What’s good in the hood

First published in Sunday Times, July 2022

Shoot the hood

There is a local (provincial) saying that goes ‘Happiness is… being in Cape Town’. Now, be lekker about it, forget about provincialism and explore five Capetonian hoods given that you’ve seen the mountain, done enough wine tasting and driven the coastal road from beginning to end.

See what Sea Point has to offer

Sea Point has a myriad restaurants and bars, the promenade frequented by walkers, cyclists and skateboarders and Sea Point Pavillion Swimming Pool, dating back from the 1950s.

It also has some lesser known gems, some kooky or offbeat, worth knowing about.

Arthur’s Mini Super (15 Arthurs Road) has the retro feel of a corner café yet on its deli shelves you will find paprika potato chips from Italy, CannaBaDoo CBD oil for dogs, fig & vanilla syrup and Tajin spice blend from Mexico, great to sprinkle on watermelon.

It’s also a great place for breakfast (15 options including a “Wimpy breakfast” available), or a cuppa and a bagel or deli sandwich.

You might even run into Suzelle (Julia Anastasopoulos) from Suzelle DIY as one of her sisters is the co-owner.

In the alleyway next to Arthur’s nestles Waiting for George, a vintage shop that sells clothing, collectibles and bric-à-brac like an old sewing machine, a plastic container filled with blue Smurfs, a coffee set piled into a basket, a dainty glass swan and wood-carved cats with upright tails to store – or display – your rings. Their motto, ‘Save the planet, buy vintage’.

A block or three away Cafda (Cape Flats Development Association) Book Shop (18 Regent Rd) has been selling a vast array of secondhand books at giveaway prices for decades.

Fancy a bit of a makeover? Wim Coiffeur (Shop 2, Victorian Mansions, 119 Regent Rd) is a beauty-nail-hair salon with over-the-top wall décor where you get more than you bargain for whilst dozens of porcelain dogs peer at you from wall sconces.

Want to show off your new look? Head to Grand Pavilion (277 Beach Road) with its seductively named Harry’s Bar, no doubt inspired by the illustrious Venetian bar with the same name. Their gnocchi is the best I’ve ever tasted.

Be seen in the CBD of Cape Town

Do you love stuff? Vintage stuff? Retro stuff? Then head to Love of Stuff (92 Wale Street) for preloved furniture, pastel prints of Venice, silver teapots, blue velvet chairs, rattan mirrors and collectable books on Asian cooking, wine, art deco collections, Fabergé creations, Tiffany glass and Lalique jewellery.

Venture upstairs to get to Kaap Diem (92 Wale Street) for thrift clothing with style.

Page through the R100 sale rail, scratch in the wooden kist with items selling at R50 a piece or the suitcase with R80 items, or pick a pair of jeans from a peg on the plank-cladded wall.

Into animal prints? Perhaps purple? There’s a rail especially for you. Also loads of coats and sneakers, not to mention a polka dot dress here, a pair of black Italian boots there.

If hunger pangs strike make your way to The Cousins Trattoria (3b Barrack Street). This Italian restaurant started off as the idea of three cousins, Andrea, Simone and Luca, who hail from the Adriatic coast of Italy.

Andrea is responsible for making fresh pasta every morning; bread and tiramisu are also baked daily.

Culinary cognoscenti flock here for their signature dish, tagliolini with cream, mushroom and thyme, tossed in a parmesan wheel.

Bet you that you haven’t had a proper look at the Cape Town City Hall (Darling Street) on the Grand Parade for as long as you can remember.

The façade, auditorium and its surrounding corridors are a sight to behold. Hours after Nelson Mandela’s release from prison he made his first public speech from the balcony of the City Hall. Nowadays Cape Town City Hall is used for creative, musical and cultural events; a life-size bronze statue of Mandela waves at you from the balcony.

From Hippo Boutique Hotel (5-9 Park Road, Gardens), in the heart of Cape Town Centre, you can stroll just about anywhere.

Once you have greeted the lime green hippo, sans one ear, peering at you from its possie next to the reception desk, switch on the kettle in your kitchenette (each tastefully decorated room has one amid unusual accents such as old LPs stacked in glass cases) and plan your sojourn in the Mother City.

Go wild for Woodstock – and Salt River

Whether you are wandering around Woodstock or strolling through Salt River you can’t miss the cutting-edge graffiti art, not to mention some idiosyncratic cars. If you are jittery doing this on your own, book a Woodstock Street Art Walking Tour or Salt River Street Art Walk.

Look out for the Ghost Busters ‘hearse’ or a flamingo pink Mercedes that has seen better days, in the side streets.

Stardust Theatrical Dining (118 Sir Lowry Road) is no ordinary restaurant, as you can tell by the name. In their own words, ‘This is the home of the singing waiter.’ And, ‘Make sure you get your waiter’s name – it’ll be written in lights one day.’

At Stardust the food – they have a set menu – is good, the singing waiters have great voices and the shows are feel-good. Book online (stardustcapetown.com) for Disney for all ages, Mamma Mia, Rocky Horror Picture Show or Chicago The Musical Theme.

You’d expect Woodstock Liquors (175 Victoria Road) to have some fancy schmancy address, given their selection of gin, liqueurs, brandy, whiskey, mixers and wine. It’s worth a visit for the packaging and labels of the merchandise alone.

Just off Salt River Circle the warehouse façade of Collect Mea Story (354 Albert Road) does not reveal the cornucopia that awaits you once you step inside… a toilet sign, coat hangers with knitted covers, brass tea and coffee pots, bone handle knives, two rocking horses, one with a plastic unicorn horn and a Coke fridge.

An electric fairground music organ greets you once you have walked in, dining chairs are suspended from the ceiling, a table is piled with toby jugs.

Collect Mea Story – the owner’s name is Mea – is a scratch-patch shop where you are bound to find something to tickle your fancy if you are willing to while away some time unearthing objects.

Gilles de Moyencourt Haute-Antiques (208 Albert Road) is a destination shop filled with quirky antiques and collectibles such as a travel kist, bronze propeller, model sail ship, flying saucer kettle, polka dot tea set or collection of desk lamps. If you want to gape aghast at what is to be found here, make an appointment or visit on a Saturday.

Obvious in Observatory

Fondly known as Obs amongst those who have been frequenting this bohemian neighbourhood for years, Observatory appeals to the hippy within. All along Lower Main Road you will find a hotch-potch of shops and drinking dens.

At Voom Voom Vintage and Never New (they share a premise at 15 Lower Main) you are not spoilt for choice, you are overwhelmed, provided you are looking for something out of the ordinary.

A dead giveaway is that when it’s time for Afrikaburn there’s a line outside the shop!

Voom Voom also buys and sells vinyl records.

At Grand Funk (26 Lower Main) their selection of retro – or curated – vintage clothing is more exclusive but still relentlessly groovy. As is the mural above the entrance on the inside that reads ‘Be Cool Honey Bunny’.

Observatory Liquors (70 Lower Main) is one of the oldest bottle stores in the Western Cape; it’s been trading since 1925.

Few visitors can resist cracking a joke when they see that they are buying their liquid stash – find a large selection of craft liquors, single malts, mescal and local wines, and affordable Crème de cassis from France – on the corner of Trill and Lower Main Road.  

Are you into healthy eating or do you like experimenting with unusual ingredients? Then Komati Foods (74 Lower Main) is your kinda place. Shop alphabetically, from alfalfa seeds to aniseed (fine and whole), moringa flour to nut butters, and zaatar. The friendly staff are always at the ready to tell you how and with what to use each ingredient.

Kalk Bay is cool

No doubt the strip of shops and eating places was part of the reason that Kalk Bay was voted one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the world, by Forbes Magazine in 2018.

Whatnot & China Town (4 Belmont Road) has more tea trios, milk jugs and tea sets than what you have ever seen under one roof. If you are a trifle clumsy you will have to take extra care not to break anything in this fairly chaotic shop.

Don’t be surprised if you start missing your grandma whilst browsing for that perfect tea cup you have always wanted for your afternoon tea.

Artvark (48 Main Road) is a contemporary art gallery and classy gift shop rolled into one. Feast your eyes on – and take out your purse for – folk art, bespoke jewellery, decorative steelworks, fabrics and more.

Quagga Rare Books & Art (84 & 86 Main Road) evokes the same feeling as a cabinet of curiosities, with its glass cabinets, a post card album, an ancient sea chart or collectible map and a skull or sea shell positioned just so. A year or so ago the smallest book they had in stock was a 0,6 x 0,6 cm copy of the Lord’s Prayer. The biggest was a set of District Maps of the Cape Colony circa 1890; it measured 90 x 57 cm.

Soon after opening its doors at the end of 1997 Olympia Café and Bakery (134 Main Road) became an iconic institution. As the people of Olympia say themselves, ‘It was the coffee wot dunnit. And the delish and decadent fare wot won it.’

If seared yellowfin tuna is on the daily menu, don’t give up your seat – no bookings are taken. Order another of those coffees. Followed by a glass of wine of course.

The Brass Bell Restaurant and Pub (41 Main Road) started off as a tea room, run by the local council, back in 1939. Nowadays it encompasses a series of different venues, all with a sea view and a relaxing atmosphere.

Apart from sushi, opt for perlemoen croquettes, bouillabaisse, spicy chicken livers or good ole fish and chips.