Hanging out at Aunty Sophie's Kitchen in Stellenbosch

 14 November 2021

 

AUNTY SOPHIE’S KITCHEN 

1 Noordwal-Wes, Die Laan, Stellenbosch

 

I grew up in Stellenbosch when it was a dusty small town, only   alive when the students were there and quite forlorn and sad when they abandoned campus for the winter and summer holidays, back when tourism wasn’t yet the thing it is today and nothing was open from 13h00 on Saturdays to maybe 08h30 on Mondays. If you wanted cake and tea, you visited someone.

 

The thriving, bustling Stellenbosch of today, with umpteen eateries, among them Bertus Basson’s small but expanding food empire, is the town I would’ve liked to grow up in and it’s always a pleasure to return.

 

As you can imagine, being a top tourist attraction and with a substantial permanent population that keeps the town bustling  even when the academic year is done, Stellenbosch ain’t necessarily a cheap date.

 

Well, today we found what might be the bargain of the week at Aunty Sophie’s Kitchen, with prices that harken back to an almost bygone era. Imagine paying R49 for eggs Benedict or R15 for a pot of Lipton’s Earl Grey tea.  I cleaned my glasses twice before I squinted at the menu again to confirm that I wasn’t hallucinating.

 

Aunty Sophie’s Kitchen is housed in one of the very old Stellenbosch buildings that I remember as a kind of abandoned semi-derelict place on the edge of a vast open piece of land on the banks of the Eerste River. At some point, I think, it was revived and revitalised and became premises for some activity of the University, but now it’s been repurposed as restaurant and boutique, in a quiet area of town, far away from the restaurant row of the CBD.

 

The interior of the building is one long, open space with a vaulted ceiling, with some tables along the rear wall and displays of art against the walls and clothes, handmade gifts and gee gaws on railings and other surfaces in the centre of the room. Very colourful if a tad busy.  There are more tables outside under trees and umbrellas for the hot summer’s days.  Very reminiscent of a Cape Dutch farmyard.  There is also plenty of parking space on that still vast open piece of land.

 

We sat outside for the benefit of the soothing breeze and could watch the many passers-by, either walking, jogging or cycling along the river embankment. The bloody birds were quite loud.

 

The wife and I took my aged mother there for tea, so I can only talk authoritatively about tea stuff but, as mentioned, the prices  are almost mindboggling reasonable. At R55 the fry up is the most expensive breakfast dish and at R95 the hamburger (on “roosterkoek”) is the most expensive lunch item.

 

The wife ordered the toasted chicken mayo sandwich, on home baked bread, with chips (R49),

 my mother ate a good-sized scone with jam and cream (R25)

and my choice was two cinnamon sugar pancakes (R15.)

  We respectively drank a berry smoothie (R40), large orange juice (R15) and the Earl Grey tea.

 

My pancakes were okay and up to the standard one usually gets (the best pancakes I’ve recently had, other my own, comes from Die Pannekoek Tannie who has a caravan on the main drag of Hartenbos), the scone was excellent and the chicken mayo sandwich very good though the wife thought the sweetish ketchup was a cheap and terrible product.  

 

Our service ambassador was very friendly, helpful and efficient and cheerfully catered to our whims.

 

The total bill, before tip, came to R159,00, which, for three people, would be the stuff of fantasy if it weren’t true.

 

Look, I don’t know whether the eggs Benedict, for example, would be the dish it’s supposed to be, with properly poached eggs and a tart Hollandaise, but, then, much more expensive restaurants dish up less than salutary Benedicts at more than double the price Aunty Sophie charges and expect you to be satisfied.

 

If you’re in Stellenbosch and want a bargain meal in a bucolic setting (unless the weather forces you indoors for a funky setting) away from the crowded inner CBD, Aunty Sophie’s Kitchen should be  your destination.