Chefs Warehouse & Canteen in Cape Town was one of the culinary highlights of our trip. As so often it was due to chance that we “found” this place. We were on the road in Cape Town and just came from the car rental company. Actually the plan was to visit one of the highly acclaimed steakhouses of the city – the NV-80 Grill & Bar – but it was just after five o’clock in the afternoon and we obviously hadn’t had enough for breakfast – at least a slight feeling of hunger told us to have a look at the restaurants that were already open in the immediate vicinity of the car rental.
As far as I remember it was not Google Maps this time, which made us visit the Chefs Warehouse, but the classic “tip from the guy on the street”. We were told that this place is actually more of a shop where chefs buy equipment and ingredients, but we should give it a try – maybe it’s already open and they have a small snack there for sure…
Of course, you shouldn’t believe everyone you ask on the street – but in this case it was a special hint from a culinary point of view! When we entered, we knew what the guy meant, the shelves were filled with all kinds of spices, plenty of sauces, good oils and fine vinegars. In addition, there was also the aforementioned equipment such as knives, sieves, pots, pans and much more that made my cook-heart beat faster.
By the way, there are probably already three places in and around Cape Town that are listed under “Chefs Warehouse” – we were in the one on Bree Street and Short Market Street.
In the middle of the warehouse the premises were furnished rustically with wooden tables and benches – not the ambience here really reminded of a canteen, but obviously the term is to be understood differently here. When people like to spend their break somewhere to eat something, in South Africa it is already a canteen… We settled down directly at a window with view to the street.
The waitress welcomed us cordially, but pointed out that we were quite early (the sale of goods runs all day long – but food was only available in the late afternoon) – when it became clear that we are “not from the city”, but came from “far, far away”, the first offer to the guys from Germany was “You guys wanna grab a beer first, right?
After that each of us got a Windhoek Premium Draught – as we were proudly assured, brewed according to the German Purity Law. The beer was cool and tasty, but we were there by car, so after number one it was already over and we switched to mineral water during the course of the meal.
Concerning the choice of food, we relied on the advice of our waitress – there were South African tapas! We heard about this for the first time, but we were to be surprised in the most positive sense optically as also in terms of taste.
At the beginning, we were given a metal-bounded wooden board with three plates and two sets of chopsticks on it. The portions had been arranged in a manageable way and with much love on different dishes.
The first plate contained small breaded and deep-fried baby octopus with fried pork belly, fresh cucumber and pickled onion rings. The whole thing was garnished with some fresh coriander, spring onion rings, a few flowers and small “piles” of a brown cream. Everything had a very crunchy but tender bite and the slight acidity of the onions was a perfect match for the slightly sweet yet spicy cream – a successful start in terms of taste and texture.
The second plate was much more classic, with salmon cooked to perfection combined with fresh sashimi of salmon and roe. The whole thing was served with two-coloured edible clover, spring onion rings, finely sliced spinach leaves, cucumber and a light vinaigrette. The combination of the two salmon preparations made this a very refreshing dish.
Plate number three was tuna steak, which was probably cut out in a cylindrical shape, only slightly cooked from the outside and then placed on the plate in three slices. On each slice there was some tomato with onions – as used for bruschetta, but without the herbs – a few sugar pea shoots and black cream coloured with sepia ink. In addition, as a gimmick, some granulated edible charcoal had been put on top – unobtrusive in taste, but interesting.
Next, a plate and a small inconspicuous pot were put on the table again. On the plate were glassy fried “boats of onion”, with fried slices of cauliflower and raisins on a bed on a thickened cream cheeky mass.
The whole thing was served with a green flavoured oil, chives and again edible clover – a completely vegetarian pleasure and very tasty.
The taste and appearance was very impressive – the risotto, however, went beyond the scope. As inconspicuous as it stood there, one could not have guessed the range of aromas and textures it had in it. Garnished with some sliced almonds, a little clover and wild broccoli it seemed a bit reserved.
When we tasted it, we melted away – the risotto was cooked to the point, the rice still slightly firm to the bite with its own aroma, slightly interspersed with a good cheese and here and there a piece of the very tasty broccoli – perfectly seasoned and surely every Italian “mamma” would have been more than satisfied with it.
As soon as we had finished the risotto, the next three plates came – again a little feast for the eyes.
We started with a piece of roasted pork belly – it was so tender that it had surely spent a long time in a sous vide bath before it was fried. The piece was bedded on some millet which was mixed with chives and chili and on top of it there was a deep-fried strip of crust and some sprouts. On top of the meat was a light film of red wine juice and two small portions of a dark cream – they didn’t want to tell us what it was made of, but it tasted good. All in all, a down-to-earth, almost European dish.
The next plate was again octopus – this time in form of a cold terrine, cut into four tender slices and served with coriander, green flavoured oil, cucumber, chives and again edible clover – optically very nice, but for me the “weakest” of all dishes – if one can say that at all regarding this menu.
Now it was time for what I consider to be the “most beautiful” dish. Two breaded and deep-fried, hand-formed pieces filled with pork, each with a little jus and a some pickled coarse mustard seeds. The whole thing is framed by fine peas, young sugar pea shoots, roasted bacon cubes and lovingly spread heaps of green pea mousse, which deserves the name. A visual delight, just as if the dish had grown on the plate – flawless in taste.
Last but not least we shared something sweet – in this case a lime cream, garnished with some abrasion from the lime peel, some pistachios, blackberries and a sweet cherry. This was accompanied by a cassis sauce, which harmonized perfectly with the very refreshing cream.
Then the culinary fireworks were over and we were “stuffed” and extremely satisfied.
After the experiences I had with the Chefs Warehouse, I can give you a clear recommendation to visit this restaurant if you are ever in town.
Of course, I noticed that some of the rating portals give very bad reviews to the Chefs Warehouse – but if you read between the lines you often find out that the guests have left an unfair criticism out of frustration. Especially on Google Maps people sometimes don’t save with inappropriate terms – if you look closer, they have reviewed only one or very, very few restaurants – this also says a lot.
We had a very pleasant stay at Chefs Warehouse. We were surprised by the food and the place itself, which is certainly part of our positive experience. The concept of a given menu only works if you want to get involved with it, and the ambience is not that of the “usual” star restaurant either. Thus, if one comes to the Chefs Warehouse with a special expectation, I can also imagine that one does not find it so great there.
But it is different with the food – the food was throughout of the best quality and was cooked and arranged with a lot of care and love – I cannot imagine with the best will that there are such variations as they were partly described. This must be the case for many others as well, because despite some bad ratings the Chefs Warehouse still has 4.5 stars out of 5 on Google Maps, and that’s certainly much more than bad.
Why do I mention this – I want you to know what to expect when you are in Cape Town and decide to visit the Chefs Warehouse. Opinions about restaurants are diverse and always subjective – I basically write about positive experiences on foodadvisor.de.
The amount of time one wasted on a bad meal should not be doubled by writing about it afterwards. Of course, I have written negative reviews a few times too – but my motivation here was always to protect others from harm or terrible experiences – but I always stayed objective and could often bring at least one positive aspect to the worst dive – you ever have to decide for yourself.