Yesterday we arrived in Selcuk, the town closest to the amazing ruins of Ephesus. But first we headed out of town to the nearby village of Sirince. It’s very touristy, but very beautiful and still retains it’s small town charm.
We had an amazing meal and fantastic bottle of Turkish sauvignon blanc (from nearby Izmir). The perfect way to spend an afternoon after a week in cold and rainy Istanbul!
Three weeks in Cape Town meant plenty of time to check out the local wineries, which I think tourists often skip in favour of the more famous Stellenbosch region. But the wineries of Cape Town are fantastic, and very close (only 15 minutes from the city) so if you get the chance, you should definitely check them out.
Constantia is the oldest wine region in South Africa, dating back to 1685. And it’s beautiful – set in the hills under Table Mountain.
Some fantastic Cape Town wines
There are a lot of wineries in this region, but I was lucky to visit the following during our 3 weeks in Cape Town: Groot Constantia, Klein Constantia, Buitenverwachting, Constantia Uitsig, Steenberg. I’ve written some notes below – but I’m not a wine critic – I just like visiting wineries and trying out their wines. If you really want a professional opinion of the South African wineries, check out the excellent Platters wine guide, which is the equivalent of Australia’s James Halliday.
The region is most known for amazing white wine, while Stellenbosch and Paarl are more renowned for their reds, as the reds from Constantia are not as full flavoured. That said I tasted some fantastic reds in the area including a Steenberg Shiraz and Merlot, and all of the Klein red range was superb.
Steenberg
Steenberg had the most incredible setup for tasting – a beautiful open garden area where you could sit anywhere and the staff come to you and bring you the tastings. It was also free! (all of the others were 30 ZAR). Their whole range was excellent and in particular I loved the Shiraz (not much Shiraz is made in this region), and we bought their Sparkling wine too which was fantastic.
The amazing view from Steenberg Winery, Cape Town
Klein Constantia
Klein Constantia was my favourite out of all the wineries – they had a smaller range and all of their wines were excellent. I ended up buying the Semillon Sauvignon Blanc blend (Madame Marlbrook) and a Sauvignon Blanc. Their reds were also excellent – especially the Marlbrook.
Buitenverwachting
I wasn’t as big a fan of their wines, but their regular drinking sauvignon blanc was a stand out. It was also their cheapest wine at around AUD$5!
Constantia Utsig
This was our last visit in the day, which makes it hard to judge as I was pretty drunk by then. I do remember the wines were good, but I didn’t buy anything as nothing stood out.
Also in Cape Town I tasted the most incredible sauvignon blanc (it was almost smoky) at the Greenhouse restaurant as part of their degustation (more about that later), which was also produced in Constantia, but at a winery that is only open by appointment (Eagles’ Nest). Well worth checking out!
Winner of the best meal we had on this trip, and probably the best restaurant experience of all time, was our degustation at the Greenhouse restaurant in Cape Town.
We went there in December 2012, on recommendation from a friend in Australia. It is without a doubt, a must do if you have the time in Cape Town.
We’ve eaten at quite a few degustations in Australia (ezard, Jacque Reymond etc), and while they were great, this was definitely superior overall when taking into account the service, atmosphere, quality and value for money.
The restaurant offers a couple of tasting menus/degustations as well as ala-carte. We went for the seafood degustation, which was around AUD$100 including matched wines! Incredible value – the same meal in Melbourne would easily be $200.
Every course came with a matched wine – as we had seafood these were almost all white, and most came from local Cape Town wineries, which produce excellent whites.
The restaurant is not Michelin rated, as South African restaurants apparently can’t meet the standards required. Bizarre as this was superior in every way to 2 and 3 hat restaurants we’ve dined at in Australia. But it’s certainly getting more well-known internationally – the New York Times were in the restaurant the night we were there, photographing it for a review. Sadly I don’t think we were featured.
Here’s some photos from the amazing meal…..
Tlaquepaque is an artisan’s town in Guadalajara. Actually, it’s more like a suburb of Guadalajara that feels like a mini town – sort of like Yarraville or Williamstown in Melbourne. Interestingly, it’s mainly Mexican tourists who visit here. Not many gringos here at all, which was fine by us. Some friends from Melbourne were living in Tlaquepaque and studying Spanish, so that combined with the town’s overwhelming charms fuelled our decision to stay there for the week.
Andrew hanging out with some of the locals on Calle independencia in Tlaquepaque
We were lucky enough to find an apartment online for $165 USD/week in the Plaza de Artesanias. It was a massive studio with a separate kitchen and bathroom, tastefully decorated with beautiful Mexican pieces.
The main plaza in Tlaquepaque was always teeming with people at night
The food in Tlaquepaque was amazing, particularly the street food. There was everything from grilled corn on a stick, to baked potatoes with corn, broccoli, cheese and sour cream, to hot dogs (nice ones). And of course there were the usual taco stand offerings of tacos with meat and chicken, gorditas (fried maize bread stuffed with whatever you like), empanadas (fried tortillas filled with whatever you like), and our favourite thing ever – the churro-like (didn’t get its ‘proper’ name but am guessing it’s a churro) dessert we went hunting for most nights. Think freshly deep fried churro cut in half, filled with caramel and then rolled in cinnamon and sugar – oh yes!
Churro with caramel, cinnamon and sugar
We had a brilliant place a couple of doors down selling Tortas Ahogado (literally meat or prawn rolls drowned in a tasty sauce).
Tortas Ahogado
The fact that I haven’t put on 5kgs is a miracle!
A great taco meal at 100% natural
Skinny Bikini Potatoes – Calle 20 between 5th and 10th Avenue
Excellent food – great service and great drinks specials. Live DJ some nights. Highly recommended.
El Jurador – Constituents between 25 and 30, across road from Mega
Excellent fish and shrimp tacos (19 pesos each!), great milkshakes, good priced beers, excellent ceviches. A great inexpensive option – our favourite place in Playa!
Ambasciate D’Italia, on corner of 5th Avenueand 24
This is definitely the best Italian we’ve had in Playa. Excellent fresh pasta – great service and great value. If you dine before 7pm the deal is even better. Highly recommended.
Taqueria Arandas, Corner 10th avenue and Calle 16
Excellent cheap (13 pesos each) meat based tacos (including beef tongue and other delicacies). Doesn’t open until 7pm but stays open till late. Not recommended for vegetarians though.
100% Natural
An excellent chain you’ll find around Mexico (Oaxaca, Mexico City etc) – this is always reliably good. It’s one of the few places that serves fresh and healthy food options. They actually have things like salads and vegetables! Sometimes hard to come by in Mexico. Highly recommended.
Kaxapa Factory, Av Constituyentes, betwen 10 and 15 avenues
Great inexpensive Venezuelan food and friendly service. Most of their food is gluten free and they have great vegetarian and vegan options.
Lucky Luciano (5th avenue corner Calle 28)
Famous for their pizzas (which admittedly we didn’t try) but in terms of pasta they got a big fail. My pasta was made with 2 minute noodles – they even seemed to use the packet flavouring – which was then bizarrely mixed with very nice fresh vegetables. They clearly don’t know how to make pasta. And it was expensive.
Babes (Calle 10 between 5th and 10th)
A Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor favourite, this was a big disappointment. The entre was sensation al(seafood rolls) but the two mains were both terrible. Both used great fresh ingredients, but were drenched in a sickly sweet sauce. This is Thai food for people who’ve never eaten proper Thai food, and who love their meals very sweet.
I love Mexican food. Or at least I used to – before I had to eat some version of it every day. The street food in Mexico is excellent – fresh and cheap, but after two weeks we have been crying out for some variety. And some vegetables. And maybe even a vegetarian meal without cheese.
Here are some of the highlight meals we’ve had so far …
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