Lunching one flawless Cape afternoon on the terrace at Simonsig’s Cuvée restaurant a tall, blonde and smiling young man approached my table. “Good afternoon.” He boomed a little too loudly for Q who prefers his midweek lunches to be on the plus side of discreet. “I know you.” he announced to the sun dappled terrace in a way manner that left Q feeling decidedly awkward if not downright uncomfortable.

The shady terrace, crowded with guests was all ears. “Yes,” he said. “We are Dutch! We were in Hermanus at the Marine Terrace and you were eating mussels (actually it wasn’t The Marine Terrace, it was a place called The Burgundy) and you sent them back!” he cried, to friendly waves from his companions and nervous looks from the Cuvée staff.

“Yes,” I murmured, slightly disturbed that I might have made a scene. I’m certain I didn’t. I never under normal circumstances send my food back to the kitchen, but it was the 7^th January and I was irritable and more than slightly hungover.

And. One of my favourite dishes, moules marinières, had been roundly and soundly fukked up. The taste of vegetable stock cube was pervasive, the wine was cheap and nasty. Cream was added for some reason and the portion of chips, well, they were, um, unnice…

Rest(aurant)) assured, always a winner

So! Enough of the Burgundy and back to Cuvée. It never disappoints. Always keeps it simple. Has a variety of dishes and menu options to suit a range of budgets from more expensive to modest and great choice of Simonsig wines, all paired with a dish on the menu and available per glass.

“Chefanie”- head chef Stephanie de Wet

To make things easy on myself I tend to eat the same thing and to be honest, have only ever lunched there and not delved too far into the menu.

There’s always ‘boerewors’. Served differently every time. Always grilled on a skewer, but served sometimes with a gorgeously golden slice of polenta or with a peach chutney or, on this occasion with subtle and creamy risotto. This, paired with a glass of their fine Kaapse Vonkel brut, is often all that’s needed for lunch, but why have less when you can have more? If there’s time to linger, have another starter. All priced at around ZAR70 and paired with a glass of wine.

Beetroot salad or howzabout an onion tarte tatin served with a gorgonzola panna cotta, accompanied by balsamic pickled figs. Main courses are from ZAR160 (not that I’ve indulged, preferring to snack at lunch). This is really great value and with a superb glass of vino, a starter and an espresso and a tip, you can be out of there for under a ZAR150 if you stick to something light. The Saturday breakfast is hugely popular (so book) and the dinner menu looks marvellous, especially if you don’t have far to drive.