The Woodlands Eatery (A Slight Return)

 2 March 2024

 

THE WOODLANDS EATERY (A SLIGHT RETURN)

Breda Street, Oranjezicht, Cape Town

 

So, a semi-impromptu date night because the wife felt like having pasta and I wasn’t about to cook because I’d be  watching football over prime cooking time. Woodlands is just around the corner, after all.

 

We sat upstairs again, amidst another happy throng,  and had a good time again.

 

Started with a shared caprese salad with avocado (R129,00), always a winner, not so much because it’s a South Africanised take but because the combination of mozzarella, fresh tomato and fresh basil always pleases the palate.

 

The wife was torn between her favourite dish at Woodlands, the pasta with slow cooked beef ragu, or the tagliolini allo scoglio, pasta with mussels, prawns and tomato (R199), that reminded her of the similar dish she adores at Sonny & Irene. She decided to step out of her culinary comfort zone and chose the seafood pasta.

 

My choice was the calamari main course (R199) because I wanted something light and was going to swap the French fries for onion rings (R39) until the wife said I should get both; she’d take care of the potatoes.

The seafood pasta dish was good but not what the wife truly wanted and afterwards she decided next time she’ll stick to her guns and have her favourite meaty pasta dish, which is glorious. Sometimes, well, probably always, one should just order what you know you like and forget about being adventurous.  

 

The calamari were perfectly cooked, lightly crisp and well-seasoned. The batter shell around most of the onion rings was delightfully crisp, and the onions were soft and delicately sweet, but when I got to the last two onion rings, the shells had softened, perhaps because they’d cooled down.

 

We shared the excellent fries.

 

There were pastries at home, so we skipped dessert and coffee.

 

The bill, including a bottle of water, a glass of wine and a beer, came to R716,00 before tip.

 

It was another good evening at Woodlands and I will always recommend it, though, going by its popularity, it needs little recommendation anymore.