Travel
If there ever was an ideal restaurant for Cape Town's unpredictable rainy or sunny weather, it would be Thorfynns at Monkey Valley Beach Resort. Having celebrated my birthday there, my boyfriends and numerous dinners, it is a venue that you can never get bored of. Reason being, it's log cabin frame is perched all the way on the hillside overlooking 8km of Noordhoek beach in amongst clusters of milkwood trees. Eventhough it's considered to be Cape Town, it feels as though you are miles away from any city.
When its too cold to be outdoors or a tad too dark, I've booked tables beside the fire. With low ceilings, wooden tables and flickering candles, it makes for a wonderful intimate dinner with the incredible view still on offer through the window.
But as soon as the sun shines, you wouldn't want to be anywhere else but out on the deck, lounging with your drinks beneath the garden umbrellas. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon, having boooked tables for around 30 people. The winter sun was still shining and the wooden tables were coverd in white tables cloths and decorated with bright yellow blossoms in glass vases. You would expect a venue like this to be quite pricey, but their colourful pizza menu is kind on your wallet and really top-notch. If you buy the Long Beach pizza with bacon, avocado, feta cheese, mushrooms, red peppers and garlic (R65) you will not be sorry despite the wait. In fact, you will thank me profusely.
The menu does not stop with pizza but makes room for tasty sounding Madgascar green-peppered fillet, vegetable gratin, trio of grilled karoo lamb loin chops, seafood platters and more. Monkey Valley has all kinds of other activities available outside of the restaurant. You can go hiking, mountain biking, horse-riding on the beach, hold business conferences, volleyball on the beach and even enjoy canapes and drinks in a nearby cave. It boasts log and thatch cottages scattered in between the milkwoods, making for a great weekend away and make for a ideal wedding venue too. Kids are more than welcome here as once you walk down towards the beach from the deck, there's a solid jungle gym and swings for them to relish.
Aside from the forest of milkwood trees, the deck overlooking the beach and waves, the scrumptious food and cocktails available and 'out of city' feel, I would have to admit that my favourite part of this place is the gorgeous sunset come the end of the day. The sky is set alight in fiery hues beside the mountain and above the blue and you happen to be at the best place to view it.
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Travel
Monkey Valley Beach Resort
When its too cold to be outdoors or a tad too dark, I've booked tables beside the fire. With low ceilings, wooden tables and flickering candles, it makes for a wonderful intimate dinner with the incredible view still on offer through the window.
But as soon as the sun shines, you wouldn't want to be anywhere else but out on the deck, lounging with your drinks beneath the garden umbrellas. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon, having boooked tables for around 30 people. The winter sun was still shining and the wooden tables were coverd in white tables cloths and decorated with bright yellow blossoms in glass vases. You would expect a venue like this to be quite pricey, but their colourful pizza menu is kind on your wallet and really top-notch. If you buy the Long Beach pizza with bacon, avocado, feta cheese, mushrooms, red peppers and garlic (R65) you will not be sorry despite the wait. In fact, you will thank me profusely.
The menu does not stop with pizza but makes room for tasty sounding Madgascar green-peppered fillet, vegetable gratin, trio of grilled karoo lamb loin chops, seafood platters and more. Monkey Valley has all kinds of other activities available outside of the restaurant. You can go hiking, mountain biking, horse-riding on the beach, hold business conferences, volleyball on the beach and even enjoy canapes and drinks in a nearby cave. It boasts log and thatch cottages scattered in between the milkwoods, making for a great weekend away and make for a ideal wedding venue too. Kids are more than welcome here as once you walk down towards the beach from the deck, there's a solid jungle gym and swings for them to relish.
Aside from the forest of milkwood trees, the deck overlooking the beach and waves, the scrumptious food and cocktails available and 'out of city' feel, I would have to admit that my favourite part of this place is the gorgeous sunset come the end of the day. The sky is set alight in fiery hues beside the mountain and above the blue and you happen to be at the best place to view it.
For more information visit http://www.monkeyvalleyresort.com/
- A Newbie's Guide To Cinsta, Eastern Cape.
From the farmlands of Route 60, past the luscious vegetation of the Wilderness, the Knysna lagoon to the pine forests of Tsitsikamma until the rolling hills of the Ciskei; this drive gives but a taste of South Africa’s diversity of landscape, vegetation...
- Kraalbaai: Our Very Own Maldives
...
- The 'hoek' Is On Fire
I had been to Noordhoek beach once upon a time. In the heat of the day, with friends we jumped in the sand and pretended that we might chance getting our toes numbed in the frozen ocean. But never before had I turned the corner and seen such...
- Photo Of The Week: Sunset In Valencia
Malvarrosa Beach at sunset Yesterday evening I had a magic moment, just me and the sunset... After the exams I thought of going for a relaxing walk on the beach. Little did I know there was a strike and that I would have to wait for the metro...
- Romantic Dinners In Aruba
The Flying Fishbone is an excellent choice for a romantic dinner. DO make a reservation ASAP and request a table on the beach next to the water! If you want to be there for sunset, make your reservation about at least a half hour before. Being so close...