Tag Archives: green point

Café Manhattan at the Cape Quarter

Café Manhattan at the Cape Quarter
Café Manhattan in De Waterkant looks less than New York, and more like some place in Texas, don't you think? That notwithstanding, this bar/restaurant is one of the gems in the Green Point. It's not just the food that's good, the vibe, staff and patrons have made this one of our go-to places if we're looking for lunch in Green Point.

The bar area gets a little rowdy in the evenings, so I wouldn't say it's family friendly. If you're looking for a slightly quieter place to hang out with a friend or four, take a seat in their lounge area - it's tucked away, near the kitchen, up a small flight of stairs.

Rooftop Cinema in Green Point

Rooftop Cinema in Green Point
I previously posted about the Silent Cinema that Short & Sweet hosted in Deer Park on Valentine's day. The series of short films was so fun to watch that I went along to their Rooftop Cinema at Batstone Pool on top of De Waterkant's Cape Quarter buildings.

As with the Silent Cinema, the open-air Rooftop Cinema didn't disappoint - it was plenty of fun. The film selection was brilliantly curated, and there was a fair variety of films from producers whom I'd otherwise never have heard of.

I arrived real early (to get a good spot to sit and take photos), so I have to admit that I felt like a bit of a loser sitting there alone for the longest time ever, waiting for the production to start. :) But that said, as the seating started to fill up, and I noticed that the last of the last taking their place standing behind everyone else (who were mostly seated on comfy cushions), I was kinda glad I'd arrived early. (So what I'm trying to say is: "Take a friend and get there early.")

Make a plan to visit the Rooftop Cinema, they'll run until the end of April, or otherwise check out their drive-in in Vredehoek - I imagine they'll be running that throughout winter.

For updates about their Cape Town gigs, like their Short & Sweet Cape Town page on Facebook.

Great coffee at Green Point’s Shift

Great coffee at Green Point's Shift
Not only was Shift's coffee in par with Origin and Truth, but the service was pretty damn amazing. I've found that other artisan coffee bars I've frequented tend to have mediocre (even poor) service, whereas Shift (located in the Cape Royale Hotel building on Somerset Road) has superb service. You should try them out.

Delectable gelato

Delectable gelato
Instead of ending an evening meal with dessert or coffee at the same restaurant, we normally prefer spreading the love a little and ending the evening somewhere else. We visited Big Route (at 105 Main Street, Green Point) for their super-tasty pizza; and followed that up at Gelato Mania, a small take-away gelato parlour that's just a hop-skip-and-jump away from Big Route.

Gelato Mania's huge selection of gelato and real Italian ice-cream was pretty awesome - so much so that we were forced to return the next evening to try a different flavour. Next time you're out for dinner in the Sea Point/Green Point/Cape Town city area, visit Gelato Mania for dessert... or dinner, assuming you like waffles for dinner. ;)

Apartments against Signal Hill

Apartments against Signal Hill
The title of this post made me laugh a little - it sounds like one of those organisations, "People Against Home Tattoo Artists", "People Against Illiterate Pages, or "People Against Today's Technology".

But, in all seriousness, those apartments stacked against the slopes of Signal Hill look like they'd make a great holiday spot, don't you think? A word of caution when booking your holiday accommodation in Cape Town thought - check if the apartment has air conditioning; if it's not specified, it probably does not.

From our De Waterkant apartment

From our De Waterkant apartment
Kerry-Anne booked a weekend away for us in the city center. Our rental there unfortunately fell through at the last minute, so in haste she booked an apartment in De Waterkant - just a little out of the city center.

Even though the apartment block was called Harbour Terrace, believe me, it's no where close to the harbour - and the only view of the waterfront and harbour area is a distant one. I took this photo from our balcony on the first morning of our stay. The air was cool and crisp, and it was actually quite peaceful out on the balcony - after the distant doof-doof sound that emanated from local bars and clubs until the early hours of the morning. ;)

There’s something fishy about this art

There's something fishy about this art
You would probably have seen this piece of art if you've ever visited the Green Point Urban Park. It's pretty cool, don't you think?

This large pond forms part of the park's biodiversity garden - which itself is host do dozens of indigenous plant species. Right alongside the garden area are benches and large open grassy areas where you're welcome to lay open your blanked and unpack your picnic basket. The trees are unfortunately not yet large enough to provide lots of shade, so I'd probably advise an early morning or evening picnic - outside of core sunburn hours. :)

The park is right next to the Green Point stadium, very close to the Green Point lighthouse. Entrance is free and the gates are open every day from 07h00 until 19h00.

Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name
No, really, while I know this is in Green Point, I have no idea what the name of the street is. I could probably find out, so yell if you need to know, but truth be told, I'm feeling a little ill so I'm just not in the mood to whip up Google Maps. How's that for honesty, heh? ;)

Dinner and a stylish Green Point restaurant

Dinner and a stylish Green Point restaurant
Don't you love discovering stylish restaurants that really make you feel at home? Kerry-Anne and I visited Bistro 1800° at the 5-star Cape Royale hotel for their new menu launch last week - and my, what a treat it was...

After relaxing with drinks at Sky Bar, on the hotel's roof-top, we returned to the ground level for dinner - an arrangement of bite-sized versions of the restaurant's new menu. (Click on the pictures below to see a sampling of what we were treated to - yum, right?) I won't go into the delicious details, but on the menu for the evening was an assortment of specialty breads, cheese soufflé, loin of lamb, beef fillet, kingklip, berry pavlova and an incredible, and I do mean incredible, chocolate mousse!

Something that I found really interesting about the restaurant is the origin of its name. I believe it's derived from the New York-style grill that they use to sear their steak at precisely 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a whopping 982 degrees Celsius! Now that's pretty warm heh? Chef Jonathan Gargan believes that it's their special super-hot grill that's responsible for the juicy goodness - and while I can certainly agree that the steak is juicy and good, I do think he's being just a little modest - it probably also has a little to do with years of culinary magic he's rehearsed in the kitchen. ;)

Visit Bistro 1800° at 47 Main Road in Green Point - you won't regret it. Also, when you arrive, stop your car right in front of the building, make use of the valet parking, and step out like royalty leaving the smiling staff to find a safe spot for your car in the building's basement - it's way more fun that way.

Zabad in De Waterkant

Zabad in De Waterkant
Kerry-Anne and I were out in De Waterkant, looking for a new restaurant to try for breakfast. We found Zabad, just down the road from the Cape Quarter.

It looked stylish and inviting inside. It wasn't too busy (to make it noisy), yet not too empty to be uncomfortable. The menu selection looked pretty good, and both the coffee and breakfasts were super satisfactory.

As perhaps you know, I prize good service (and by that I mean chirpy and friendly, not surly and posh) over the quality of the meal. Sure, there's a point where great service just doesn't cut it anymore, but for me a visit to a restaurant is more about the experience than the food. A restaurant with great staff and atmosphere easily get away with merely average food.

As I said, the food at Zabad was great, but I can't think I'll return for a second visit. Sadly.

The perfect surf-ski launching spot

Three Anchor Bay, again
This is the little sandy beach at Three Anchor Bay that I mentioned in my previous post. It's, as mentioned, quite protected and really very shallow quite far in. So if you're looking for an easy place to launch a surf-ski, paddle-ski or canoe - this would be it! :)

Three Anchor Bay

Three Anchor Bay
Three Anchor Bay (map) is a tiny bay with a small sandy beach located more or less where Sea Point and Green Point meet.

Even though it's extremely rocky the little section of beach looks to be quite protected from the ocean at low-tide and seems perfect for young kids, be careful to keep a close watch on them - the ocean get's pretty fierce pretty quickly and the rocky outcrops make it very easy for even young kids reach this danger zone.

The Square at the Cape Quarter

The new Cape Quarter
The Square (in this photo) is the new section of the Cape Quarter, and the Piazza is the older section. If you're confused by which is which, take a look at this map that I found on their website.

Something that you may not be aware of is that if you make use of the underground parking, keep in mind that the two sections (The Square and The Piazza) share one large underground parking garage. You may enter the Piazza's parking garage and unintentionally end up in The Square.

Wakame and Green Point Stadium

Wakame and Green Point Stadium

At least one of our UK readers in particular will immediately recognise the inside of Wakame, a popular tapas and sushi restaurant in Mouille Point, located very close to the Green Point soccer stadium. In fact, the stadium is precisely what you can see brighly lit out in the darkness.

While we were enjoying really (very) good sushi, I watched welding sparks dropping to the ground from the structure in the distance. It would seem the stadium's construction workers are putting in some serious overtime to catch up after last week's wage dispute.

Football World Cup logistics, organisation, and the vuvuzela

Greenpoint football stadium

The Green Point soccer stadium, seen here from the Cape Town Waterfront area, looks to be fast approaching completion. There are still tall cranes looming over the empty stadium, but far fewer than you may recall in photos that I posted in 2007 and 2008. Just take a look at the progress made since June 2007!

If you've been following our recent posts you'll know that we're away from Cape Town on holiday for two weeks, and that Mandy J Watson has been kind enough to help out with a couple of photos, including this one.

This evening Kerry-Anne and I were privileged to watch South Africa and Spain battle it out in a Confederations Cup match in Bloemfontein; since this tournament is a trial run for next year's World Cup, and in light of this photo, I thought I'd give you a reportback on my experience from a logistics and organisation perspective.

First, I guess I should state that I'm not a sports fan, so I think I'm able to view the situation objectively without the excitement that allows fans to overlook the negative aspects of the experience.

So, objectively:

  • It was easy to find parking and it took a matter of 5 minutes to get into the stadium, and head up the stairs to our seats.
  • Finding our seats was fairly easy... we just looked at our ticket, consulted the boards, entered through the correct gate, read the signs, and we were good to go.
  • Apart from the signs giving directions, it seemed that at almost every turn there was a friendly official ready to point us in the right direction.
  • The venue wasn't too crowded, and the seating wasn't cramped.
  • The queues at the ladies' toilets were VERY long at half time. This is normal, of course, but that doesn't mean it's okay.
  • I've never been a fan of the vuvuzela (that long plastic trumpet that South African supporters blow at soccer matches), but to be honest, it really wasn't so bad. They weren't too loud and I have to say that they did add to the atmosphere significantly. They are an integral part of South African soccer culture and it just wouldn't be the same without them.
  • The only time that the trumpets did become annoying was after the match while we were walking through the Loch Logan shopping mall next to the stadium. Googols of fans blowing trumpets in a confined space made of reflective tiles and glass isn't good for one's ears!

My only suggestions are:

  • Think about where you will park your car before the time and how congested the area will be after the match.
  • Buy ear plugs from a music store - you'll still be able to enjoy the atmosphere, even if you find a vuvuzela positioned right next to your ear. :)

Buena Vista Social Cafe in Green Point

Buena Vista Social Cafe in Greenpoint

We met a friend for coffee at Buena Vista Social Cafe, a Cuban-themed restaurant in Green Point. The decor is what I'd expect to find in an old Cuban bar; the best part of all is the old leather couches and chairs - like those you'd expect to find at your grandmother's house - making up a corner lounge-area, where you can enjoy drinks without having to sit at a table.

Buena Vista is a really nice place to visit, and if you've never been there before you should make a turn (and try the lamb and feta nachos!). Just be warned that the restaurant doesn't have a non-smoking section (which I thought wasn't allowed these days), so if you have an allergic reaction to cigars and cigarettes then best check that there aren't too many people smoking when you arrive.

Now that I think of it, perhaps the reason they're able to get away with a fully-smoking restaurant is because of the Cuban theme - you kind of expect to see people smoking cigars in a Cuban bar, don't you?

Keep me safe?

Keep me safe

Why do you imagine someone would draw a bird on an old LP, write the words "keep me safe <3 hake" at the bottom, and then stick it on the side of a building in Green Point? I have no clue myself. I googled the words, and found nothing at all except this rather odd poem by someone called George Hake, which contains the words "keep me safe". Somehow I don't think it's connected. :-/

If you have any idea what it's about, or if you'd like to take a flying guess, please help us with this little mystery by leaving a comment.