Hidden spots for tea in the southern suburbs of Cape Town

Tea-time in Cape Town

It isn't dif­fi­cult to hide little tea nooks in the leafy south­ern sub­urbs of Cape Town. Many of those lis­ted here are tucked away, off the beaten track, some of them in resus­cit­ated period homes, oth­ers not neces­sar­ily here for their menu but rather their venue. But each of these is worth a visit for its par­tic­u­lar offer­ing, be it the loc­a­tion, the food, the décor, or simply because you need to know about it. Treat each with the respect it deserves, and only tell your very best friends about them...

Queen of Tarts, Obs
Lying out of the way in Lower Main Road in Observatory, Queen of Tarts, as its name sug­gests, doesn't take itself ter­ribly ser­i­ously. Looking as though it has stepped off the streets of Paris with its black and white décor, its exter­ior a regen­er­ated Victorian/Cape Dutch rendi­tion, Queen of Tarts has a repu­ta­tion for its break­fasts and teas. Even if its prices are a tad dear, its fol­low­ers regard the little gem as untouch­able and well worth it for its great cof­fee and food.

Queen of Tarts

Once you've dined on one of the Queen's deli­cious tarts that come in vari­ous guises includ­ing but­ter­nut and camem­bert, potato, pecorino and bacon or roas­ted veg, pesto and feta, and picked up one of their sweet del­ic­acies to take home with you, you will feel as though you've been part of an exper­i­ence, rather than just nipped out to the corner café for tea. And this is per­haps part of the Queen's secret, and why people return again and again.

Tip: have a look at Tina's (of the Queen of Tarts) flam­boy­ant cakes whilst you're there – she makes and bakes for all occasions.

High Tea, Wynberg
This is really an out-of-the-way little break­fast and tea nook in Wynberg, situ­ated just off Constantia Road as it becomes Gabriel Road (before the circle) behind Farriers. High Tea lies in an inner court­yard laid out in the clas­sical garden style that one would expect to find at Versailles (that's the one in Paris), but which works sur­pris­ingly well here, given that there are a num­ber of statues and garden décor from one or two décor shops that share the space, and work well in the garden. A foun­tain adds to the authen­ti­city and provides a gentle back­ground gush.

High Tea

High Tea isn't open until 9am, so don't expect to have an early morn­ing break­fast meet­ing here, but the meals are gen­er­ous, deli­cious and well priced, given their loc­a­tion, and there is always the offer of cof­fee should you get there ahead of time. Interestingly, High Tea with cucum­ber sand­wiches doesn't make it onto the menu, but ensure that you pick up one of their chocol­ate truffle cakes or other sweet delights on offer, before head­ing back into the fray.

Tip: there is also a hair salon in the court­yard, so indulge yourself.

Florentines, Kenilworth
Florentines is real old world charm, set off the main drag in Myrtle Road, Kenilworth. The tea shop spe­cial­ises in indul­gent break­fasts, teas and lunches, and includes an array of freshly baked cakes, tarts and muffins. The bright, com­fort­able shop oozes frivolity all the way to the loos, which sport a brightly bejew­elled, gold toi­let cistern.

Florentines

Sipping on a cup of their very own cof­fee blend is a treat in itself, and you won't be sorry that you dragged your nearest and dearest to sample Florentines delights, whilst you sink into one of their heav­enly couches. Breakfasts include toast with pre­serves, stewed fruit with nutty muesli and Greek yoghurt, eggs en cocotte and gluten-free muffins, whilst lunches vary from toasted sand­wiches to Italian wedges, wraps and salads.

Tip: there are gor­geous gifts on offer here, make sure you ask to see samples of their wed­ding cakes, and take advant­age of the sushi mak­ing classes.

Tokai Arboretum, Tokai forest
You don't stop here for the food — although it isn't bad, it's very reas­on­ably priced, and the scones are more than worth­while — but rather for the sheer joy of lunch­ing and sip­ping tea under a rich can­opy of trees. Aside from the fact that this is a beau­ti­ful venue, the arbor­etum is a national monu­ment, estab­lished in 1885, and the trees are prac­tic­ally ancient, which makes it a space in which to breathe and unwind.

Most people head out here for the hik­ing and moun­tain bike paths through the pine plant­a­tions of the Tokai forest, but it's worth bear­ing in mind that this his­toric tree plant­a­tion is the cre­ation of Joseph Storr Lister who planted 150 spe­cies of trees from tem­per­ate coun­tries, includ­ing a great many oaks, California red­woods and euca­lyptus. The pretty, thatched cafe is fairly close to the entrance. Don't for­get to leave a dona­tion for the arboretum.

Tip: a great venue for chil­dren, but closed on Mondays.

Ashton's @ Greenways

Ashton's @ Greenways, Constantia
Once you've over­come your self-consciousness at hav­ing per­haps entered someone's private abode by mis­take, Ashton's is a sur­pris­ingly won­der­ful break­fast exper­i­ence set in the heart of Constantia at Greenways Hotel. Greenways is a Herbert Baker look-alike that turns out to be Cape Revival style, mod­elled on Baker's fam­ous Muizenberg house called Rust en Vrede (hence the similarity).

Whilst you wouldn't offi­cially make the trip here just for tea, break­fast dur­ing sum­mer  allows one to sit out on a sunny ver­andah com­plete with views over immacu­lately main­tained gar­dens, whilst watch­ing the odd Egyptian goose come in to land – colo­nial dec­ad­ence at its best! Breakfast con­sists of a buffet-style con­tin­ental array of fruit salad, yoghurts, breads and other delect­able dain­ties like crois­sants, whilst you can order a cooked break­fast too. You pay per head and for the exper­i­ence it is well worth it.

Tip: make sure you find the time to wander through the gar­dens, they are pretty impress­ive and there is a huge veget­able and fruit garden towards the rear (the hotel has a green mis­sion and has imple­men­ted an impress­ive list of sus­tain­able prac­tices that min­im­ise their car­bon footprint).

Millstone Café & farmstall

Millstone Café and farm­stall, Pinelands
Set off the beaten track in one of the most beau­ti­ful set­tings pos­sible in the inner city, Millstone is in the heart of the Oude Molen Eco Village on Alexandra Road in Pinelands. You get to unwind in a gor­geous garden set­ting infront of the little thatched roof café on a series of wooden crates and tables, whilst chil­dren let their ima­gin­a­tions run wild in the garden's treehouse.

It's real country-style relax­a­tion and the food is whole­some, enjoy­able, and includes freshly squeezed fruit juices and dishes made with as much organic pro­duce as pos­sible. Most of the fresh veg is sup­plied from the vil­lage gardens.

Tip: go pre­pared to spend time (and money) brows­ing the farm­stall where you can pick up wood fired home-made bread home-made pre­serves and jams, honey and an array of healthy snacks.

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