The Annex restaurant, originally uploaded by Craig is shooting.

The Annex is a lovely little restaurant that I was taken to the other night. We went there for a friend’s birthday. It is tucked away behind the Kalk Bay bookshop. In fact, it is owned by the same folks that own the bookshop.

They have a very small menu, however everything is freshly prepared and there is something for everybody. Eric had pork belly, and the little sample that I had was tasty but very rich.

Lois had the daily special, which was a butternet and chilli soup, which she said was very good. The restaurant  selects a different recipe book each month, and everyday the special is selected from it.

I had the yellowtail, fresh from the harbour (about 200m away from the restaurant), it was served on a bed of baby potatoes and veges. Tender, firm and tasty.

Anja had a rare sirloin steak, served with mash and freshly stir-fried vegetable.

Staff are great, the winelist is good, and food terrific. From where I was sitting, you get a clear view of the kitchen, and the chef’s clearly know what they are doing.

Prices while not cheap, are pretty competitive, and considering that everything is fresh, I think that it is pretty good value.

I’ll be back!

ps: you can find them online here, and their phone number is 021 788 2453.

It has been a long conference, time to relax with a glass of wine. I worked out that as Toastmasters district governor, I needed to present about 7 presentations at the conference, exhausting, but exhilarating.

This vegetable never ceases to amaze me. It looks so tasty, and has such a lovely dark inky colour, but it has absolutely no taste at all. It is like eating a vegetarian sponge. Yes I know that if you go through some time-consuming and complicated procedures you might get a half-decent flavor from it, but it is the only vegetable I know that cannot be eaten either raw, or with a light steaming, and still taste amazing. The eggplant (or bringel) is just so bland.

But still, I love looking at them, they really look good enough to eat!

Chillis, originally uploaded by Craig is shooting.

Bright red chilli’s – yummy. These are from the most amazing food market in Cape Town that I have just discovered, the Fruit and Veg food lovers market in Willowbridge.

I have been told to go there for a while, but I have not quite managed to get there, but the food there is just so amazing; fresh, colourful and well presented. Here are just some of the highlights.

Habanaro chillis, these are approx 10-30 times hotter than Jalapeno chillis. Lois loves them, but I need to be a little careful with them.

Bunches of fresh carrots.

Marinaded meat, they have a large selection of fresh and prepared meat, including all the obvious ones; chicken, pork, beef etc. They also have a selection of kebabs and sausages.

The bakery is amazing, whatever bread you would like, they have it. It is all freshly baked on-site (as far as I can tell).

And if you want something sweeter, how about some chocolate-coated shortbread…

…or some cheesecake (I think this is covered with a Kiwi fruit jam)

And if you still have space, you can have some Belgium chocolates they have a very large selection.

You will have to keep this for another meal. Eisbein is probably one of the most unhealthy things to eat, yet probably the most tasty. I love it, but I will only eat it very seldom :-)

They also have a massive cheese counter (bigger than a few I have seen in France, with many imported cheeses), sushi and a very good fish counter. This is not a place to goto if you are planning on not spending.

The selection is huge, and the quality amazing. So, head on down and get yourself a feast.

Nothing in the world beats Lindt chocolates, absolutely nothing!