Riempies Restaurant, situated in the Cape Sun Hotel, is a
self-dubbed “contemporary, yet traditional experience”, which pays homage to
the area’s Cape Dutch heritage. Set on Strand Street in Cape Town, the Cape Sun
specialises as a business hotel, offering 386 luxurious rooms to businesspeople
from all over the world. The modern design with a hint of old wealth requires
that the guest’s every need be accommodated for, and what more does a jetlagged
businessman want (after a nap) than an easy access collaboration of culinary
delights? Riempies is a place to have a business lunch, a solitary dinner, or a
quick snack before a meeting. Furthermore, by opening itself up to the public,
it becomes a quiet escape from the rushed metropolitan life, and a place to
reminisce first world opulence.
Walking in to the restaurant itself, I am greeted by a
friendly hostess, but my eyes are focused on the setting behind her. I
immediately notice the contrast of the contemporary and the established;
wood-panelled walls interspersed with modern paintings, lush carpentry and
drapes offset by simple table settings and a buffet style service. We are led
to a secluded table and I note the low lighting, wide cushioned chairs, and
well-spaced tables - every design aspect considers the comfort of the customer.
Yet this luxury also considers the practicality of self-service as a solution
for those with time constraints. A live piano player gently tickles the ivories
in the corner, and in a moment I have forgotten that I am in the middle of a
bustling city.
Being a service ambassador myself, I am naturally critical
of all restaurant service, and I tensed slightly wondering whether the service
could live up to the atmosphere. Within two minutes the waitress approached us,
and I realised with a tinge of disappointment that she was friendly, but
uninformed. She quoted the wrong price for the buffet we asked about twice, and
was eventually corrected by a runner (which is a bit embarrassing for a
high-class establishment). Fortunately we already knew that we were going for
the starter buffet, so most of the evening would consist of self-service.
We placed our drinks orders, a glass of Slowine Overberg for
myself, and the Tokana Chardonnay for my girlfriend, before we were left alone
to take in the setting. Out of habit I did a precursory glance of the table:
the settings were neat, but the glasses were smudged and scratched, and the
salt and pepper shakers were almost empty. Throughout the rest of the evening
other errors in attention to detail popped up: the waitress made no drinks
recommendations, she didn’t remove the menus after we chose our meals, she was
slow in clearing our plates, and it took about fifteen minutes to find a card
machine so that we could pay. But realistically I had to remind myself that
with a self-service centred dining style, waitresses will be less attentive
than with a-la-carte clients. And in reality these small annoyances didn’t make
or break the evening, what made the evening was the atmosphere and the food. Oh
the food…
The starter buffet was fantastic. There were a few
ready-made salads, but mostly there were ingredients and you could mix and
match to your choosing. I went straight for the cheeses, and walked back to my
table with a plate laden with fromage that would make the French jealous,
accompanied by ginger and fig preserves. I won’t bore you by listing all the
types, but the Brie and ginger combination complemented with the Tokana
Chardonnay and finished off with some fresh strawberries was an explosion of contrasting
and complimentary flavours that left me going back for seconds. Other starters
included a hearty butternut soup and fresh-baked bread, potato salad with
wholegrain mustard, beetroot, Greek salad, and several more dishes that I ran
out of space to taste. Besides for a few of the cheeses being a bit too hard
(to be fair we arrived at 9pm), all the dishes created a well-varied selection
for a light lunch or dinner, accommodating for even the fussiest of eaters.
On the whole it was a very satisfactory experience. Even the
slightly below average service from our waitress was well compensated for by a
hands-on manager and experienced runners. I would recommend this restaurant for
a range of customers, as it is well suited for business luncheons, romantic
dinners, or even a drink with a friend. I would NOT recommend this restaurant
for young families, or people with kids, as the clientele are not going to be
very impressed with loud noises and crying babies. The atmosphere is relaxed,
slow-paced and refined, so it’s also not a good place to hold a hen’s party or
start a lively night out.
With regards to affordability: the starter buffet is only
R95pp, and the glasses of wine we had ranged from R35-R45. Of course there is a
wide variety of dishes and wines, and thus a wide variety of prices. There are
some very expensive options, but it is also possible to have a lovely selection
for very reasonable prices. Keep in mind though that this restaurant also caters
for the elite – so if you order like an international businessman, you’d better
be paying in Euros.
A side note on parking: there is no specially allotted
parking spot for the restaurant’s guests, as most of them stay at the hotel. We
parked across the road, but it was hard to tell if the parking spot was legal,
and there were no car guards around. My suggestion is taking a cab there, as
this removes the whole parking worry all together. Plus there are plenty of
cabs parked outside the hotel, so there will be no wait for the trip home.
If you would like to find out more about the restaurant, you
can find it under the ‘dining’ tab on the Cape Sun’s page, where it is also
possible to make online reservations.
