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So..... yesterday I had a day off from everything. Brownieboy surprised me by taking the day off from work and declaring that it was MY day to choose to do whatever I wanted to do….I chose to take a slow walk through Kalk Bay….investigating all the nooks and crannies, browsing around all my favourite secret places. Those who know Kalk Bay will know what I am talking about. Walking down interesting little alleyways and discovering wonderful little stores or bistros tucked away, bursting with exciting new stuff to look at. I adore doing this and would love to do it on a regular basis. I’m always discovering something new!! To go into it would take far too long and I am busy trying to catch up with housework today…..URGHH!! Ironing.
So the short story then…………..after spending some hours wandering up and down alleys and investigating all the little shops, taking many photos in between we finally found a table at Olympia Café and enjoyed a wonderful relaxed lunch there. Brownieboy chose the Pear, Goats Cheese & Papaya Salad and I thoroughly enjoyed my Penne with Tomato, Feta & Olives…yummy……and of course that wonderful complimentary bread that they serve with deliciously fruity olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sooo yummy!! My first choice for lunch had been Boulangerie but disappointingly it was closed, the owners are on vacation until July 10! So that means another visit to Kalk Bay soooooon :o)
After all that walking and eating I had to come home and have a bit of a rest and relax in preparation for our evening while BB went off and attended to some business. I also cooked my usual pot of gourmet dog food for Tasha and spent some time with her. Late afternoon we popped in to visit with our grandkids…just to keep us grounded and focused you understand….poor Tyler had been distraught earlier as he found an injured gecko and wanted his mom to miraculously make it better but it died…so they had to have a funeral, planted a little lavender bush on the grave and said a prayer……now he has a little shongololo that he is trying to befriend….hehe!!
For dinner we decided that we would love to try out Brads Bistro in….yep, you guessed it….Kalk Bay, an unassuming little place on the seaward side of the road!! We just fell in love with this fabulous little bistro! The ambience is wonderful, there was a lovely little fire roaring in the corner, lighting is muted with fairy lights glittering in the windows, you hear the roaring of the ocean just outside and every now and again a train lumbers past. And besides....there is that divine complimentary bread again with fruity green olive oil, balsamic and this time the addition of grated fresh parmesan :o) Co-owner Mike was very friendly and a delight to chat to. He has been a part of Brads since April. He told us that Brad (the founder & famous local hero of Brads breads fame) had just yesterday flown over to Argentina to look at new pastures so Mike was now solidly at the helm of Brads. The menu is great, with beginnings, middles and ends (hehe) and they also have a specials board. What totally interested me though is that they have regular Sunday Curry evenings running through the winter. Mike says they will typically have 4 curries on offer – a lentil, a veg, a chicken and whatever other meat takes his fancy for the day. So that is a definite date for me. I do hope they cater for soft and also fiery palates…..I being the fiery one, brownieboy as you know doesn’t do chilli or hot too well :o)
After being seated and chatting away merrily for awhile as our bubbly chilled on the ice provided by Mike (no corkage charged here BTW) we finally decided on our “beginnings” Memory, our lovely waitress for the evening, very amiably asked the chef if he could give brownieboy something other than chilli jam with the crumbed fried camembert that he ordered and they sorted him out with a lovely cranberry conserve which tasted just delish. I went with the “tarts” – little open pastries with roasted baby tomatoes & oozing camembert slices served with a tomato chilli jam as a dipping sauce. Nom, nom NOM!!! They were really delicious. Sadly my camera that underwent the water bath a couple weeks back did not co-operate too well on the macro and the yellow plates & subdued lighting sort of gave quite a flash back. But I have edited and edited and come up with almost reasonable photies.
On to the “middles” – brownieboy had decided he wanted steak no matter what so his choice was the sirloin steak special with the creamy mushroom sauce. He ordered his steak medium and that is exactly what he got. A beautiful piece of sirloin cooked to his perfect taste smothered in a yummy flavoury mushroom sauce. My choice was the seared tuna which was also done to the perfect “doneness” for me….cooked on the outside, pink and moist on the inside! This was served with a red pepper sauce and was a delight to the taste buds. Our meals were served with a side order of roasted vegetables, baby potatoes and creamed spinach – all yummy! My only suggestion here would be to make the spinach a bit creamier. It was just a wee bit dry for me. But still delicious! And my portion of tuna was way too big for me to finish so it was beautifully wrapped up and presented to me to enjoy for my lunch today :o)
We spent a delightful evening taking our time enjoying our meal, the subdued intimate atmosphere, the wonderful choice of laid back music, the delicious Vendange bubbly that we were sipping on and some sparkling interaction with Memory and Mike in between. To end it all we decided to go with big mans milkshakes – Dom Pedros - although the mixed berry pavlova, death by chocolate and date and almond tart all were frantically crying out to me “choose me! Choose me!” Next time babies, next time!! :o) And there will definitely be a next time for us.
Our choice of Dom Pedro was Frangelico and these were presented to us with much flair and some cheeky winking on the part of Mike….they were fabulously thick, layered with the alcohol & dusted with chocolate. When we stuck our straws down the side and sucked up our first slurp of the mooshy liquid we both blinked, our eyes grew large and round and I said YOH!! Double whammies………Mike grinningly told us that he has a secret way of bringing out the taste of the hazelnut in the Frangelico and it also promises a good end to any evening ;o) ……but that’s a secret so I shall not reveal it to all and sundry Mike. All I can say is, you gotta try them Doms folks hehe!! We finally said our fond farewells and were able to meet Steven, the Malawian chef who so competently cooked our meal for us. Well done to Mike and staff, thankyou for a wonderful evening......we will be back! Just as an aside....our meal cost us R305........not bad at all for a 3 course dinner for two people.
So our 31st wedding anniversary drew to a close. I was thoroughly spoiled all day by my romantic hubby and we look forward to another exciting year together.
Here are a few of the pix that I took yesterday while loitering and lunching and dining in style…
 
 
Olympia Cafe
 
  
Brad's Bistro
 
 
 
And its back to housework for me now………got that pile of ironing to deal with!! Thank you so much to everyone for the lovely messages.
Have a great evening and remember blogland......Keep it real!!
browniegirl xxx
Brads Bistro
19 Main Road
Kalk Bay
021 7883885
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