Review: Moyo Fountains Valley

Review: Moyo Fountains Valley

 

Image source.

 

Normal criteria to judge restaurants by are quality of food, the class of service and atmosphere. For Moyo I have to introduce another category – your ass. 

After sitting at Moyo for just half an hour you will be acutely aware of your ass and how much it hurts. Although the chairs have a rustic charm to them, they are uncomfortable as hell and your ass will be begging for mercy.

During this first half hour you will also get thirsty since waiters at Moyo is seriously a scare resource.

If you do manage to get a waiter and order something, the waiter will return 10 minutes later only to inform you that they don’t have that item in stock. That goes for the wine and food. 

Eventually we got so fed up with the waiter returning to tell us they don’t have stock that we asked him to find out what they do have and then we will order that. 

 

The restaurant looks stunning. Too bad the food is just average.

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We finally struck gold and ordered something they do have. Luckily the food wasn’t as shit as the service. However, that’s all I can say for it though.  Average at best. 

There are so many negative things to mention about Moyo in Fountains Valley which is really unfortunate. The Moyo in Melrose Arch are for many people the definitive measuring stick you use to measure other restaurants with. 

I assume that Moyo had an ‘off’ evening and that most of the time they must be on the ball. How else would they have survived this long? 

So maybe it is worth your time and money to go there. I would definitely not go back there. The amount they charge for the food and the service you get...not worth it.





I can summarise the experience with this:

MOYO = FAIL :(

Review: Wine and cheese tasting at Fairview Wine Estate

Review: Wine and cheese tasting at Fairview Wine Estate

Note: for today’s post I am taking over from my fiancé that is ill in bed. It’s her birthday but she is too sick to do the planned review of our visit to Fairview wine estate in the Western Cape. Any vet worth his salt will tell me it will be quicker and easier just to put her down.

During my life I have eaten some cheeses made at Fairview, so it was nice to finally be at the place where the magic happens. ‘Magic’, being the act of letting sour milk rot until fungus grows all over it. I wonder, who was the bright spark that had the idea to let milk rot up to the point that it becomes a solid block and then eat it?

That said, my fiancé and I, like most people, love cheese. Gouda, Feta, Brie, Camembert, Cream Cheese, etc. All the stuff Weight Watchers say you have to stay away from. Fairview produces a whole line of artisanal* cheeses at their cheesery**.

Located close to the idyllic town of Paarl in the Western Cape, Fairview is a dream come true for people coming from Mordor (Gauteng). Lush green fields and vineyards set a dramatic contrast to the Gauteng landscape of burning cars and police officers soliciting bribes from the people burning in the cars.

Driving into Fairview you are greeted by their iconic goat castle. A tall tower structure that only goats have the dexterity to climb. Cows will just fall off and roll into the parking lot.

Lounge in the wine tasting area.

 

Walk past the tower and into the wine tasting area. The wine tasting area is divided into two tasting areas – the casual tasting area and the exclusive tasting area. We headed straight for the exclusive area since you not only get to taste wine, but every wine is paired with a cheese that compliments the wine’s flavour. As a palate cleanser, you are served Ciabatta bread with olive oil produced locally at Fairview.

The waiters serving you are very knowledgeable in not only the wine making techniques used on the farm but also the cheese making process. Question them about anything regarding wine tasting and they will be able to tell you. Skin contact, maturing, oak barrel aging versus something something, honestly, thinking back, I can’t remember much. I assume the wine tasting was a great success.

Oak barrels used to age wine, next to the wine tasting area.

 

Stumbling out of Fairview I reflected how great it is to be in South Africa. The natural beauty, the people and the food makes this one of the greatest countries in the world.

*New word I just learned.

**Another new word I just learned. In fact, not even MS Word spell check knows what a cheesery is.

Restaurant review: Doppio Zero Southdowns

Restaurant review: Doppio Zero Southdowns

Doppio Zero at the Southdowns mall in Centurion recreates the atmosphere of a European Coffee Shop. (No, not Amsterdam Coffee Shop).

When you step through the doors at Doppio, you are greeted with the scent of freshly baked bread and cookies. Doppio Zero has their own bakery, which delivers freshly baked Artisan goods every day.

Ideal for a first date, I invited a girl that I have only spoken to on the Internet to join me for a drink at Doppio. The friendly and warm atmosphere at Doppio is perfect to put two nervous people at ease. Also, eye witnesses should I go missing.



Image source.

The ambience did its job and soon, with wine in hand, we were chatting like we have known it each other for years. We quickly decided that we will upgrade this date from ‘Drinks’ to ‘Dinner and Drinks’. Doppio’s menu offers Mediterranean dishes with a South African twist. They have a lot mouth-watering dishes including one of my favourites – Gnocchi. Much like a pasta dish, Gnocchi is made from potato dumplings and served with a pasta sauce you desire.

Image source.

The breakfast menu at Doppio Zero is something special with many unique dishes that you don’t normally find on a breakfast menu making Doppio a lovely place to go for breakfast.

Hey, speaking of menus, Doppio Zero why do you put you menus on your website as pdf files? Not only do I have to wait for the menu to download, the menus are not searchable. If you want to make one change to the menu you have to redo the pdf and upload the file again. If you had the menu in HTML you could make the change quickly without a lot of hassle. Do yourself and us a favour by uploading your menus in good ’ol HTML.

According to your website, you don't have pizza.

That said, Doppio is an enjoyable upmarket and relaxed place for breakfast, lunch or dinner. How did my dinner date go?

As of now, my date is now my fiancé.

 

 

 

Review: Dinner @ Capeesh! Capeesh?

REVIEW: DINNER @ CAPEESH!

Let me start with a little story first, before reviewing this awesome restaurant.  I've been a patron of this restaurant since 2010.  So when me and the fiance started dating I decided on sharing this experience with him. 

 

I clearly remember it being May 2012, a Tuesday night, just before we were to go away for the weekend to Parys, I asked him to dinner at this nice Italian restaurant. And it being "Half price Pasta Evening" was just an extra bonus!

 

We were busy having a lovely dinner, chatting away about our past (we were both married before), the present (how lucky we were to have met each other) and the future! What a shock it was on my poor digestion when this handsome man across the table form me told me that he liked me BUT that he was not in love with me! Oh my goodness, I wanted to choke on the delicious piece of steak in my mouth, but decided to rather finish the whole bottle of wine in front of me!

 

But let me tell you this, that Friday evening after that terrible Tuesday, we were in Parys and with the fire going and the red wine flowing, this man watched me with longing eyes while I was preparing our pasta.  And it gave me quite a kick to tease him with soft kisses and to quote myself my reaction was: "You won't get lucky tonight Hun, because you're not in love with me"!

 

And as a matter of fact he lied to himself and me that Tuesday night, the handsome bugger, because today we are planning our wedding!!!!  And every time he looks into my eyes I can see and feel the love!

 

Okay now on to the review.

 

Capeesh is a family orientated Italian restaurant (it being in the same family for some decades) situated in Brooklyn, Pretoria, South Africa. 

 

The ambiance is relaxed, romantic and upper class.

 

The quality of service and dishes is of a high standard. From the carne dishes (beef), pizza, pasta right through to the pesce dishes (fish) you can expect a delightful, tasty and innovative range to choose from off their menu.

 

They also won the Platinum award for wine list of the year 2011.  A wide range of wines are always available at this restaurant, from Vrede and Lust to Rupert and Rothschild (I can vouch that you don't get these wines easily at any restaurant)

 

 

And the best thing about this restaurant for us: It is not a cheesy franchise, it is unique and you're always treated like family! A nice personal touch!

 

Do yourself a favour, doesn't matter if you're a local or a tourist coming to South Africa, go and have a meal at this restaurant! You won't be disappointed.

 

 



Magical Muratie

A Rainy Sunday Afternoon at Muratie Wine Farm

Unique.  That is the first thought that comes to mind when you enter this small wine farm a few kilometres away from Delheim Wine farm.

When you enter this farms tasting room your eyes meet so many interesting features, that for a little while you almost forget that you are actually here to taste some wine.  From the dog that just lays in front of the entrance to the interesting paintings and vintage wine press.  This was definitely a feast on the eyes!  See for yourself.

We sat down near the fire place and the web covered window, tasting some of the most exquisite wines and ports.

If you are lucky you can get some of it in a booze shop, but overall they are rare.  We enjoyed it so much at Muratie that we spent almost whole of the afternoon there getting totally sloshed.  That was fun.  Luckily there weren't any pork chops (a.k.a. traffic cops) on our way home.

The service was very good and this wine farm is a MUST see for anyone who deems themselves a wine connoisseur.

for more information see www.muratie.co.za