An Exciting Chinese Discovery at Dawn in Cape Town

There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that Cape Town is one of the world’s foodie capitals. When you take into account all the variables involved when eating out, it’s astounding what’s on offer in terms of quality, variety, and value. Having said that, I’ve always battled to find somewhere in the Mother City that serves delicious Chinese food I want to go back for. Until now.

As we waited for our flight in the airport in London I idly googled new Cape Town restaurants, as one does, and came across one called Dawn in the Cape Quarter which happened to be just up the road from where we were going to stay. On arrival in Cape Town, the inevitable over-excitement of being in such a beautiful city in the sunshine with so much to explore takes over and Dawn was forgotten about. Luckily I am obsessed with my notebooks and on looking back to Page One of this year’s Cape Town book I remember…Dawn is the third place I’ve written down and we’ve been to all the others on the list. So it’s time to take a slow meander down the road and investigate.

The Cape Quarter is a pretty, somewhat vertiginous area of Cape Town. Shops, restaurants, and houses go up the hill from Somerset Road. There’s a stylish shopping centre at its heart with coffee shops, bars, and restaurants fanning out from this heart. Dawn can be accessed either from the shopping centre or the street outside.

It’s a surprisingly elegant space with an enticing bar. Wait staff are dressed in elegant black and red to complete the stylish Chinese theme. The restaurant is the brainchild of Giselle Li and Ronnie Mao who are from Hunan and Canton respectively. And the chefs are Chinese, too. And you can tell. The dishes on the menu are described in words I know the meaning of but there’s something more going on. It takes us a while to decide what we’re going to try on our first visit – and we keep changing our minds. This is a menu to be devoured end-to-end. Anyway after much deliberation, here’s what we tucked into.

I love a char sui pork, so this was a dish we didn’t hesitate over. As we wanted to take it slowly and savour every mouthful we ordered dishes one at a time and there was no resistance. So first up, Cantonese char sui roasted pork meat marinated in honey, soya sauce, oyster sauce, and chuhoa paste. The substantial starter portion was served on a striking red iron base with swirls of smoke for dramatic effect. And it tasted sensational. Isn’t this one of the most beautiful foodie pictures you’ve seen for a while? Just saying…

We fancied some seafood so we chose the Sprite wasabi queen-sized prawns deep fried and coated in a cold, zesty Sprite wasabi sauce. Another tasty dish, and something I have never tasted before, how I love saying that. The dish was cold (as specified on the menu), the prawns were crispy and the sauce was sharp, savoury, and spicy. The prawns come shell-on with some peeling to be done. So worth the effort. It is a wonderfully unique dish perfectly executed.

Okay, so we were starting to feel a little full now, but still discussing the menu in full flow. Still swinging back and forth about what we should try next. Never have menu decisions been so complex. For our final choice, we went for barbecue lamb skewers with grilled cubes marinated in cumin, chili powder and spring onion. I’m a serious lamb lover and this was my favourite dish of the day. And that’s a hard thing to say because I loved everything. The lamb was so packed with flavour, the memory is so strong I can almost taste it now.

To accompany the lamb we decided to try something that sounded decidedly weird but offered the flavours we love. The spicy and sour shredded and stir-fried potatoes with dry chili and white rice vinegar is a traditional dish from the Hunan region. It arrives looking like slightly unusual noodles and tastes like tender potato strips with a serious punch.

Here’s a shot of the lamb close-up – if this doesn’t make your mouth water nothing will!

And here’s a shot of the bar. Doesn’t that look inviting? We will be back to try the latest offerings on the new menu coming soon. Can’t wait.

Today’s Price Point

This lunch for two, including a nice bottle of Rose and a generous tip came to R800. That’s £33 at today’s exchange rate. Quite stupendous value for a great experience and incredible food.

Dawn is at 10 Jarvis Street, De Waterkant, Cape Town.

www.dawnrestaurant.co.za