Spookfontein Restaurant Review (Hermanus)
A Holiday in Hermanus
We were in the Hermanus area as part of our annual trip over the Easter school holidays. Travelling with three children isn’t always easy, but the nice thing about being on holiday is that you are in no rush. We visited Spookfontein Restaurant on Day 3 of our holiday. It had been all about doing things slowly.
We had first had some coffee and a glass of wine at Bosman Family Vineyards with a 360º view of the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley across Walker Bay to Gansbaai in the South and Hangklip in the West. Not that we looked at it much - instead we played many games of Uno and made sure the kids didn’t spill their babyccinos before we slowly made our way to Spookfontein.
About Spookfontein
Spookfontein is a 313 acre hectare farm situated in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, in between the Kleinriver Babilonstoring Mountains. The farm originates in 1847, and its location makes it perfect for wine making, with a cool breeze blown in from Walker Bay in the Summer evenings thanks to the Cape Doctor.
But whilst Lianne and I love our wine, the reason for our visit was to have lunch at the Spookfontein Restaurant as it was recommended to us by a friend. And we were not disappointed.
The Spookfontein Lunch and Wine Menu
Nothing like a boozy lunch on holiday and so we decided to go with a tasting. For R95 we could select any 5 wines. Spookfontein’s wines are excellent and for the purchase of 12 bottles the tasting fee per person was waived.
Up next - lunch.
We ordered a few different dishes to be able to taste as many as possible:
Gnocchi, Carrot Purée, Butternut and Goats Cream (R95)
Seared Springbok, Chakalaka, Polenta (R145)
Pork Ramen, Chilli Ginger Broth, Noodles (R145)
Seafood Broth with Hake, Mussels an Calamari (Bouillabaisse) (R245)
For the kids we ordered a few plates of chips (R35 a plate), they are not fussy eaters and tasted everything but we didn’t want them to eat it all! Our kids are big eaters and so it made more sense to carbo load them up before they’d gobble up all of our dishes too!
The Pavlova
Kids being kids, they spotted a desert at another table and so of course we had to order one too! We ordered the Pavlova (R80) and five spoons and it disappeared quickly!
Our espresso (R20) and cappuccino (R35) went down well too. By this time it was hard for the kids to sit still and so we sat outside to enjoy the beautiful view and let the kids run around for a bit.
Our verdict on the Spookfontein Restaurant Lunch
This hidden gem on a road less travelled needs to be added to your bucket list. The food was executed with excellence and with much love. Nothing was over the top, but just brilliantly done, full of flavour and moreish.
We will be back for sure to the hidden little valley behind Hermanus!
Spookfontein Restaurant Opening Hours and Bookings
The Spookfontein Restaurant is open for lunch from Tuesday to Sunday, from 12:00 to 16:00. The kitchen closes at 15:30.
Disclaimer: Whilst this blog post was first published in July 2024, we visited Spookfontein in March 2024.
All opinions expressed are solely our own and based on our experience. At times we may be compensated for reviews placed on this blog, however we always maintain the rights to share our true opinion on the full experience, to maintain our integrity and the authenticity of the review posted.
About Shawn Godfrey
Photo credit: Niki M Photography
Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.
Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.
It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.
On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (6), Olivia (4) and Harvey (2).
Sign up to the newsletter below to be kept up to date with events, new recipes and reviews, or contact Shawn to chat about recipe creation, restaurant takeovers and public speaking events.
