Fodor's Expert Review The Cape Malay

In an 18th-century manor house, the finest traditional Cape cuisine is served in three courses with your choice of starter and dessert. The carrot-and-cumin soup is recommended over the garden salad or smoked snoek (an oily local fish), while four main-course dishes are shared with the table. Fish bobotie (with a savory custard topping) is good, but the lamb-and-butternut-squash bredie (stew) is the winner. A dhall (dal) curry is the only vegetarian option, while the chicken curry with cumin, fennel seeds, and yogurt delivers a spicy bite. Accompaniments include a roti (a griddled flour tortilla), sambal (a spicy chutney-like sauce), and atchars (a spicy relish often made with mangos). Basmati rice is also served. All three desserts—malva pudding, lemon meringue, and boeber (a traditional dish of warm milk and lokshen pudding with almonds, cinnamon, and rosewater)—are excellent to share. Coffee or tea and koeksisters (plaited dough that is deep-fried and doused in syrup) is another delicious way to end the meal.