Cape Town Fish Market

This really is the place to go if you want to impress. As their advert reads it is for a Romantic meal for twoand it does have a vibrant and relaxed atmosphere. The place is chic. The staff are very friendly and the watron attentitive. Now to be honest I don't know how much of the "goodness" handed out to us was due to The Grinch knowing one of the partners and how much of it is real. What i witnessed was that nearly everybody knew the partners name and would stop by out table were he was enjoying a glass of wine with us to say farewell and they in turn were greeted cheerially by name by the owner. So it is a place where, if you are regular enough you will get personalized attention. This was our first experience of the place. They opened their doors +- 2.5 years ago, back then we popped in after eating at the Dros(next door) to say hi di to Grinches mate and wet our lips with a glass of vino. After looking at the menu (that is 2.5 years ago) we knew we could not possibly afford to darken their portals.2.5 years on, a good comm month and a reason to blog made our heads dizzy with expectation. The Grinch's mate lost no time in bamboozelling us with what was hot and what was not and we ignorantly agreed and went for a Prawn starter. They brought 4 humangus prawns on a plate with a side salad of green and red cabbage. Got to mention the side salad a Whew no lettuce, full marks for origionality. 2 Prawns each! Smack the lips they were good. Bring it on! A word of warning - they are NOT CHEAP. For the mains, I decided on sole, just so I could compare it to Aldego and Grinch decided on the Cape Salmon. I had veg with mine and Grinch went for chips. The Sole was done to perfection. It was moist, it was fresh, beats my 2nd visit to Aldego hands down but not the first, no smack of the sea which I admit was a rare find. The veg were a medly of Butternut,green and red peppers and courgetts. I think this is their everyday veg. Still full marks for not serving up the dreaded butternut and spinach combo.(Listen now, I love butternut, I enjoy spinach but the combo has been beaten to death. It is total non acceptable for every restaurant to serve it up. It's damn cheap, unimaginative and not worth paying good money for.) All in all, I ate heartily and was well sated. The Grinch had delicious, moist, every mouthful a miracal in itself kinda experience. The chips which I tasted just to measure the standard were flowery when eaten alone. When combined with a bit of fish they were acceptable. After mains...long after, we shared a pepermint tart. This is not large but, wowwieee it is good. The food here is excellent. The service is friendly, inviting, attentitive. Full marks so far. At over R100 for a bottle of Nederburg, which we did not order, had wine by the glass and a bill that came to over R400.00 including 10% tip, I have to take points off for being far too expensive for my pocket. Some meals are priced per 100gms, now that's trickey to budget your bill. This is a place for romatic meals as I said before and the reason for that is not the atmosphere, its so you can a) have an excuse to share and b) impress the chick with flashy cash. As good as this place is, it will be a couple of months before I go back. Next time it will be without The Grinch (he knows the owner and I can't be sure how much that played into the wonder of the evening) so that I can try the budget menu on the side.You can eat for R65/R85 and R100 if you choose from their menu mix and match.What a pleasant night. Really wonderful!