Tandoor – The Clay Oven restaurant in Pietermaritzburg – A review

Tandoor – The Clay Oven

Tandoor – The Clay Oven is a rel­at­ively new eat­ery in Pietermaritzburg that spe­cial­ises in tra­di­tional Indian cuisine. Conveniently situ­ated at 319 Bulwer Street, dir­ectly oppos­ite Merchiston School, Tandoor is only a short drive away from most of the city’s sub­urbs and only a kilo­metre or two away from the city’s bust­ling CBD. But what I really liked about this res­taur­ant was their food, which was deli­cious, as I found out when I vis­ited them for sup­per recently.

The co-owner of Tandoor, Jaswant Singh, was our host for the even­ing and he cer­tainly proved to be a most gra­cious and polite one at that. Singh, who hails from Punjab in India, moved to Pietermaritzburg 14 years ago, spend­ing 12 of those years work­ing in the city’s tex­tile industry.

During those years Singh grew to like the city so much that he decided to semi-retire in the KwaZulu Natal cap­ital and pur­sue his lifelong pas­sion for food. That pas­sion trans­lated into the estab­lish­ment of Tandoor some two years ago, and since then he has never looked back. Continued

I ♥ Carlswald Because ...

I ♥ Carlswald

Hi, I’m Sonia Grobler from Bag End Guest House in Carlswald.

Carlswald IS BEST KNOWN FOR its coun­try feel­ing, big plots, bicycle and horse riders.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT with a lion cub at Lory Park Zoo.

THE BEST wed­ding PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT 64 Main rose garden.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT Papachinos Restaurant and MonteCasino.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S GOOD, I LIKE TO go for a walk.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S BAD, I LIKE TO sit by the fire at Wild Olive Cafe. Continued

The Thomas T Tucker Shipwreck Trail in Cape Point

Thomas Tucker Trail

Better known as Olifantsbos ship­wreck trail, the Thomas T Tucker Shipwreck Trail might sound rather for­bid­ding, but it's actu­ally a walk in the park, as you can turn back when you want to, and per­fect for those with chil­dren as you reach the wreck fairly quickly.

A won­der­ful aspect to liv­ing in Cape Town (and there are admit­tedly sev­eral) is that one can travel but a few kilo­metres and, in fact, barely leave the city, before you find your­self out in the middle of nowhere, not a build­ing in sight.

Unless you count the accom­mod­a­tion at Olifantsbos, and that hardly qualifies.

Our Wild cards at the ready, and a rather smug smile for man­aging to sidestep the rather hefty R85 per per­son entrance fee at the gate, we swing left at the first off­shoot from the main road through the beau­ti­ful Cape Point Nature Reserve at the sign indic­at­ing Olifantsbos. Continued

I ♥ Gariep Dam Because ...

I ♥ Gariep Dam

Hi, I’m Robin van den Berg from Rose Cottage in Gariep Dam.

Gariep Dam IS BEST KNOWN FOR super­ior accom­mod­a­tion at afford­able rates and stun­ning view of the dam and wildlife.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the Gariep Dam wall.

THE BEST Gariep Dam PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT the entrance road lead­ing up to the upper town.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT Rose Cottage res­taur­ant. Continued

Weekly Events Round Up (21 — 27 May 2012)

Soweto Fashion Week

If you are scratch­ing your head as to what to do to get out and about this week then look no fur­ther as we have a selec­tion of bril­liant annual events and fest­ivals hap­pen­ing in the vari­ous provinces through­out South Africa to keep your cal­en­dar full of fun ideas to enter­tain the fam­ily or for social­ising with your friends.

This time of the year is great for check­ing out all the fant­astic expos, shows and exhib­i­tions hap­pen­ing around the coun­try from the latest fash­ion trends in local cou­ture, to dec­or­at­ing your home, or col­lect­ing antiques to plan­ning the most import­ant day of your life.

If you are look­ing for some­thing to get your heart beat­ing why not par­ti­cip­ate in some of the epic sport­ing events on offer. Grab your diary and make a note of some of these fab­ulous events this week...

Continued

I ♥ Champagne Valley Because ...

I ♥ Champagne Valley

Hi, I’m Diane Harrison from Champagne Haven in Champagne Valley in the KwaZulu Natal Drakensberg.

Champagne Valley IS BEST KNOWN FOR its mag­ni­fi­cent scenery, amaz­ing hikes and many fun activities.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the can­opy tour to prove you were brave enough.

THE BEST scenery PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN from a canoe in the mag­ni­fi­cent dam.
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT the sum­mit of the sun­set trail. Continued

Klein Optenhorst – Open Garden in Wellington Worth a Re-visit

Klein Optenhorst

'You are num­ber two in the queue...” — Fortunately it's a Sunday after­noon and few people are try­ing to get tele­phone num­bers out of Telkom's 1023 hotline.

When I do get through I eas­ily get the num­ber for Starke Ayres' Rosebank branch and the dear per­son who helps me there goes bey­ond the call of duty and rings me back with the address for Klein Optenhorst (make note to return to Starke Ayres as they're really very, very nice).

We're perched halfway up Bainskloof Pass at the time of the call. The flyer we picked up on a pre­vi­ous week­end at Starke Ayres, whilst buy­ing plants, indic­ated the garden was in the vicin­ity. Just where in the vicin­ity, it soon becomes obvi­ous, is a little bey­ond us. The garden is clearly not going to jump out and announce itself. Klein Optenhorst is appar­ently an insider secret. Or you need the directions...duh! Continued

I ♥ Rosetta Because ...

I ♥ Rosetta

Hi, I’m John Wetton from Jolo Guest Farm in Rosetta in the Natal Midlands, KwaZulu Natal.

Rosetta IS BEST KNOWN FOR peace, tran­quil­lity, a real vil­lage atmo­sphere hav­ing no 21^st cen­tury  commercialism.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT Blueberry Hill for mag­ni­fi­cent views of the Berg.

THE BEST Berg PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT the Kamberg and Highmoor Nature Reserves.
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT Gowrie Village. Continued

Babylonstoren – A Celebration of Food

Babylonstoren

Constance-Marie is wear­ing one of the straw hats I've just furi­ously coveted in the shop across from the res­taur­ant at Babylonstoren. Her white linen blouse, faded black jeans and secateurs non­chal­antly rest­ing in a pouch tied around her hips makes her the epi­tome of garden chic crossed with a hint of hippie.

There is, by now, a group of us gathered in the court­yard of Babel, the res­taur­ant at Babylonstoren, for the garden tour. We sit and stand at inter­vals around a black­board that broad­casts the sea­sonal veg and fruit the res­taur­ant will use today.

Behind me, up on a table that seems barely able to deal with their size, are three enorm­ous pump­kins and squashes, the likes of which I've only seen in garden­ing magazines. They look like your com­mon garden pump­kin on ster­oids. Continued

I ♥ Morgans Bay Because ...

I ♥ Morgans Bay

Hi, I’m Erica from Morgan Bay Hotel in Morgans Bay on the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape.

Morgans Bay IS BEST KNOWN FOR beau­ti­ful beaches and fam­ily hol­i­days.
GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN on the view­ing deck at the Milkwood Spa, it has amaz­ing ocean views .

THE BEST sun­set PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT the Kranses.
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT the lagoon and rock pools.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S GOOD, I LIKE TO take long walks along the beach.
WHEN THE WEATHER'S BAD, I LIKE TO watch the sea from the hotel. Continued

Weekly Events Round Up (14 — 20 May 2012)

National Koi Show

Here’s hop­ing you are plan­ning on treat­ing your Mother to a spe­cial day out on Sunday 13 May 2012 in cel­eb­ra­tion of Mother’s Day! With the many excit­ing annual events and fest­ivals hap­pen­ing all over South Africa to choose from, that you can enjoy with fam­ily and friends, you are sure to find some­thing perfect.

The sea­sonal trans­ition from Autumn to Winter has us embark­ing on events with a dif­fer­ence – you can try free run­ning a new sport­ing phe­nomenon tak­ing Jozi by storm or par­ti­cip­ate in an extreme sport whilst tak­ing in a bit of South African his­tory. Other sport­ing events to join in are a char­ity Golf Day, a Big Walk or 10km run­ning race. Many other activ­it­ies on offer include a Koi Show, Flower Show, Hospitality exhib­i­tion and Port and Wine Festival to name a few, so don’t go into hiberna­tion this Winter come and enjoy some of these fab­ulous events this week...

Continued

I ♥ Kommetjie Because ...

I ♥ Kommetjie

Hi, I’m Jo Walsh from Sea Breeze Kommetjie in Kommetjie on the Atlantic Seaboard of Cape Town.

Kommetjie IS BEST KNOWN FOR among many other things, its awe­some nat­ural sur­round­ings, world class surf­ing des­tin­a­tion, immuc­u­late beaches, fresh air, cray­fish­ing, sea­sonal whales, fam­ous light house and spec­tac­u­lar views in all directions.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the fam­ous Long Beach or for the slightly more adven­tur­ous at the top of the Slangkop Mountain with the vil­lage, sea and moun­tails as your sur­real back drop.

THE BEST sun­set PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT The Kom.
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT the his­toric light house. Continued

Nicolson’s Country Cafe in Hilton – A Review

Nicolson’s Country Café

Situated on the pic­tur­esque grounds of Garlington Estate in the small town of Hilton in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, Nicolson’s Country Café is an upmar­ket res­taur­ant that spe­cial­ises in fine cuisine. Interested to see what they had to offer I vis­ited them for lunch recently and the exper­i­ence proved to be one to savour.

The lunch menu is without a doubt one of the most inter­est­ing and appet­ising I’ve ever encountered. Starters include dishes such as Spanish-style Sweetcorn Fritters (a paprika and sweet­corn frit­ter topped with guacamole, crème fraiche and cori­ander and accom­pan­ied by cho­rizo slices and a pep­per salsa), scrump­tious soup of the day and the Midlands Trout Fillet (hot smoked trout fil­let, flash-fried in herb but­ter, topped with home-made horseradish aioli and olive oil and served with crumbed pota­toes). Continued

I ♥ Kempton Park Because ...

I ♥ Kempton Park

Hi, I’m Karen Swanepoel from Nkanga Lodge in Kempton Park on the East Rand in Gauteng.

Kempton Park IS BEST KNOWN FOR OR Tambo International, Africa’s busiest air­port, which is loc­ated in Kempton Park.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT Kempton Park Golf Course; this is where Ernie Els learned to played golf when he was grow­ing up.

THE BEST out­door PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT Modderfontein Conservation Park which is home to 253 dif­fer­ent bird spe­cies, small pop­u­la­tions of Black-Backed Jackal, Steenbok, Duiker, Genet, Zebra, Black Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Blesbok, Reedbuck and Highveld spring­bok.
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT a fun night out at Emperors Palace. Continued

De Hoop Nature Reserve — Photographs

A really good friend, who lives in the States, came down to Cape Town for one week and one week only. We made the most of it ... She lived in Cape Town for a few years but had never been to the De Hoop Nature Reserve and this was on her bucket list. We decided to head up to De Hoop for one night.

It was a very long drive and as we'd left at the crack of dawn after two of our group had been at a wed­ding until the wee hours of the morn­ing and hav­ing a baby with us (who was only a few months old) it took a while to get star­ted. We made our way to the first stop in Caledon to get sup­plies and then we were off. We hit the dirt road which slowed us down con­sid­er­ably and be warned if this is your first time there the dirt road is LONG ... and just when you think you've reached the end you turn a corner to see more road.

The reserve itself is magical. A com­plete con­trast of green flora, the white sandy beaches, blue sea, rocks and a myriad of anim­als. We felt like we're reached a spe­cial part of the world and all of us took a moment to appre­ci­ate the beauty we found ourselves in. I think I'll let the pic­tures speak for them­selves ... Continued