The Food, Part II

I can’t believe I’m going to admit this…

I’m so full.

We have eaten, drunk, and eaten again our fill for the last week or so.  And it seems like at each meal, we are making our plans for the next venture.   And that more or less revolves around eating.  Again.

And not just eating your normal sandwich for lunch, cereal for breakfast, light something for dinner.  Oh NO!  No, we’re talking about meat for breakfast, meat for lunch, meat for dinner, and a little meat in between for those late-afternoon munchies.

Let’s look at this logically: I’m a Midwestern girl.  I grew up eating cow and pork and still tend to favor cow and pork over other selections on a menu.  And even I am blown away by the amount of meat this country consumes on an hourly basis. 

I’ve never officially had a meat coma before, but I think it’s safe to say, I’m headed there in a heartbeat.

Okay, so we’ve eaten like kings for the last few nights (not to mention lunch following our dinner out in Ai/Ais was one of the best burgers I’ve eaten in MONTHS!), so maybe we should slow things down a little, huh?  I mean, we’re sitting in a car all day, getting out for lunch and getting back in the car for another 3-4 hours, getting to the campsite and setting up for the night, make dinner while sitting around a campfire, eat said dinner and go to bed, only to get up again and eat.  So maybe we just have a small sandwich or something to tide us over tomorrow…

Nope!  After Ai/Ais we said farewell to Namibia and ventured into the land of South Africa.  Where COLD weather greeted us like we were entering the arctic.  The arctic that is 1 hour’s drive away from the hellish heat of the desert.  I’m still trying to work that one out.  But anyway, what does a cold, grey rainy day prompt you to do?

EAT COMFORT FOOD!!

We stopped in a small town called Springbok, about 4 hours from our night’s destination, and we were freezing.  It doesn’t help that the whole of South Africa does not seem to have insulated anything in hotels, homes or restaurants, as the restaurant we dined in had to bring in a space heater to keep us warm.  Anyway, as I sat shivering and waiting for my hot chocolate arrived, I decided to keep up with the warm cozy feeling and ordered a beef pasta that was similar in description to a beef stroganoff.

Are you seeing a theme here yet? 

Oh this was divine.  Beef and pasta noodles and vegetables in a hearty creamy sauce. 

Yep, that’ll do her!

En route to our next destination, Lambert’s Bay, we were given a reprieve from beef for a night: SEAFOOD!  Lambert’s Bay is located right off the Atlantic Coast, which is perfect for all us fish lovers.  Except, Lambert’s Bay doesn’t actually have a fish industry…they have a potato industry. 

I’m still trying to work that one out too.

But anyway, no matter.  Because there are fishermen in the area and they do sell to the local restaurants (all 2 of them).  So after we settled into our B&B, Raston Guest House, and checked in with the rest of the world after being internet free for nearly a week (LOVE it!), we ventured to a restaurant called Isabella’s.

They had apparently overbooked this tiny restaurant located off the wharf.  But that was no problem.  Because they had a private room just off the kitchen reserved just for us.  The Marilyn Monroe/Elvis room.  It had 2 tables and a door that divided us from the rest of civilization, with a bell to ring in case we need the server.  And we weren’t entirely lonely; Marilyn and Elvis pictures were everywhere to keep us company.

But that didn’t bother us none ‘cause we were there to EAT! 

Feasting at Isabella's in Lambert's Bay

For starters, we had escargot, prawns, mussels and Greek Salad.  Then we had our mains: Calamari and Hake for Matt and Anya and Ron, and Kingklip for me.  All served with a GINORMOUS serving of rice (or fries!) and your choice of sauce: garlic butter, lemon butter, sweet chili butter, or tartar sauce.  Oh yea, this is healthy living.

And it was DIVINE.

We finally finished our dinner at about 10pm, trudged back to the B&B and curled up in bed to stay warm and dry as it was rainy and windy and downright bitter outside.  And we woke up to breakfast being served at 8am.

Seriously.  All I’m doing is eating.  Non-stop.  But it’s so GOOD!  How am I supposed to stop??!!

We had a delicious breakfast of eggs, hash browns bacon and toast.  And some of the best decaffeinated coffee I’ve had in ages. 

After breakfast, we decided to stay put in Lambert’s Bay as the room rate was fantastic ($56/night!) and the next town we wanted to drive to was booked solid and/or 3x the price of our cute little place we were currently in.  So what does that mean for Melly?

LAZY DAY IN BED!!!

For the first time in months, I laid in bed with the tv on, the internet up and running, and my room cozy and warm.  And I LOVED it.

Every waking/sleeping minute of the 9 hours I lay there.

Meanwhile, Anya and the boys decided to do some driving/exploring of the town and came back around 6pm, just in time for me to get up, get ready and…?  You guessed it: EAT AGAIN!!!

This time we went to the other hotel in town (okay, I’m minimizing the town a bit.  There were actually four restaurants in the town) and once again devoured food like we hadn’t eaten in days.  And really, it had only been hours.  And we topped off our food with a delicious Amarula.

Oh, I’m sorry, have I not mentioned Amarula?

Well, allow me to describe it for you!!

Amarula is the fruit from the…you guessed it, the Amarula tree.  Elephants dig out the fruit from the tree and eat it and actually become intoxicated.  It’s a sweet liqueur, similar in creaminess to Baileys but slightly smoother and sweeter.  And sooooo easy to drink.  And for $1.20 a glass, it’s even EASIER to drink.

So by now, we’re starting to fill up.  Except that once again, we’re back to the B&B around 11pm, just in time to go to bed so we can get up and…EAT AGAIN!!!

Another delicious breakfast, and this time we’re headed to Cape Town for a 5 night stay in the city.  So you KNOW what this means…

More eating.  More drinking.

Okay, the first night: the Codfather Seafood Restaurant.  Recommended to us by our friends Steph and Todd, they said this was an absolute MUST for sushi (not to mention just the plain fact the name rocks).  So we ventured out to the Codfather for sushi and the pick-your-own pieces of fish.  They had several to choose from: Kingklip, Mahi Mahi, Monkfish, Bluefin (not tuna), Yellow Snapper, Hake, Dover Sole, Prawns, Rock Lobster and Calamari.  You chose which one(s) you want and how big, and they cook it for you and serve it with rice, fries and veggies (the Africans LOVE to double carb their meals).  And to top it off?  You guessed it: garlic butter, lemon butter, apricot chutney and peri peri sauce, which is a spicy sauce used on just about anything.

Yeah.  I wasn’t hungry when I went to the Codfather, and I certainly wasn’t hungry when I left.  But boy was I satisfied.  The sushi roles were so fantastically fresh, the fish we picked out (Kingklip and Bluefin) were so light and creamy, and the sauces just made it even better.  Matt and I decided to share a plate and thought we’d be “good”: no fries.  I mean hey, you gotta draw the line somewhere right?

Okey dokey.  Another awesome meal in the span of 4 days.  Well, actually, another awesome meal in the span of 3 hours but really let’s not get technical.  Now what?

Hmmm, the next morning was chill as Ron and Matt needed to get the camper van back to the dealer, so I found myself (after doing an hour workout!) hungry again.  Okay, I’ll just pop into the hotel restaurant for a little something.  No biggie.

Except the hotel restaurant boasts just about the biggest breakfast buffet I’ve ever seen: not only do you get the requisite eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, etc., but you get eggs cooked to order, bacon, BEEF sausage, PORK sausage, mushrooms, baked beans, pancakes, some kind of “chef’s daily special” of creamy pasta, cheese board, deli meats, nuts, yogurts, fruit, cereal, muesli, seeds to top your cereal, pastries, muffins, and oatmeal.

Listen, I’m all for selection, but as I looked over everything I realized, I’m really not starving!  So I settled for some eggs, baked beans a piece of toast and some bacon.  And managed to eat about half of it.  Meanwhile others were piling on their plates some 3 or 4 times.  Clearly they hadn’t been where we had been the last 4 days!

Okay, so breakfast is over, time to relax and maybe do something not food/booze related?

NOPE!  Off to a winery market day it is!!  To do…more eating and drinking!  But this was so much fun because you can pick the food from the vendors at the winery, pick your bottle of wine and find a small place to picnic, all the while listening to music and visiting with friends.

Okay, I can do that.  No biggie.  It was fantastic.  The day was gorgeous, the food delicious and the wine wonderful.  A perfect way to spend a Sunday.

Which means Sunday night we have to REALLY do it up, since we really didn’t have lunch you know.  Ron’s friend Gavin had arranged for us to see a show called Madame Zingara, which was an event in and of itself, so I will reserve that story for another blog.  But, as it’s mentioned in this post because it is also food related let me just say this: 4. Course. Dinner.

Sigh…

I mean, if the food was bad at any of these times it would be easy to forfeit.  But it’s so good everywhere we go.  And I can’t be rude now can I?

Alright, so we’re onto day 3 in Cape Town.  A morning spent going up to Table Mountain, the oldest mountain known to man.  And since we had an early start we decided to wait until we got up the mountain to have a late morning snack. 

Our “snack” ended up being an egg and smoked chicken croissant.  You could make 4 meals out of this thing.  And of course, just as we ordered the sandwiches, Ron comes up to us to tell us we’re meeting Gavin and his wife in 2 hours for lunch.

Hmmm…

All this meat...for 6 people.

We met Gavin and Candace at what is called “The Township” and what is known in the states as “The Ghetto.”  This particular township, called Gugulethu, is known for tourists coming in and out.  And it’s also known for its butcher shop, Mzoli’s.  You order meat, and they cook it for you and bring it out to an area that’s set up like an outdoor picnic area and you eat meat.  Lots and lots of meat.  Lots and lots of good meat.  Beef, lamb, pork rashers, chicken, boerwoerse, you name it.  And it’s served with nshima, or as the South Africans call it, “pap” and a relish of spicy vegetables, called chakalaka.  And you eat it all with your fingers.  Every juicy last bit.

Okay, now I’m REALLY full.  I may have to take some time to digest for a while. 

Nshima, or, as the South Africans call it,"Pap"

Except the trip’s agenda doesn’t allow for that so much, because the next morning we had to get up to get ready for South Africa’s Heritage Day (our 4^th of July), but really better known as “National Braai Day.”  And this year, they were making National Braai Day a huge event: South Africa is attempting to enter into the Guinness Book of World Records as having the biggest braai in the world.  A feat not entered into lightly.

Which means…yep, you guessed it.  More meat.  And so it was.  Lamb, pork, chicken, boerwoers, salad (thank GOD!), potato salad, chips, cheese & crackers, etc.

I have officially entered a meat eating capacity.  I cannot. Do. It. Anymore.

And yet, as I write this, my tummy starts a-grumbling…

...and more meat...