Fun at Ferries

 24 February 2024

 

FORESTER’S ARMS

Newlands Avenue, Newlands, Cape Town

 

Hi, I’m Neels and in all my 39 years of living in Cape Town I’ve never been to “Forries” until today.

 

If it wasn’t for the intervention of fate, I might still never have visited the place.

 

The wife saw a distress call from Simba, who makes wonderful pastries and often advertises on our Oranjezicht Community Facebook group, asking the community to come out to support a mini market at the church of St Thomas in Rondebosch and thought it would be a lovely outing for the Yorkies and support for a good cause at the same time.

 

She had me at “there will be pancakes.”

 

When we got to the market, the reason for the distress call was clear. The entire market, except for the guy grilling hamburger patties on the side of the building, fitted into a broad, deep covered stoep of a modernistic face brick hall of sorts.

 

There weren’t many vendors and, other than the barista, could well have been members of the congregation selling things they’d made at home.

 

We got coffee, pastries and 6 pancakes, sat down for a bit while I worked my way through four and a half pancakes, a delightful mini quiche and a pain au chocolat whilst the wife enjoyed the other one and a half pancakes and a delectable brownie, after which we departed because the coffee was incredibly hot and would clearly take a while to cool down before we could drink it. 

 

 

It wasn’t the kind of market where one would necessarily linger but was pleasant enough and the wife bought one or two things from other vendors, including a cute, pink, small, fabric coin purse (her description, not mine) for  bubble gum and sweets in her bag. 

 

Where to now?   The wife was still hungry, not having eaten much yet.

 

She googled dog friendly places in the vicinity. I suggested the Forester’s Arms, which I knew (from previous searches) to be dog friendly and which was less than 5 minutes’ drive away.

 

Once we’d found parking in a parking area that’s mostly a building site, I did a recce to establish that there would be a table for us and the dogs. There was, in the covered, “outside” space, but amongst a happy throng, which made me apprehensive. Prinses does not do well in crowds.

 

It was a good spot, though, at the far end of the area, and no doubt because she was poorly and very withdrawn, Prinses remained quiet throughout, neither yapping at any of the patrons around us nor trying to bite the server’s face off (a win for everybody.)

 

I suppose many members of this group are very familiar with the venue and will know what kind of food it offers. I took a very cursory squizz at the menu, and my impression is that we’re talking burgers, pizzas and grills.

 

At the recommendation of the server, the wife tried the pulled beef burger (R130) and had a glass of Sauvignon Blanc (R68). Having stuffed my face with the sweet things from the mini market, I wasn’t very hungry and simply ordered the pork belly picada (R100,00) (no tapas here, mate; tellingly, the server referred to the dish as a starter) and drank a beer.

 

The wife said her burger did what it said on the box without being spectacularly wonderful and that the fries were clearly not hand cut but were okay too. The pulled beef was tasty but the dish was a bit dry.

 

My pork belly was tender, succulent and very  tasty and the portion was more than ample for a starter. My only minor gripe was that the crackling was overcooked  and too hard, instead of having a lightly crisp texture.

 

I finished with a very good cappuccino.

 

The bill came to R376,00 before tip.

 

It was all very jolly there, with mostly groups of people around us, wo could’ve been regulars. Both dogs behaved well amidst the crowd. The service was friendly and efficient, the ambience is rustic yet comfy, the food was good, if unremarkable, and the overall experience was quite positive. Sitting outside with the green canopy of the trees overhead is definitely special and I think we’ll definitely return to sample some of the other food options. Apparently, the wife is eyeing the chicken schnitzel.