150 Wine Farms, 40 Years of Perfection, 1 Amazing Wine Festival

From oysters, whales, jazz and daisies to cheese, olives, food and wine, it seems we have a festival for just about anything these days. Filled with stand after stand, sometimes our big day out turns into a big crowd-induced headache! But thankfully, there are still a few festivals where a truly authentic experience can still be had.

That’s right, it’s time to save the date for the 10^th annual Stellenbosch Wine Festival, to be held 28-31 July at the Paul Roos Centre, preceded by Wine Week, from 22-31 July, when visitors can partake in rare and exclusive cellar door experiences at participating estates. This year will be the most exuberant celebration ever, marking the Stellenbosch American Express ® Wine Routes’ 40^th anniversary and its unwavering focus on something that distinguishes not only the Cape, but South Africa, on a world stage. What’s that, you ask?

Wine.

Of course even the grandest of wines would feel lonely without its two best friends in tow – Great Food and Even Better Company – and visitors can look forward to the trio during the festivities. Not about big crowds, expo stands or secret charges, visitors can experience an honest good time spent indulging in conversation with their favourite winemakers, swirling up to 500 different wines (selectively, of course) and irresistible winter warmers – hearty meals planned to pair to perfection. Visitors have the rare treat of enjoying their favourite iconic estates – from Delheim, Simonsig and Kanonkop to Neethlingshof, Le Riche, De Trafford, Warwick Estate and many more – either under one roof, or at the cellar door.

With so much to look forward to, I spent some time chatting with Annareth Bolton, CEO of the Stellenbosch American Express® Wine Routes, about what makes Stellenbosch such a special place, and what visitors can look forward to at this year’s festival:

With 150 farms, the Stellenbosch American Express® Wine Routes offer something for almost everyone. Tell me about some of its most memorable highlights?

Being the heart of the Cape Winelands, we are seen as the pioneers of wine tourism. The Cape Dutch architecture is a big draw card, while the modern tasting rooms and restaurants have inspired many visitors to come back time and again. Spending only one day in Stellenbosch, you can taste wine with a rugby legend, go on a game drive, enjoy lunch at a top 10 restaurant, try your hand at fly-fishing, visit a wine museum and mingle with the locals.

The Wine Route has grown immensely since being formed 40-years ago – what are some of the most exciting innovations since the early days?

In 1971, when the wine route was formed, no tasting or purchasing was allowed at wine farms. There were no road signs or maps, let alone restaurants and guests houses on farms. This really was the start of wine tourism in South Africa, and many have followed suit. We now have hundreds of thousands of visitors, which led to a thriving industry which contributes to job creation, skills development and international recognition. When I started the Sundays in Stellenbosch campaign five years ago, only a handful of farms and restaurants were open, while we now have over 65 farms open on a Sunday, offering kids entertainment, informative wine-tastings, hiking-trails, picnics and world-class restaurants. Social responsibility is at the order of the day, with crèches for farm children, local employment, and a drive towards supporting local business. It really is a winning model for all.

Stellenbosch was recently recognised as the “2011 Wine Town of the Year” by Sweden’s prestigious Munskänkarna wine club, the first time a city outside of the European Union has been bestowed such an honour. What do you believe helped distinguish Stellenbosch above all the other contenders?

This is a truly wonderful honour and opportunity for Stellenbosch. South Africa currently holds 20,5% of the market share in the Swedish wine market, making us the largest exporter to their country. We are a world leader in wine tourism, with annual awards bestowed to our members. I really believe that my predecessors at this organisation have done a great job of promoting our excellent wines – a study has shown that consumers recognise Stellenbosch as a wine brand before South Africa. Now our focus is on promoting all that surrounds the bottle of wine, in other words the tourism offerings. We are picking the fruits of our hard work, and this recognition as one of the world’s greatest wine destinations, is well deserved!

Sustainability is gradually becoming a more prominent consideration both in the eyes of the industry and the consumer – how are the members of the Stellenbosch Wine Route embracing sustainability – and do you believe it impacts upon the quality of the wine?

Stellenbosch soil and properties are some of the most expensive in the world. It would be much easier to develop it all into housing and golf estates, but that is not the legacy we want to leave for the ones following in our footsteps. I think farming in Stellenbosch is one of the hardest financial things you can be busy with at the moment, but also the most rewarding. Someone once said that the people from Stellenbosch will be disappointed when they get to heaven! We have a great responsibility, which we take very seriously, and once again we are leading the industry when it comes to carbon neutrality, solar energy, bio-diversity, restoring indigenous plants and trees, and looking after our wildlife. A truly inspiring town to live in!

These days there are many wine festivals – tell me about some of the unique experiences visitors can have, that help make this festival the one that is “not to be missed.”

The Stellenbosch Wine Festival is the oldest in the country, and this year we are celebrating its 10^th birthday in its current format at Paul Roos Centre. It is a wonderful opportunity to taste up to 500 wines, all under one roof. The opening night, the wine connoisseurs evening, is where you can meet the winemakers, in a relaxed and warm atmosphere. All the wines on show are available to purchase at special festival prices, in order for you to stock up you collection. Friday is our social evening, with live entertainment, food demonstrations and signature dishes from local restaurants participating in our gourmet lane. Saturday is our busiest day, while Sunday is family day, with a secure and fun environment for the kiddies, while mom and dad enjoy good company and music. We have shuttles from the V&A Waterfront, Canal Walk, Tygervalley, Paarl, Franschhoek and Somerset West, enabling all to arrive safely back home. We offer historical walks through town, fantastic accommodation specials, and the restaurants are all ready to welcome you with warm winter dishes and roaring fires.

If you could name just two things that make Stellenbosch special to you – what would they be?

The mountains surrounding our town make this a very special place to be. There is always something to do in our town – whether it’s attending a production in one of our theatres, live music, art exhibitions, mountain biking, wine tasting, shopping, drinking coffee in one of the many corner cafés, you will never be anything but inspired and entertained.

THE DETAILS

• Tickets to the Stellenbosch Wine Festival range from R120 per person per day for online bookings (in advance, at www.webtickets.co.za) or R140 at the door, to R350 for the Golden Pass for the entire festival. The entry fee to the opening of the festival, an exclusive Wine Connoisseurs Evening from 16h00 till 21h00 on Thursday, 28 July, is R160 per person for online bookings or R180 at the door and includes gourmet delights

• Whether your wallet is feeling light or loaded, you’re bound to find an accommodation packages that suits – click here for a comprehensive list
• For more information call 021 886 4310 or visit www.wineroute.co.za

The Perfectly Posh Petite Pongrácz

It could have been a scene out of a James Bond movie. Sunset over Cape Town, onboard a yacht, surrounded by beautiful people, fresh oysters and Pongrácz bubbly on ice. A view to kill. One could be forgiven for thinking 007 himself might emerge from the water, straight from Russia with love, and board the vessel in his dripping scuba gear, especially since he is in fact in town, filming the latest in the series, Carte Blanche.

Alas, it was not to be.

Not that I minded – who needs the spy who loved me when you already feel like a millionaire? It’s not every day you get to cruise out towards the horizon with a flute of Pongrácz in hand, taking in the view of the V&A Waterfront, Table Mountain, Lion’s Head and Signal Hill.

It was a spectacular celebration onboard the Tigger Too, a 55 foot luxury catamaran cruiser. Guests were served elegant canapés complemented by the über posh Petite Pongrácz, the new 375ml sized bottle that put the sparkle into any occasion, whether for bigger affairs when they ensure each glass served is chilled and crispy fresh, or your eyes only.

Eventually the bliss had to come to an end. One thing’s for sure, with times like these you don’t need to live twice.

The Details

• The singularly noble Pongrácz and Pongrácz Rosé were named South Africa’s top Non-vintage and Rosé in the highly contested 2010 Wine Amorim Cap Classique Challenge
• An exceptional blend of the classic Champagne varietals, Pinot noir and Chardonnay, Pongrácz is set apart by its crisp green apple tones and the nuttiness of freshly baked bread. The Rosé with its salmon hue is enchantingly dry with a wonderful foamy mouthful of black berry fruit and delicate yeasty notes that balances superbly with a dry palate.
• The Pongrácz 375ml is available at approximately R58 and the Rosé at around R68 per bottle at selected wine shops, trendy bars and restaurants. For more information, visit www.pongracz.co.za
• The Tigger 2 Royale is a 55 foot luxury catamaran cruiser based in Cape Town’s Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. It features a beautifully streamlined exterior and plush white leather interior. To plan your own Petit Pongrácz Party visit www.tiggertoo.co.za

Newton Johnson's Dance with Pinot Noir

For Pinot Noir enthusiasts, the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley near Hermanus is like the Garden of Eden with more award-winning Pinots made here than any other place in South Africa. This is a true feat considering Pinot, known to some as the “heartbreak grape,” is the most difficult variety of grape, presenting challenges both in the vineyard and in the cellar. The climate of the valley plays an obvious role in the success its wine estates but I wondered if there wasn’t something more to the story so I spent an afternoon chatting with two of the Valley’s most renowned winemakers, Gordon and Nadia Newton Johnson.

From the start of our chat it became evident that Pinot Noir has captured not only their attention, but also their hearts. The couple spoke passionately, describing it as finicky yet elegant, beautiful, soft and expressive of the terroir where it is grown.

Nadia: “Once you’ve worked with Pinot there’s no turning back – you either fall in love with it or you...” Gordon: “... or you don’t understand it and push it aside.” Nadia finishes, “You just decide, ‘no’. But if its grabbed you – that’s it.”

Pinot’s expression of terroir is the one characteristic the Newton Johnson’s focus on the most, acknowledging that terroir differentiates their Pinot from others produced in the valley:

Gordon: “I think we’ve gone further to discover what Pinot will do on soils within the valley. There are different expressions between the Pinot that we’re making compared to what other wine estates in the Valley are making.” Nadia continues, “Clay soil holds a lot of nutrients and iron – it almost forms the backbone of the wine, gives it a dark, bigger kind of structure. But our soils are a little lighter, not as much clay. As soon as you take Pinot to lighter soils it becomes more fragrant, almost prettier, more beautiful. I think that’s where we are with our Pinots.”

Not only is the couple single-minded about their passion for Pinot, but also towards their hands-on approach to winemaking:

Nadia: “Sometimes people don’t understand two winemakers. When it comes to the styling of the wine we make those decisions together. Gordon, “We’re interchangeable.” Nadia, “That’s the thing – we’re so interchangeable. Between the paperwork and whatever work needs to be done in the winery it doesn’t matter which one of us does it. And we actually do the work physically ourselves – we believe that all those little bits that you put in make the difference between making a great wine or just a good wine.”Gordon: “Some of our wines are expensive, we’re getting more expensive. We feel we’ve got to be hands-on to maintain that level and take it further. We’re not just winery owners, we are wine makers. We always want to be that – we always want to have that connection with the winery and the vineyards.”

Thinking of the future, the couple are focused on developing more sustainable processes on the farm, like water conservation, and are moving away from the use of artificial influences like pesticides, fertilizers and added yeast. Although more challenging, they prefer a more natural approach which they believe will positively impact the soils in the long term, and help create an even more unique expression of terroir in their wines.

Gordon, “Water is a big part of sustainability, and we have a whole water treatment plant here. It takes 9 litres of water to make 1 litre of wine, so any waste water we create, we recycle it and put back into the water table. We also keep away from pesticides and prefer to treat our insect pests biologically with the release of natural predators, like Lady Birds and wasps. We’re also moving away from synthetic fertilizers – and are moving towards using the waste on our farm instead. These are all small steps towards becoming more sustainable.” Nadia, “We need to keep our soils alive and strong – that’s the most important thing. And as we become more sustainable we have noticed a major change in our wine – it makes us more individual. It’s really amazing to see how far you can take it – to see the qualities in the soil that can be expressed by a wine.”

It was an absolute treat to be able to spend time getting to know the Newton Johnsons. The key to their success seems to lie in their passion – passion for Pinot, for what they do, for preserving the land for another generation. If Pinot is a heart-break grape for some it’s certainly not for the Newton Johnsons – for them it’s a love affair, and so it’s no surprise their wine has seen such success. After all, it’s handcrafted with love – and anything made with love tastes better.

Newton Johnson is located in the upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley just outside Hermanus on the R320. Stop in for wine tasting & buying, or have lunch at the stunning Heaven Restaurant with to-die-for-views of the valley. For more information, visit www.NewtonJohnson.com

Country Life and Everything Nice

Whether you’re an equestrian, an epicurean, or an urban escapee – getting away from it all in Noordhoek gets you more than what you started with.

I’m standing in a curious place – a place like no other in the world. A bold statement, I know – afterall, none of the usual excitements exist here. No dazzling city lights, shopping meccas or restaurant rows, no glitz nor glamour. Yet it’s precisely in this emptiness – in what is not here – that this place gains value. It’s a place with an abundance of that curious country feeling – that something that ticks inside of us in the face of long sandy beaches framed by bushveld, dunes and a milkwood forest. This is a place where the wind has a way of ruffling your hair and carrying any form of status away like so many grains of sand, and where the excited thrill of urban exultation peters out like a tiny stream in the face of the ocean’s vastness.

This is Noordhoek, a small corner on the fringe of cosmopolitan Cape Town – overlooked by some, passed through by others. For the rest of us, the local’s term “Noordhoeked” has meaning. Only 35-minutes from the centre of Cape Town, just getting here is a spectacular journey through Camp’s Bay and her Twelve Apostles, along the coast past Llandudno, Hout Bay and her faithful Sentinel, and culminating along one of the world’s most famous roads – Chapman’s Peak Drive.

Just two narrow lanes carved into the side of an impending cliff-face that extends 600 meters over your head and falls nearly as far into the crashing Atlantic below, it offers the kind of driving that inspires the dreams of motoring enthusiasts and colours the knuckles of their not-so-adventurous companions gleaming white. If you can pry you eyes away from the road you’ll be lavished with 180-degree panoramic views over the blue Atlantic, across the white sands of Noordhoek’s 8-kilometer long beach, until the last few rocky outcrops of the peninsula curve just out of sight.

The roads 114 twists and turns eventually deliver you to Noordhoek where you’re greeted by Cape Point Vineyards, home to some of South Africa’s most highly acclaimed wines, including Sauvignon Blancs that make regular appearances in the 5-star John Platter SA Wine Guide rankings and which have easily broken through the 90-point benchmark set by Wine Spectator for “outstanding wines of superior character and style”. Not widely available, these wines are a true reflection of the local terroir and the perfect welcome in a glass.

Next stop, go for a meander in the Village – the tourism office is located here along with a collection of shops and restaurants, not least of which is the humbly-named Food Barn. The chef, Franck Dangereux, spent his early years training in 3-Michelin starred restaurants in France before eventually joining the team at Constantia Uitsig’s La Colombe, where his influence helped make it one of the world’s top 50 restaurants. Now he’s realising his dream of running his own restaurant and spending more time with his young family. You can choose to dine in or shop the deli for a bounty of culinary delights – locally sourced artisanal cheese, olives and spreads, even quiches and to-die-for gourmet sandwiches. Did I mention the on-site bakery? Only those of merciless willpower can withstand the temptations of the multitude of fresh cakes, pastries and bread that seem to stand in formation like a small army intent on liberating your waistline.

Once you’ve made your contribution towards the ‘Battle of the Bulge,’ make your way towards the Common where you can spread out your treasures for a casual picnic, wander along the babbling stream where hundreds of Arum lilies bloom in springtime, or get to know the equine beauties resting in the adjacent paddocks. No ordinary creatures, these gentle beasts with their soft, chestnut eyes and curious nature are mostly investments of the purebred kind. If you fancy a sunset ride along the beach, never fear – the folks at Sleepy Hollow Horse Riding just down the lane will completely kit you out with riding gear, a safety lesson and a trusty (if semi-retired) steed.

Following the road towards the beach, you’ll come across the Red Herring – a local institution that hosts formal wine and food pairing evenings next to a roaring fire. Upstairs you’ll also find Skebanga’s, a casual pub famous for its range of pizzas, rooftop terrace and local flair. Live music is also a regular feature.

Just across the road you’ll find the turnoff to Monkey Valley – a collection of timber chalets nestling in the embrace of the Milkwood forest. My favourite is along a private pathway towards the beach, complete with a wraparound terrace and a millionaire’s view – 180-degrees of undeveloped bush, a seasonal lagoon (and occasional home to migrating pink flamingos), and unspoilt beach – all wrapped up in the sounds of the sea. Sitting on your terrace, the sun starts to set. The horses and their riders appear as if on cue, making their daily formations across the sand. It’s Golden Hour now – the dunes are rich in colour from green to dark brown and billowy yellow. A little later the sounds of frogs present themselves, punctuating the silence of nature.

If you’re lucky, the rare Leopard Toad might make a quick appearance while fireflies dance on the horizon, as if to add their glow the sky now radiating hues of yellow, orange, pink and purple. One by one, thousands of twinkling lights join in the chorus, illuminating the sky as it gradually grows darker – not dazzling city lights this time – but stars.

THE DETAILS

Where to Eat:

• The Food Barn: Restaurant (reservations a must) and Deli; www.thefoodbarn.co.za
• The Red Herring (formal) or Skebanga’s Sunset Bar (local is lekker): www.theredherring.co.za

Where to Stay:

• Monkey Valley: Live like a millionaire, if only for one night in these private, self-catering chalets; Restaurant on on-site; www.monkeyvalleyresort.com

What to Do:

• Cape Point Vineyards: Wine Tasting options priced at R10, R30 or R50; Mon-Fri 09h00-17h00, Sat 10h001700 and Sun 10h00-16h00; www.noordhoekvineyards.co.za
• Shopping at the Village
• Picnic in the Common
• Beach Walk
• Sleepy Hollow Horse Riding: 2-hour beach trail from R400 per person; www.sleepyhollowhorseriding.co.za

Scenic Drives of South Africa

Few things in life bring to mind such idyllic thoughts of freedom than the road trip – of driving through wide open spaces, the wind in your hair and the thought that you can go just about anywhere. Most visitors to South Africa have heard of the Garden Route, but with its stunning natural landscape, impressive rock formations and deep gorges, South Africa has even more to offer. Try one of these rides on for size and you’re guaranteed a view you’ll remember for a lifetime:

Camp’s Bay to Chapman’s Peak, Cape Town

Begin your journey just 5-min from the City Bowl. The well-maintained road descends into the arms of famed Camp’s Bay, framed on your left by the Twelve-Apostles, part of the Table Mountain range, and on your right by the sea. The road hugs the mountains and meanders south through Hout Bay, culminating along Chapman’s Peak Drive where dramatic rust-coloured cliff-faces extend above before succumbing to the crashing sea below.

Sani Pass, Drakensberg

This drive is not for the faint-hearted, the novice driver, nor the average rental car. The landscape is stark, the road is unpaved and potholed, and don’t even think about the state of the guardrail (there isn’t one). One treacherous hairpin curve after another, this adventure road climbs up into the clouds until you reach the mountain kingdom of Lesotho where you’ll want to calm your nerves with a drink at the highest pub in Africa.

Swartberg Pass, Klein Karoo

Between Oudsthoorn's Cango Caves and Prince Albert, this unpaved road tip-toes along the mountain’s edge offering sweeping views of the shrubby Karoo-landscape far below, a gentle welcome before it takes you on a journey of secrets, bobbing and weaving its way through canyon rockwalls as old as fossils, giant proteas that flower pink and yellow in season, and endless varieties of the fynbos so unique to South Africa.

Route 62, Western Cape

Rolling vineyards, tidy farmhouses and quaint country villages give way to the dry openness of the Karoo between Ashton and Oudsthoorn on this scenic alternative to the N2, dubbed the longest wine route in the world. On a summer’s day the heat along this route rises in shimmering waves – if it’s too much, take one of the many roads heading south towards the sea where you might be lucky enough to find a cooling waterfall bursting from the craggy mountain face.

Seweweekspoort, Klein Karoo

The lines in the jagged rock walls that line either side of this narrow road reveal the crushing tectonic power that formed them – vertical lines slope to horizontal and back again. Hues of red, orange and yellow blanket the space. In the quiet of centuries, one can’t help but think back to the days of pioneers, when this keyhole through the seeming impenetrable mountains provided a merciful escape from the hardships of the interior.

Humble and Historic – Tulbagh Awaits

Tulbagh. It’s a place that’s just out of reach but one that seems to keep its hold on you long after you’ve left. Beyond the grasp of tourism, one and a half hours from Cape Town, it’s an historic haven off the beaten wine lands tracks in Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. A rare treasure, its honest authenticity has survived its modern day need to play on the world stage as a premiere wine making region.

Church Street is perhaps the most famous example of Tulbagh’s past – building after building it is a national monument of Cape Dutch architecture, painstakingly restored after a devastating earthquake destroyed the original structures back in the 1940’s. Perhaps it was only a latent aftershock from the “big one” that must have formed Tulbagh into such a dramatic valley so many millennia ago.

No longer private homes, these days the national monuments of Church Street have mostly been converted into an array of B&B’s, curios and cafés. With all the modern excitement it’s difficult to imagine the truth of the past, when Tulbagh’s first citizens bustled along this lane conducting the business of the day. But for the observative, a raw reminder of Tulbagh’s founding souls can be found at the Church itself, just at the edge of town. Walk through the gates and the respect of generations will envelop you as your eyes settle on one ancient tombstone after another. The names, the dates – the only thing these souls have left on God’s earth – now crumbling into the distance, about to join the bones of their patrons in surrender to the elements. Nothing lasts forever – and to me it feels like an honour to hold testament, if only for a moment.

Just a few minutes out of town, the road meanders into the countryside past picturesque wine estates. Drostdy-Hof Manor stands watch like old faithful, flanked by others who hold the valley’s humility steadfast whilst making an impression on the palettes of unsuspecting wine lovers everywhere: the fourth-generation Twee Jonge Gezellen Estate “The House of Krone”, Saronsberg Cellar, and the historic Oude Compagnies Post. It’s easy to get swept up in the romance of the place – and the chapel at Montpellier stands like a beacon to such notions, its small stature belying its position amongst the vines on a hillside of monumental beauty.

It seems to me that the people who visit Tulbagh have something in common with the people that live there – maybe we’re drawn by the call of the mountain range, the quiet that moves on the breeze, or even the past that seems to whisper from every rock, nook and cranny. Something draws us all there – something that makes the jagged mountain peaks that curve overhead in the shape of a horseshoe landscape feel like home’s embrace.

Lucky Charms & Sensational Bites: Port Elizabeth’s Narai Siam Thai Kitchen

Located in an unassuming converted house on a quiet, out of the way street in Newton Park, Narai Siam Thai Kitchen’s exterior seems ho-hum, a striking contrast to the inside, which makes you feel like you’ve been carried away by a crowd of Thai nationals in an Asian version of Carnival. Every table, wall and even the ceiling is adorned with authentic Thai tapestries in hot pink, yellow, green and blue. Shimmering mirrors reflect light like little disco balls, making the space feel larger than life. The feeling is festive, casual, and definitely fun – perfect for groups in a celebratory mood.

This is the vision of Colin Beelders and his partner, a Thai national. Over the years they have painstakingly sourced each element of the décor in Thailand and travelled with them back to South Africa. Apparently the décor does much to inspire the guests and some, the owners say, are simply overwhelmed by the temptation to tinker with the glittering ornaments, even slipping them into their handbags alongside extra dinner mints. Colin explains, “Unfortunately things are sometimes stolen or broken,” he shrugs, “sometimes we get them back.”

Colin continues, “The restaurant’s name is inspired by a Thai king whose temple in Lopburi is most famous for its annual Festival of Monkeys.” The temple has become a tourist attraction since 2,000 monkeys decided to take up residence. These crafty monkeys have a habit of sneaking up on unsuspecting tourists and pick-pocketing small items like car keys or snacks before scampering off. I can’t help but make the correlation between the monkey-thieves at the temple in Thailand and patrons in Port Elizabeth who would pause between bites to strip the walls of their ornaments.

Determined to leave things in their place, my friend and I are looking forward to our lunch out on an otherwise average day. We make small talk with our host who brings us order-by-number menus. There is something to be said for these – somehow I always fool myself into believing I don’t need the extra help but invariably realize after several mangled attempts at Thai that ordering by number isn’t so bad after all.

We start with easy-to-pronounce Tom Yum Soup, a house specialty, and order a bottle of Noble Hill Sauvignon Blanc – a perfect companion to Thai food because of its lemony, crisp finish. The soup is warming and has just enough spice to balance the sweetness. For the entrée we decide to share two of the restaurant’s signature dishes, my favourite, #13 (that’s Kang Keow Wan Gai – sweet green curry)with chicken, and #42 (Pad Nam Phrik Phao – stir fried and roasted chilli paste) with beef. In both dishes, the vegetables are perfectly cooked – seared but still crisp fresh. The rich coconut of the green curry is complemented by mild spice and lifted by the zing of lemongrass – the combination is a gentle dance in my mouth. The chili dish by contrast is feisty and full of kick, richness and depth of flavour. As the restaurant starts to fill with aromas from the kitchen and the energy of other patrons the space is transformed into a mid-day’s party. Just a few bites in and we are loving the food and the vibe.

When the coast is clear we sneak away to have a peek at the infamous men’s loo – where the interior is guaranteed to bring a laugh, if not a blush as red as sweet chili sauce due to the many phallic statues adorning the space. Obscene and hilarious to us westerners, it turns out we are missing the point entirely. These figures are lucky charms, known as Palad Khik, and have been highly regarded in Thai society since the 8^th century AD for their powers to bring good luck, prosperity, protection against evil forces and last but not least – to increase one’s sex appeal. Quite the norm in Thailand, they are even worn as necklaces.

I don’t know about you, but I somehow doubt I could ever fall head over heels for a man wearing a giant phallic charm around his neck, but I suppose one never really knows until one is faced with the situation.

We return to the table giggling. We catch our breath and turn to high-five the table of ladies next to us – their turn is up. Still feeling flushed, we decide to cool down over Thai iced teas – brewed to perfection, they are sweet, authentically Thai and beautiful to look at – just like the restaurant, which seems to have made it to the end of lunch largely intact. Although I haven’t seen anyone slipping trinkets into their takeaway boxes it still feels like we’ve got up to a bit of mischief – sort of like those monkeys living in the famous temple in Lopburi. Something tells me King Narai would be proud.

• HOURS: OPEN FOR LUNCH & DINNER, MON – SAT, 12H00 ‘TIL 23H00
• LICENSED: YES; R35 CORKAGE FEE
• AMBIANCE: CASUAL & FUN, LIKE THE FESTIVAL OF MONKEYS
• AVERAGE MAIN COURSE: R55
• ADDRESS: 20 WORRAKER STREET (BETWEEN 2^ND & 3^RD AVENUES), NEWTON PARK, PORT ELIZABETH
• TEL: 041 363 8126