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Cape Town has grown as a city in a way that few others in the world have. Take a good look at the street names. Strand and Waterkant streets (meaning "beach" and "waterside," respectively) are now far from the sea. However, when they were named, they were right on the beach. An enormous program of dumping rubble into the ocean extended the city by a good few square miles (thanks to the Dutch obsession with reclaiming land from the sea). Almost all the city on the seaward side of Strand and Waterkant is part of the reclaimed area of the city known as the Foreshore. If you look at old paintings of the city, you will see that originally waves lapped at the very walls of the castle, now more than half a mile from the ocean.
Most guided tours of the Malay quarter include a visit to this 18th-century home, which originally belonged to well-known Turkish scholar and prominent local Muslim leader, Abu Bakr Effendi. The museum showcases local Islamic heritage and culture, with highlights including “Who Built Cape Town?,” “Mapping Bo-Kaap: History, memories and spaces,” and the documentary “Viewing Bo-Kaap.”
Noon Gun Tearoom and Restaurant up the very steep slope of Signal Hill is a good place to stop for a breather and some traditional, home-cooked Malay food. Your entertaining hostess (and TV chef) Zaine Misbach cooks up a mean curry and biryani (a spicy rice-based dish). And her samosas are to die for. The menu is limited, but Zaine's repertoire is anything but; she's chatty and engaging and also offers cooking lessons.
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