Tales from The Crypt

The lovely folks at Ultimate Holiday Planner spoiled me with a birthday lunch today, all of us toddling off to a gem of a place called ‘The Crypt’ in Shortmarket Street, Cape Town.
Living up to the name, it is a bit hidden away, and none of us had been there before , so it was a first for all three of us. The interior of the place is dark and velvety, with deep reds and burgundy furnishing, and silvery walls, cleverly disguising the ugly vent pipe creeping all along the top of the room. Although it is rather small, it exudes alot of character and warmth displayed by the friendly waitress who welcomed us and seated us upstairs.

We had a good laugh making our way up the very rickety wooden staircase, and were all eager to just chill on the velvet couches after a busy week at work.

We perused the menu, all very foreign to us, and after a consulting our waitress, she said she’d do a ‘mix’ for us. We ordered water with a bowl of ice (spicy is probably not everybody’s favourite) and with the food decision gladly out of our hands, we sat back and took in our surroundings.

You know that saying’ go where the locals go?” Well, with the smells wafting in from the kitchen and the hushed tones of Ethiopian clientele, we knew we were going to have an awesome meal.

New taste sensation

And was it awesome.

I have no idea what was all on the platter, but there were two portions of bread on the side, and the ‘platter’ itself was lined with a third portion of Ethiopian bread. It’s more like a roti really than ‘bread’, though I suspect it’s made of rice flour.

The platter was peppered with mounds of unusual and spicy vegetarian and meat dishes, like an African Mezze of sorts. Curried Lentils, spicy potato and carrots, spinach prepared in some magical way that left it neither soggy nor dry, deliciously-spiced beef and green peppers and a few other exotic wonders. A waiter brought us a bowl of spice, perhaps thinking we might want the food hotter. We tucked in, getting to know the meal with our fingers, and were all in agreement that this was definitely one of the best meals we’ve had in a while.

Fully sated, we got the bill, which came to a dirt cheap R60 (!) and vowed to be back.

Oh, we never got our bowl of ice, but I suspect the waiter thought we asked for a bowl of ’spice’ with our water, and not a bowl of ice! Small things

If you’re in Cape Town and in the mood for treating your taste-buds to something different, tasty, healthy and unbelievably good value for money, try The Crypt on Shortmarket Street, next to Rosa’s Bakery, they’re open till very late.They are licensed, but the meat and chicken are halaal.

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Tags: food in cape town, places to eat in cape town, South African Stories, The Crypt, Ultimate Holiday Planner

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