95 Keerom, a Cape Town classic – and for good reason

So I was cleaning out my external hard drive the other day and I stumbled upon these photos I took at 95 Keerom all the way back on 23 Jan! How did I manage to miss these and forget to write about it for so long?!  I blame the wine we had on the night… 😉

But hey, it’s still a really good restaurant and totally worth a mention, so figured better late than never.

Now 95 Keerom has been around for quite some time, and at one point was rated one of the top restaurants in the city. But for some reason it kept evading me. Then on an early summer’s eve back in Jan of this year, my friend D and I were walking around town looking for a place to eat and we decided to pop our heads in to see if we’d be lucky enough to get a table.

I think we had gotten there just at the right time as there was still space upstairs, but the restaurant certainly filled up around an hour later – so I’d say it’s probably still best to book.

Just as an interesting historical fact – the building they’re housed in dates back to 1682 and used to be the stables & slave quarters for the Company Garden. They’ve kept many of the original elements, including the facade and brick walls, but they’ve added some elegant, modern touches giving the restaurant a very chic feel.

The upstairs area where we ate has a tree as the centerpiece (yes, a tree!) and big glass windows creating the most beautiful, airy space. Then they also have 3 smaller rooms downstairs for those looking for something more intimate (didn’t get any shots of this area I’m afraid) and a private dining room that can seat up to 12 people for special occasions.

The menu takes its origins from authentic Milanese cuisine, giving diners a sophisticated Italian experience.  To start they have a range of smaller dishes that range from R45 to R90 as well as a pretty impressive selection of carpaccio ranging from R80 – R95.

We opted to share the La Tartate (hand chopped raw prime fillet topped with olive oil, onion, egg, capers & parsley – R75) and the La Tartare di Tonno e Salmone (fresh raw tuna & salmon hand chopped with avo, capers, tomato, onions, parsley & olive oil – R90).

Both of these were fantastic…

Then for mains they’ve got meat options ranging from R150 to R190, fish/seafood mains ranging from R100 to R360 for two grilled crayfish or R400 for a seafood platter to share, and then pasta dishes ranging from R60 to R270 for a crayfish linguini.

I opted for the butternut & ricotta ravioli (topped with sage butter & Parmesan – R80) and D went for the cannelloni (beef-filled cannelloni with ham & cheese – R85).

My ravioli could not be faulted.  The pasta was perfectly cooked and the flavours were everything I had hoped for.  D’s canneloni was also perfectly cooked, but overall the dish did lack in flavour ever so slightly.

To finish things off, our waiter highly recommended the chocolate fondant (R50) and then D opted for a classic Tiramisu (R40).

That Tiramisu was delicious, but I have to say that chocolate fondant was hands down the best fondant I’ve EVER had (and I’ve had quite a few).  Can definitely see why it comes highly recommended.

Other noteworthy mentions:  The service was friendly & attentive, the atmosphere relaxed & welcoming and the wine list prices didn’t make your eyes water.  Also on the topic of price, if you compare 95 Keerom’s prices to say The Shortmarket Club (which I tried out last week & will be telling you about very soon), you’re getting a really great deal.

Other than the slight glitch with the cannelloni, we really loved our 95 Keerom experience.  Therefore I’m going to give them a score of  on my Miss K Kiss-o-Meter scale.

To pay them a visit, take note of the following:

• Address:  95 Keerom Street, Cape Town
• Phone: 021 422 0765
• Email : info@95keerom.com
• Opening times:  Monday – Saturday, 18:30 – 22:00
• Just please note:  95 Keerom only welcomes children over the age of 12 years.

xxx