La Colombe consistently appears amongst the Top 10 Best Restaurants in South Africa. Despite its proximity to Cape Town and my goal to eat my way through the best restaurants in South Africa, I had yet to dine there. Cape Town in July is ordinarily rainy and cold, so I had planned a quiet weekend in Constantia (a suburb of Cape Town) comprised of indoor activities – wine farm visits, reading, a massage, roaming Kirstenbosch gardens, and a long leisurely lunch at La Colombe.
Sundays in Cape Town are generally quiet with most shops and restaurants closed so that their staff can maintain a work life balance that Capetonians pride themselves on. Visitors should follow the lead of locals and head to the wine lands for a seriously delicious Sunday lunch. On my latest foray to Cape Town, I chose to spend my Sunday wining and dining at Waterkloof Wine Estate in Somerset West.
One of the best views in the Stellenbosch winelands has to be from the Jordan Restaurant dining room, but when the dishes start coming out of the kitchen, all attention turns to the magnificent food. This is not a restaurant where the view is meant to distract from middling food, but one where the views of wine farms and farmland convey the provenance of what you are eating.
Since moving to South Africa eighteen months ago this week, there have been countless moments where I have to stop and marvel that I am lucky enough to spend a few years here. Cape Town is an easy city to be awestruck in – the city is endowed with an incredible natural beauty like no other city I have visited.
The difficulty in determining the right tip is that it is highly discretionary, dictated by local norms, and industry specific. If you are staying at a luxurious safari camp, the suggested gratuities will likely be higher not only because it takes more people to cater to your every whim in the middle of the bush, but because the standards are incredibly high. Which may leave you wondering, how much should I tip when I go on safari?
People coming to South Africa often ask me for advice about what to do while they are here. Of course, the answer largely depends on whether you have been here before or if you have a specific interest in something like fly fishing. But, if this is your first visit and you want an introduction to the country, here is the trip I would plan for you.