Two strangers in town looking for a good dinner for a birthday celebration at a good restaurant in Stellenbosch, Cape Town – that was us!

Luckily we found it before we landed via the internet – La Pineta.

Off we drove from Bakoven to Stellenbosch – quite a round-trip – but the restaurant made up for it. A spacious old style restaurant with recently renovated wooden floors. One of those restaurants you really enjoy because your neighbour is not sitting on your head, here they might perhaps hear your chatter on a quiet evening. Space is good yes!

Fine dining: linen napkins, beautiful glassware and crockery and excellent service – and a log fire behind us – yum warm!

Mushroom soup with truffle oil, tempura prawns, vegetable strudel, 400g fillet, a fish dish par excellence and a Manhattan Cheese Cake were the chosen items. Every single offering was superb. Presentation was fabulous. I don’t normally elaborate on the food but the kingklip dish has to be explained: flash panned kingklip, on a bed of butternut puree, with new potatoes tucked underneath, surrounded by roasted cherry tomatoes topped with tzatziki and chenin blanc butter. I would fly to Cape Town just for this dish and come home again. Superb.

The service was professional and courteous.

Looking out of the window next to the table, I contentedly watched the wind howling, it was a chilly Cape evening, the sun setting way over yonder was a purple/yellow hue – I waited for Heathcliff but I am glad he grabbed Cathy and not me because I wouldn’t have missed this food for anything in the world, not even a wuthering, withering, dithering heights.

Loo Patrol: rustic comfortable and clean loos