Hemelhuijs

Food:

Jacques Erasmus is part designer, part stylist and part chef, so it’s no surprise that his food is beautiful and slightly left-of-centre. He manages to take ingredients that traditionally go together (prawns, broccoli and coconut milk) and throw in something you weren’t expecting (litchis). Other stand-outs? Try the seared tuna tempura with ponzu sauce, or the flash-fried calamari with chilli and coconut. Sensational breakfast dishes include poached eggs and artichokes on rye. The food is eclectic, fresh and brilliant.

Wine:

A very small list, catering for the lunchtime crowd. A handful of standards beers are unexciting, but the cocktails (which you can order by the jug) are beautiful and quirky.

Service:

Pretty good, but not exceptional. Considering the attention to detail in the food and the décor, the staff might be the only weakness in an otherwise inspirational restaurant.

Ambience:

Where else is would a wall-mounted deer, complete with broken cutlery stuck in the antlers, be the main feature? Somehow it works at Hemelhuijs. This is one of the quirky touches in stark contrast to the rest of the room, which is (for the most part) Zen-like: minimalist and clean, with a fairly neutral colour palette.

And...:

Be sure to check out Jacques’s self-designed crockery range, which is tastefully displayed. A few pieces could make a great gift for a special someone. (AF, October 2011)

Joshua Turnton
23-Mar-2012

While the food is rather tasty and the atmosphere is rather quaint, the restaurant and service (and price) is a bit too precious.



When, at breakfast, I told the supercilious waiter that I don't have a fondness for salmon or bacon with my scrambled eggs and rather asked for grilled tomato, the waiter looked absolutely gobsmacked and replied "Oh no, we don't do grilled tomato" as if that kind of taste palate was way too common and downmarket for such a quasi-sophisticated establishment. He further looked horrified when I asked for tomato sauce, and replied they don't "do" tomato sauce.



I don't really "do" intolerant restaurants myself.

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Michelle Doyle
11-Jan-2012

When you eat out in Cape Town regularly, it bacomes a bit familiar - many of the menus look the same. Hemelhuijs is something completely different. A short and regularly changing menu keeps things interesting. The food is non-fussy and fresh. I can't wait to visit them again.

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