I went to the Bombay Bicycle Club when it first opened in Cape Town amist the rumours that it originated from the Madame Zingara chain. Some said it was competition after the theatre went bust overseas, some said it was to try to keep the dream alive, either way, I was there to see what all the hype was about. Well. I couldn’t get back in ever since then! And that was about 2 years ago! The Bombay Bicycle Club certainly has become a favourite in Cape Town regardless of its inception.
Because of their busy restaurant, I booked well in advance for my anniversary dinner. I was excited to go back and get stuck into all the great food I’d been hearing about as well as explore all the fun, arty, trinkets, bohemian styled decor. Situated at the top of Kloof Street, the Bombay Bicycle Club really feels like one’s fallen into an 18th century treasure trove, however, the food isn’t outdated.
We were presented with spiced butter. I was very sceptical at first because it looked like a mousse, and I hate seafood, but it was a delicious, Moroccan spiced butter. For my actual starter I had the deep-fried camembert in a beer batter. It came with a rather unusual sauce. At first I liked it because it was quite bolognaise like in flavour but the more I ate of it, the more bitter it became so I ended up taking my camembert off the plate to reduce the amount of flavour as much as possible. It really didn’t work for me.
For mains I had the chilli chocolate steak. I was torn between the lamb shank and the fillet but as the waiter said, you can get lamb shank anywhere, you CAN NOT get this chocolate chili steak everywhere! And he was totally right. It was absolutely DELICIOUS! He was a really friendly, fun, courteous without being stuffy, waiter. I enjoyed his service throughout the night.
My partner had the ribs for his main. We’re BIG rib fans but ONLY if they’re turbo. SO many places serve ribs that are actually terrible. Neighbourhood is our absolute favourite but we’d heard the Bombay gave it a good fight. They were absolutely delicious, less sweet and more spicy but just as sticky as expected. They definitely rank in our top 2! 😉
My fillet was accompanied by potato bake which I really love because my Mother never made it. Pumpkin and green veg also make me happy. I always need the tri-factor in my meals, meat + starch + veg = FTW!
I’d definitely recommend going to the Bombay Bicycle Club for a beautiful meal.
It’s not cheap (but not over board expensive either). Both of our meals, with drinks (non alcoholic) came to just under R500 for everything. Definitely try book ahead of time and enjoy a beautiful meal out with someone special or even friends! They have a random 241 at 10pm so you can save with that drink special and have a fun, frivolous meal.
Boring Cape Town Chick 