Seafood Delights of Cape Town

Without noise and fuss crate upon crate of spikey lobsters were carefully unloaded and jealously guarded. Whisked away from my admiring eyes they were wheeled off to be weighed and selected for export.

Old Fashioned Fish 'n Chips

Some of this catch was destined to travel only a hundred metres or so across to Mariner's Wharf Fish Market. At this up-marked delicatessen the seafood is beautifully displayed and you can pick your own live lobster straight out of the seawater tank. Mariner's Wharf is modelled on the San Francisco harbour complex and encompasses a restaurant, bar, curio and jewellery shop and a queue at what must be the most popular fish and chip takeaway in the Cape.

Two more well frequented fish and chip shops serving theirs the old fashioned way wrapped in paper, are situated near Snoekies at the other end of the harbour just a gulls spit from the sea. Whichever eatery you choose it will be the freshest fish and chips you will ever eat.

If the idea of selecting your own live crayfish and having it cooked for you appeals, then drop into Panama Jacks Restaurant deep in the Cape Town docks. It is a rough and ready kind of place with a laid back atmosphere. Languishing in their enormous shellfish tank are over 80 crayfish and dozens of wild and cultivated oysters.

Your choice is weighed and priced then prepared and served within about half an hour. A few perlemoen also reside in the tank and suction themselves slowly around the base and sides. The difficulty of preparation of this mollusc means that you will not find perlemoen on the menu.

Down in the Harbour

To sample this delicately flavoured calamari-like flesh you must visit one of the few restaurants serving it such as The Black Marlin near Simon's Town. What could be tough as old boots if prepared without expertise is transformed into delicious tender schnitzel or served in a subtle cocktail sauce. The Black Marlin is renowned for its fresh top quality seafood and their menu boasts mature oysters from Knysna, large full flavoured mussels from Saldanha and delicious firm cape salmon from their own ocean-view doorstep.

To buy the freshest cheapest seafood in the Cape I paid a visit to Kalk Bay harbour on False Bay. It was not only enlightening but also a great photo opportunity. As soon as the colourfull boats pull up to the wharf, the day's catch is hurled uncerimoniously through the air onto the dockside.