Cape Town Food

I've been very bad, and not said much on this blog for a while. I'm going to do my very best to rectify the situation, and get blogging in a much bigger way about food.

I've still got lots of great photos and stories to upload about the box of goodies from Eat-In, as well as some of the adventures I've been having around the WC checking out great places for food and foodies.

But I just wanted to quickly recommend a really cheap, quick and enjoyable restaurant that I've noticed is struggling, when it really shouldn't be, and I thought I'd just encourage anyone reading the blog, or ultimately searching on the net for a great Chinese buffet in Cape Town.

I generally don't like buffets. I find them strangely intimidating, whilst at the same time disappointing because often the food is not at its best, not really hot and fresh, and often a general let down.

Not so at Chopsticks in Durban Road in Little Mowbray in Cape Town. This road is blessed with a cornucopia of great restaurants, and you can see why the spoilt-for-choice residents of this little corner of the city would struggle to decide what to each.

In the general area are such greats (and not-so-greats) as Sakura, Greek, Fat Cactus, Chai Yo, Curry Quest, Bruegels, etc. A very competitive little street to do business in.

Chopsticks has an excellent Chinese buffet, offering spring rolls, two choices of soup, prawn chips for starters. You just help yourself. The starters are freshly prepared, and constantly replenished through the night; not much gets to stand around and the kitchen staff keep a careful eye on what's there to be eaten so that things are always ready for table.

The mains offer a lot of options for meat lovers and vegetarians alike. All the classics of sweet and sour chicken and pork, as well as various chop suey, vegetable and tofu options about. The sticky ribs are awesome as well. Several types of rice and noodles are available as well.

Bowties are on offer for dessert, which last night we enjoyed over a large pot of green tea (only R10 for four cups, a classic way to end a meal).

The waiters are friendly, a lot seem to be students, and the drinks are very reasonably priced, and they have a fairly decent budget wine list. I'd say that you can also bring a bottle of your own along, they do charge R20 corkage though.

Which is fair considering the entire buffet costs R58, a real steal for a three course meal. You can also order off the menu, and apparently they have a buffet over the weekends which costs more which includes sushi on offer (sushi is of course available through the week as well).

The R58 buffet is available Monday to Friday. The restaurant can feel a bit empty, which is one of the reasons I want to promote this restaurant because based on the friendliness of the staff and owners, the wonderful food and the good service, I'd expect this place to be packed, especially in such trying financial times as many people are experiencing.

As Sian pointed out to me, Chinese food goes through fashions, and at the moment its in a dip. Probably true considering the myriad of Chinese restaurants offering sushi. This is unfortunate, since traditional Chinese food, well prepared such as at Chopsticks is a wonderful taste sensation. The food is fresh, not fatty and really filling.

They have a bar and smoking area if you so require.

Full details available at dining-out.co.za

Chopsticks

97 Durban Road
Mowbray
7700

Tel: 021 685 0876

Labels: Buffet, Cape Town, Chinese, Mowbray, specials, sushi