An explosion of Spices at 126 Cape Kitchen

The Hyatt Regency Cape Town has recently taken up residency on Buitengracht Street with much hype and we were excited when we were invited to try the latest menu at 126 Cape Kitchen.

Bringing Starbucks to the city centre was their first move making the hotel an ideal spot to host your mid-day meetings ensuring that a well brewed cup of coffee acts as the perfect foundation to create many successful partnerships. A bakery selling healthy snacks and baked goods is also close-by if you need to tank up on energy in order to tackle the rest of the day. Parking? No issue either as there is plenty of on-street parking as well as a garage for guests.

But we were here to try the restaurant. The manager was very excited about upcoming plans at the restaurant, proudly explaining that they have found a supplier delivering authentic Indian spices which the restaurant will use to create a delicious sharing menu. During the entire evening several dishes arrive and are placed in the middle of the table, allowing for conversations between courses, sharing, and the appreciation of all dishes. A wonderful experience.

A sharing menu was on offer during Ramadan which we enjoyed during our visit to 126 Cape Kitchen.

Laban/Falooda, Dates, Fruit Juice & home-made Bread

I’ve never been the biggest fan of dates as I always found them incredibly sweet. This was not the case here so I happily snacked on these while I was trying to figure out what kind of beverage was served along with the starter that had hints of spices and strawberry. Falooda is a dessert-type drink, gently sweet, aromatic and cooling – perfect for a warm day. And very delicious. A selection of home-made bread and a small salad was also served which made an excellent start to the evening.

Soup of the Day

It’s always exciting to see how cultures prepare dishes slightly differently. A hearty Lentil soup was brought over next. Traditionally I’ve only known Lentil soup with its full rich texture still very much present. This was not the case here as we enjoyed a creamy and smooth soup that still had all the goodness & flavour of the Lentil soups I’ve grown up to love.

Selection of Cold Mezze, Samosas & Falafel

Next up came a selection of cold mezze with green salads, humus, baba ganoush, and vegetable riata. Again perfect to share, lovely in taste, with different textures and flavours to give you something different with every bite. The samosas were really rich in flavour (beef, chicken and veggie) and I am still dreaming of that home-made sweet chilli dip that elevated these little delights to a much higher level. Fantastic!

A choice of 2 mains per person.

Four different mains were on offer, where each person is asked to choose two dishes. These included home-syle chicken tikka, home-style lamb kebab, peshawari palao, as well as the always popular butter chicken. We decided to order all four dishes and then shared everything between us so we could try every dish on the menu.

  • The chicken tikka was flame grilled and served with a green salad. They didn’t go overboard with the spices to still allow all the flavours to come through nicely.
  • A delicious mint chutney gave a fantastic balance to the rich flavours of the lamb kebabs.
  • The peshawari palao brought together so many interesting flavours with an array of spices and herbs used in the preparation. Simply delicious.
  • Last but not least, an incredibly creamy butter chicken slow cooked in a rich butter & cream sauce all made with home-ground spices. Mildly spicy, creamy & savoury, what more can you ask for?

Freshly sliced Fruit. 

To end your meal a selection of freshly cut fruit was brought to the table with pineapple, mangoes, and watermelon ensuring for a fresh & citrusy end to the evening.

One thing to note is that the restaurant is halaal-friendly with no alcohol served. But that wasn’t an issue for us at all. We kept trying the various juices on offer; all incredibly refreshing. These change according to the seasons and are freshly squeezed at the restaurant. Sparking water and your favourite sodas are also available.

Overall, we had a wonderful experience. I love sharing food where you are able to try a little bit of everything. You eat much slower, allowing you to truly appreciate the food and all its flavours. With more time, there is also room for deeper conversation and in the end a much richer evening accompanied by fantastic food.

The Indian sharing menus at 126 Cape Kitchen will come highly recommended by us. We had a fantastic time.

Directions to 126 Cape Kitchen
126 Buitengracht St
Cape Town City Centre
Cape Town
8001

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