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April 4, 2025
Cape Town: A tasting experience at La Colombe


Our table at La Colombe

WARNING: Today’s post is all about food. Decadent, extravagant, insane, over-the-top food.

When Gail planned our two-day agenda in Cape Town, South Africa, she knew we would need to board our next cruise ship by this afternoon. She requested some kind of cooking class or local food tour. Sonia, our travel agent, recommended a half-day food tour that started at 1:00 pm and went until 6:00 pm. Sadly, this would not work. So Sonia arranged something earlier in the day. Other than a vague description of “Half Day – Tasting Experience at La Colombe,” we had no idea what it was.


With our Cape Town travel agent, Sonia Van Wyk of Africa Select Journeys

We packed our bags and checked out of the hotel, and our driver/guide Paul picked us up at 11:00 am. We drove 45 minutes out of town to our destination.

La Colombe is in the wine country of Constantia outside of central Cape Town. The restaurant is set in the Silvermist Estate, a gorgeous property that includes vineyards, a winery and hotel. La Colombe Restaurant has been voted the best restaurant in Africa, and ranks No 81 in the list of “World’s Best Restaurants.”

From the moment we stepped out of our van, we were stunned by our surroundings. We had 20 minutes to walk around the Silvermist Estate before we were seated in the restaurant. We had a window table overlooking vineyards. We felt severely underdressed. Gail was happy she had changed to clean clothes this morning. Russell was wearing his normal cargo pants, tee shirt and flannel shirt.


Silvermist Estate


La Colombe Restaurant

It turns out we had reservations for an eight-course tasting menu. Everything was exquisite, from the place settings to the plate presentations to the food itself. This is probably one of the best two dining experiences we have ever had in our entire lives. We ended up taking three hours for our lunch, with Paul picking us up at 3:00 pm.

We will probably never have a chance to return here again. We will probably never experience anything like this again. In the meantime, here is what our tasting experience was like…


Our eight-course tasting menu. (There is a larger 11-course menu, but we didn’t have all day to sit and eat.) Every piece of table setting, flatware and plate has been custom-crafted for this restaurant.


Our experience began with Max, one of the sous chefs, carefully explaining every fresh ingredient and its preparation


“The Dove’s Nest” – an appetizer served on a faux bird’s nest


“Bread and Charcuterie” – each different meat was accompanied by a different kind of spread or paté


“Tuna ‘La Colombe’” – this course was served in a sealed tin. It was accompanied by Chef Paul’s “secret sauce,” composed of 14 different ingredients. Gail could only guess eight of them.


“Namibian Crab, Game Fish, Nahm Jim” – we don’t eat shellfish or octopus, so the chef adapted this course for us. It was served on a rosette of fried bread. The wet towel afterward was delivered in a bowl of dry ice, creating a spectacle of smoke.


“Cape Coastline” – if you look closely, the serving plate is a relief map of the Cape Town Peninsula


“Passion Fruit” – this palate cleanser was a frozen passion fruit. Somehow they had hollowed it out and filled it with a shaved ice granita. This was served in a even bigger bowl of dry ice, filling our table with smoke.


“Dry Aged Duck, Celeriac” – we had a choice of this or Wagyu beef, and we chose the duck. Each of us got to select our own knife from a collection of hand-made knives.


“Rose, Raspberry, Pistachio” – dessert was in the shape of a rose, complete with individual petals. It was enhanced with a sauce. This is one of the most beautiful food presentations we have ever seen, and it was delicious.


“Petit Four Chest” – yes, there was even a post-dessert dessert! Each of these four choices had a flavor that matched its appearance.


Even the washroom sink was a work of art. Gail didn’t know the water was going to pour out like a fountain, and she succeeded in getting the front of her shirt all wet.

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