Day adventure: Cape Town to The Black Marlin and back

On hearing how good the Black Marlin restaurant is, I was quick to put it down on my increasingly growing “places to visit and things to do in Cape Town” list. It took me a few months to get around to it but last weekend, I finally paid this restaurant a visit, and boy was it worth the wait.

As the Black Marlin is located just outside Simon’s Town, I decided that this was a good opportunity to turn this excursion into a day trip and make one or two stops along the Cape Peninsula on the way there. My friend Jeff in tow, we started our trip by rock climbing at Silvermine Nature Reserve just before midday. Three hours or so later, I was sweaty, sunburnt and super stoked! I had achieved my best session of rock climbing yet – I was able to do three climbs, one of which was a number 17; my highest level reached yet. The trip was off to a great start! A change of clothes and spray of deodorant (or shower-in-a-can as Jeff likes to call it) later, we headed towards Fish Hoek. Destination: the Jager Walk.

I had come across information about this walk before, and it sounded so lovely that I had to try it. The walk lines the Fish Hoek beach – a beach known for being family-friendly, safe for swimming, surrounded by beautiful scenery and recognised by the colourful Victorian bathing boxes that have stood overlooking its white sand for years. It was a great day for the occasion. Earlier in the day, the weather had seemed pretty confused with early morning rain, disappearing and reappearing clouds and bouts of light wind. Now, however, the sun was shining upon the ocean’s different shades of blue, an occasional yacht floating along in the distance.

Nestled between the beach and the railway line, behind which quaint houses rise and enjoy wonderful views, the walk takes just a few minutes. Large rocks add to the beautiful natural scenery and perform various functions. They are home to still rock pools inhabited by tiny sea creatures, they present scenic resting points for seagulls and other birds and they serve as props for rather abstract photographs.

After breathing in the fresh sea air and thoroughly enjoying our surroundings, we decided to move on to our next stop – Cape Town’s penguin haven a.k.a. Boulders Beach. One of us a student and the other a newbie in the new media world, we were trying to conserve what cash we had during this trip (as on most trips!). So we skipped paying the R40 entrance fee to get into Boulders Beach, hoping that we would still be able to spot some wandering penguins. Proving true the rumours that the odd penguin enjoyed exploring outside their ‘boundaries’, we were just sliding into our parking spot when a penguin waddled out of the bushes to greet us. A walk to the entrance offered more sights of these cute flightless birds sunbathing on rocks and posing for the many foreign-owned cameras. After numerous “aww cute”s and other affectionate noises, I was ready to move on to our final stop.

By the time we got to the Black Marlin, my arms felt like they were on fire. You would think being a fair-skinned 25-year-old, I would have learnt my lesson by now and use sunscreen on hot days, but alas, I haven’t. So I was glad that the sun was starting its descent when we got to the restaurant. It was getting chillier, but the remaining sunshine was still warming us up and the view was too good to pass up so we chose to sit at an outside table as close to the Atlantic Ocean as we could get. We were looking for a meal that offered good value for money and the dinner time special was the perfect option although technically we were an hour too early. Fortunately, our waiter was happy to serve us the special at this time anyway and so we were set with a starter, main meal, dessert, glass of red or white wine and tea or coffee for only R125.

Jeff and I both chose the calamari starter, served to us within minutes, fresh-out-the-ocean. Our main meals, again served in record time, looked simply amazing and the portions were large to enormous! Jeff couldn’t stop going on about how wonderful his venison skewer was. Being a person whose red meat intake usually consists only of mince and boerewors, I didn’t really understand the technicalities of this conversation (that it wasn’t cooked that much at all which is apparently a good thing with venison) but I understood the just of it – it was good! My main meal, the linefish, was extremely tender and basted in lemon and butter, served with chips and roasted vegetables. It was delicious! After this large meal, we were both pretty full, but, as Jeff had warned me of the great desserts, I knew I had to save space. As my older brother used to love saying growing up; our stomachs have both a main meal space and a dessert space, and I had sufficient space left for dessert! I chose the malva pudding with ice cream and butterscotch sauce. Jeff chose Angel’s Dark Delight; baked Belgian chocolate mousse with orange sorbet. Jeff wasn’t kidding – the desserts were fantastic. Finally, a hot cup of tea, along with a view of the sun as it shed its last streaks of light on the day, was the cherry on the top of a wonderful meal. With extremely full tummies, the only thing I needed now was my bed and so off we went, returning back to Cape Town after a very successful Cape Peninsula adventure.

The verdict:

Silvermine Nature Reserve

I’ve been to two spots in Cape Town for rock climbing and Silvermine is one of them. It costs an adult R20 to get in for the day. The reserve is really beautiful. There’s a dam that you can stroll around, mountain bike trails, hikes and a range of climbs. Since I’ve spent most of my time around these climbs, that’s the area I know best. We usually take a short walk to the top and then abseil down. This walk takes you along beautiful white sand and interesting vegetation and the views from the top, down on Tokai Forest and out towards the ocean and the suburbs in between, are spectacular. Walking along the top can lead you to other vantage points and views of Cape Town. If you’re ever in a need of some quiet time, I highly recommend that you find one of these serene spots and stare out at the view of the mountains and this incredible city. It really helps to put things in perspective. The climbs themselves are great – there’s a wide variety ranging from low levels to really difficult ones.

Fish Hoek beach Jager Walk

Sweet and short, the Jager Walk offers great views of Fish Hoek beach and the Atlantic Ocean. You can sit or lie or even sunbathe on the grassy hills and the benches that take residence on them.

The Black Marlin

The Black Marlin is an award-winning, well-known restaurant in Simon’s Town. I don’t have tons of experience dining in the Cape Town area (or at all!), but this has to be one of my favourite spots. The view is incredible, the architecture is beautiful, and the food is delicious. The prices might not be student-friendly but look out for their specials.