Xiang Yuan Review

A friend and I were walking down the road and the conversation went as follows:

Me: Lets just walk until we find somewhere interesting to eat.
Friend: Ok. What do you feel like? I don’t feel like Asian food.
Me: Me neither, lets find a pub.

Then all of a sudden we saw the following sign:

Xiang Yuang

And that was it. Sold.

I have mentioned before how much I love sushi and there is probably nothing better then to be able to eat as much of it as you want for a set price. Add to that, unlimited Asian starters and mains, and you have yourself a great deal. A deal so great that I just can not resist.

Xiang Yuan is a little restaurant found on Main Road, Seapoint where whilst enjoying your meal, you can sit and watch some of Cape Towns’ most interesting characters walk by.

For just R99 they offer all you can eat ANYTHING. Sushi, seared sushi salads, spring rolls, dim sum, soups, fried rice/noodles, red & green curries, chop suey, sweet and sour chicken, beef or pork and the list goes on and on.

Xiang Yuan Sea Point

Sea Point Restaurant

To get the ball rolling, we ordered miso soup, chicken and corn soup and some spring rolls as well as a plate of 12 pieces of sushi to share. The soup arrived first and it was magical (quite unlike my pitiful attempt at making miso soup last week, which tasted like salty brown water); the spring rolls were golden and crunchy but when we saw our sushi making its way towards us we were slightly confused. And scared.

We had ordered 12 pieces of sushi to share so we would have space for a main course however the order had been confused and we ended up with 24 pieces. Now don’t get me wrong, we could easily handle 12 pieces each, but another curveball was thrown our way when the sashimi salad we ordered was promptly delivered along with another 20 pieces of sushi. This was not part of the plan, especially since on the menu it politely asked that you do not waste any food. It was going to be a long afternoon.

Sushi Sea Point

Slowly but surely we made our way though it, piece by piece. The sushi was delicious, we just had to eat far to much of it, so nearing the end of what felt like the Comrades Marathon of the eating world, we felt like we were going to have to be carried home on a forklift.

Xiang Yuan and its staff are hospitable and inviting and it is definitely one of my top 5 “All You Can Eat” restaurants here in Cape Town.

Upon paying the bill I received the following SMS from my sister who had invited me over for dinner: “Guess what! We’re having sushi for dinner! Yay!”.

Oh no.

Note to self: Next time I need to pace myself. Have a soup and a few dim sum, share a plate of sushi, and definitely try a stirfry, hotpot or curry

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