Going Greek

 30 July 2025

 

THE GREEK FISHERMAN

78 Regent Road, Sea Point, Cape Town

 

 With a rustic, beachside taverna on Paros on our minds yet  firmly stuck in the reality of a cold, wet Cape Town Wednesday night, Von-Mari, her parents and I dined  at The Greek Fisherman to celebrate the father-in-law’s 79^th birthday. We had a good corner table next to a roaring fireplace inside. The joint wasn’t overly busy and if that isn’t optimal for the restauranteur, the low noise level is a bonus. I suppose Capetonians still don’t care for going out when the weather is inclement.

 

Voni and I have eaten lunch here, on warm days in the lovely courtyard, and we’re familiar with the light lunch menu but it seems that the dinner menu is a different beast altogether. Voni had a birthday dinner here with some girlfriends a couple of years ago and she says the menu is materially less expansive than it used to be and the choice does seem to be a tad bijou, and restricted to what one would call Greek cuisine crowd pleasers.

 

We ordered a bottle of MCC, after which the other three drank wine and I had a beer.

 

We shared mezze as starters: a trio of dips (R119),

 flatbreads, baby marrow in crisp phyllo pastry (R79)

and baked spanakopita (R79),

all of which were excellent, though the baby marrow, served with skordalia and grated Peccorino cheese,  was first among its peers. The phyllo was light and crisp and the skordalia sumptuous and unctuous to the max.

 

Voni had the slow roasted lamb (R320) as main course,

the parents ordered grilled mixed seafood skewers with  hake, calamari and prawn (R249)

and my choice was grilled Kingklip with spinach rice (R269).

 

My fish was perfectly cooked and the rice was tasty but a not particularly sizable portion of fish and a ramekin-sized portion of rice was a tad spartan for the price, regardless of how toothsome it was.

 

Voni thoroughly enjoyed the succulent lamb, lemon roast potatoes (loved ‘em!) and tzatziki, but couldn’t finish all of it as it was a hefty portion, and I had the last few bites, after a taster earlier. That taster was succulent and deeply flavourful but the bit Voni couldn’t manage was somewhat stringy and oddly lacking in flavour.

 

The parents loved their seafood skewers, and were particularly impressed with the fresh prawns. 

 

Voni’s mother had no capacity for the chunk of grilled hake on her skewer and I took it over. It was as perfectly cooked as the Kingklip, the flesh beautifully separating into tender flakes. 

 

There was no need to order desert. The birthday man was treated with a beautiful plate of Loukoumades for four and a single candle in the ice cream. The “donut balls” were crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, not overly sweet and utterly delectable. A very satisfying and generous cherry on top of what had been a great evening with top notch food.

 

I suppose it’s not wonderful for a restaurant to be half full but for us it’s a treat, as conversation can flow without the need to shout and I can foresee that the interior would be noisy if all the tables were taken.

 

The service was excellent and cheerful, the manager was attentive and a good time was had by all. We will be back in summer for a long, boozy lunch in the lovely courtyard.