Read what James Costello has to say about #KloofSlug
Marvellously mouth-watering mastications and innovative ingenuity @ super-safe Slug on Kloof St!
Slug and Lettuce Kloof st
Twitter-@alexanlos / @theslugsa
Tel – (+27) 21 422 5325
Owner -Alex Anlos
Service Ambassadors – Farieda / Mara
Trawling through Twitter is not unlike prospecting for gold.
Most days, one ends up with aching fingers, despondency and a huge pile of discarded debris that once showed such promise; but, once in a while, a nugget glimmers in the sunlight….
I happened to see a Tweet from @alexanlos requesting any info on a food photographer in CT, and duly reTweeted whilst recommending the INCREDIBLY talented @panascape photographer Robert Miller (whose work is currently my header pic on FB & Twitter).
Fast forward 2 days to me swanning into this gastropub in the very heart of CT’s culinary avenue-Kloof St.
I was very warmly greeted by the Service Ambassador Farieda and instantly put at ease…not a small task for someone who famously dislikes bars. Alex then gave me a short history of the place…including his lengthy tenure with Slug and Lettuce franchise owners Hussar Grill, and his time in the clubs, pubs and eateries of the balmy Mediterranean, including….wait for it-a Polynesian resto. Talk about a Wiki-pub…
Service ambassadors
And then the tasting started; first a starter snippet of 3 springbok, caramelised onion and prune (!) mini-pies (pielets?), with a sweet chilli dippy sauce (R29). Not being a huge fan of nibbling on the national animal (some Bald Eagle paté, Sir?!), I was pleasantly surprised at the non-gamey, almost beef-like flavour of the meat – and the crispy yet tender pastry complemented by the tangy, tart and sweet prune/onion flavours..def a first!
Springbok, caramelised onion and prune pielet
Then onto a steak and feta wrap with caramelised onion in a low GI wholewheat wrap (R62), which I can foresee will be a crowd favourite come rugby season (did I mention the numerous plasma screens located unobtrusively around the place?)
Steak wrap with caramelised onion, feta on low GI wholewheat wrap
But then….my favourite.
Like…the bestest best chicken I have EVER had in my whole life.
Ever.
No…really.
No…I’m totally serious.
Witness….the Polynesian-inspired “Butter Chicken” in a rôti, served with pineapple(!) & caramelised onion (R65).
Butter Chicken Roti
The textures! The flavours! The syrupy sweetness countermanded by the acidic tang of pineapple! The rich, buttery underflavour of perfectly-fried bird contrasting with the tortilla-like flouriness (is that a word?!) of the rôti. Wooof.
Like….todilly woof.
Like…I’ll sign anything.
Twice.
In triplicate.
Just let me have another little double portion….
Whilst I was off with the food mining fairies on a Butter Chicken goldrush, I did manage to inventory the surroundings.
TV’s-check.
Big, long, bar-check.
Non-intimidating décor-check.
Intimate space-check.
And then….self-service complimentary cellphone recharging station-check.
Let’s just go over that again, shall we…?
This place is SO attuned to the needs of its mostly businessmen/neighbourhood local clientele, AND that we all suffer with “smarter” phones/ “dumber” batteries; that it has created a FREE, easily accessible and VERY popular “mobile phone recharge station” (with 2-pin European adaptor) for guests to top up their smartphones.
Complimentary cellphone recharging station
And who WOULDN’T want another round of shooters/bar snacks/draught beers whilst their phone is recharging?Sheer brilliance.
And in case you were wondering about feeling “safe” at this bar, Alex is also the inventor of a new Martial Art-Amacra (www.youtube.com/theamacra
).
James, Alex and Farieda
My favourite clip on his channel was the CCTV footage of him putting a 3-second sleeper hold (no, really….3 seconds) on an unruly patron in another bar. Thus, with owner Alex in situ one may feel free to have one’s beer/Appletini/Cosmo/Cider/Shirley Temple/Piña Colada in the total knowledge one is in what is arguably the safest bar in Cape Town.
AND now you know JUST where to go to “chillax” after a hard day’s mining/consulting/songwriting/designing/IT-ing/politicking/acting/lawyering/writing/PA-ing/producing/waitering/tour guiding/hipster-ing in Cape Town….
Just make sure you bring me some of that golden Butter Chicken…
I checked – they DO have Doggy Bags!
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Please note all images and content of this post belong to @jamescapetown.
The Slug & Lettuce on Facebook
