Sea Point finds it’s MoJo – Cape Town’s latest food destination opens

Sea Point just became even more fun… we are always looking for fun new places to meet and eat and discovered that a new food market had just opened on the increasingly cool Regent Road. A mere 100m up from the Pavilion swimming pool is this new funky place to play – the Mojo Market below the Mojo Hotel!

Around the world, people celebrate food and easy informal ways of sharing meals. With city life making people more insular, there is nothing better than to bring people together to discover other food styles, sit at open shared tables and just watch the world go by.

The word “market” is possibly over used by marketers! It conjures up visions of daily fresh farmers produce. Some markets even have their smelly sections with fresh (living sometimes) fish and meat, markets are where locals come to shop for the week. Let’s not be prescriptive, this is not a market like those.

The closest similarity is possibly the Madrid Mercado de San Miguel – a place where locals and tourists gather to pick from wonderful unusual food offerings which they then bring back to communal tables to share with friends.

The new Mojo market is packed with fun food stalls from around the world – punters are spoiled for choice, offerings vary from Dim Sum, Raclette, German Wurst, Cuban, Taco’s and even Argentinian barbecue!

So locals can taste foreign, but foreigners can also taste local – think old fashioned “bunny chow” (a local favorite – half a loaf of bread filled with mutton curry), the usual fish and chips and even some crazy spins to try like ostrich and zebra! Really!

 

 

Fun new food ideas like a chicken wing stall called Vlerki – specializing in… vlerkies (translated into English – little wings) – perfect food to buy and try the different ways of cooking wings – choose from half a dozen of different styles and bring back to your table to share.

The market has applied for a license but in the meantime, you either settle for “virgin mocktail mojitos” at the cuban stall, or simply go to the hotel reception to order wine by the glass or bottle and a wide variety of local artisan beers – even Belgian beer. We thought that going next door to get wine would be a schlepp but they are really organized and the process is smooth and quick – and for us getting that glass of wine for supper was a must do. There was no real choice of wine, (like just “red or white”) but a fair quaffing wine was all we really needed!

There are also new fun delicacy shops- a fresh bakery baking on the premises, ice creams and for Peter – the real win was the Mussel Monger – they shucked the plumpest juiciest oysters – best he had had in months. Served on a simple enamel plate with a wedge of lemon – perfect – maybe just add bubbles! Fitting and fixtures are also high end – see the fabulous oyster shaped light above the bar counter!

So while this is probably less of a “market” and more a “food hall” – which sounds horrible – but its NOTHING like the mainstream mall food halls – no brand names, no fast food chains – just good fun food served slow and shared in the fun vibe. Hidden among the prepared food, there is a some fresh produce – sourced from small scale local farmers – fresh and gorgeous and surprisingly affordable – we had to buy a cauliflower just to support something other than food and drink!

Another cool spin is the coffee bean bar and roasters where you can choose your own brew from Cape Towns finest coffee bars – and they will be open 24/7 – so no more need to hunt for a caffeine fix at 4am. Free wifi throughout the market also means you see the trendy laptop workers working, drinking fab coffee and even having ad hoc work meetings.

While this definitely is a food driven destination, there are some wonderful unique boutiquey type outlets – offering original fashion, jewelry and accessories. I almost spontaneously bought a funky coat – just because…We have a friend who is about to have a little baby girl – where better to buy something beautiful and completely unique!

This really great food fun spot is open 7 days a week – 9am to 9 pm – except of course for the coffee bar that never closes!

For local Capetonians – come a play before it is properly discovered… it was not too busy last night but we predict manic crowds once word gets out! There is even live music over the weekends to add to the vibe! Foreigners and travelers – this is a fun new place to play – small enough to be personal, big enough to create some variety.

See always knew that Sea Point had MoJo – now its official!