf destination, Waldorf Astoria Hotel Berlin Best New Hotel, Zurich Airport Best Airport, Lufthansa Best Airline, easyJet Best Low Cost Airline, and Hilton Leading Hotel group.

*   The harvest in Bordeaux is down by 20% this year, the lowest in just more than twenty years.

*   The Western Cape focus for September as Tourism Month follows the international theme of water, Tourism Minister Alan Winde has announced.  Mr Winde said Continue reading →