A taste of Africa - Moyo's - Eden on Big Bay

After a week of howling wind, we awoke Sunday morning to blue skies and no wind. Perfect Sunday tourist weather... After an hour or so of searching, "please optimise your websites people"  we found a very useful site www.wininganddining.co.za . Easy to navigate, with a great search functionality we soon had plenty of choices for our Sunday adventure. I also signed up to receive their area based specials, and noticed this morning the first one was in my in-box - I'm sure we will be using the alert to find more venues. Well done Wining and Dining great site!

We were drawn to Eden on Big Bay, where there seemed to be a feast of choices. We couldn't decide on one in particular so we just headed to the Bay. We arrived at the Eden on Big Bay Shopping Center just after 12. The car park was jam packed and no spaces where opening up.  After several laps we saw an entrance to underground parking, we were pleasantly surprised to see the boom was up and that parking was free. We found a parking with ease, and headed out into the sunshine, knowing the car was safe and would be cool on our return - "Bonus"

All the restaurant and bars face the sea view, there is a lovely lawn area and a definite Mediterranean feel. Each of the venues had their own look and feel and were all pretty full. We walked down the small boulevard, taking in the music, and vibe from the open fronted restaurants.  We were really spoilt for choice and for a moment we thought we may have to start tossing a coin. Just as I was diving into my handbag for a coin,  fate lent a hand and one of the scrumptiously comfortable "bed/coaches" at Moyo opened up. "A rare treat I have heard since" We didn't hesitate and jumped on the coach even before the couple who were leaving had finished standing up.We took up our spot in the sun and started taking in our surroundings. The lawn area was filled with families, two well cared for ponies were being used for pony rides, the kids were queuing for their turn. I did notice that there was water but no shade for the ponies, and by then the sun was beating down. Mr pony owner if your reading this, invest in a gazebo for your hard working staff please...

The vibe at Moyo was fantastic, there was a broad mix of posing youngsters, young families, kissing couples and older couples. The different ages and cultures blended with ease and it was very easy to sink back in the coach and let the atmosphere sink in.

We were soon approached by a beautifully dressed lady who offered to take our order. Hubby was over the moon to hear the had quarts of Black Label, and I settled for a very civilized Gin and Tonic. Our drinks arrived pretty quickly, the quart was sensibly served in an ice bucket we asked our friendly waitress for a cocktail and food menu and sat back to enjoy the view and vibe.

The bench to the right of our couch was unoccupied and it wasn't long before an older English couple and a lady asked if they could sit down. As it turned out, the couple were ex pats from the UK who now lived in Stellenbosh, their lady friend was from Leeds and was enjoying a two week holiday in the Cape. Both hubby and I recently came back from 7 years in the UK and were keen to hear how news from our temporary home.More drinks were ordered and we found ourselves chatting and laughing with the trio like they were old friends.

A lovely lady came round to the table and offered to paint our faces with the traditional dot type pattern all the staff had on their cheeks and foreheads, we both had our faces done, for a donation of R10.  I discovered the pool bar, which was just behind us, and made regular trips to dunk me feet in the refreshing water. We also loved the tables that have a pool underneath them, sadly we didn't get to try those out as they were constantly occupied. But who cares life on our coach was just splendid... Another lady came and took a pic of hubby and I which we were told would be emailed to us. It hasn't arrived in my in-box as yet but I'm on the look out for it. The unisex bathroom was a laugh a minute with much giggling and blushing. Unfortunately the "fun" experience was ruined for me by the lack of hygiene with less then sparkling toilets and empty soap dispensers...

The menu offered some unique dishes like fillet khuzwayo marrow bones topped with beef fillet, mushrooms and served with a gratinated bearnaise sauce R155. There were also smaller meals for the not so hungry. The viskoekies en tamatie smoor sounded very tasty, as did the crumbed mussel gatsby However "sounded" was as close as we got, the great company, funky music and all round great vibe coupled with  more gin and Black Label ensured the afternoon flew by. As the time went on we noticed the music getting loader and a slightly loader crowd taking up residence at the pool bar. The laid back vibe was definitely getting a little more charged, some of the pool crowd,  a little worse for wear took to dunking each others heads and generally acting like morons tying to impress some bikini clad blondes.  It was time to go...  we bid farewell to our English friends, finished up our drinks and called for the bill.

I would recommend Moyo to couples and singles, personally if I had my youngest son with me, I would join the families on the lawn and watch from a distance,  it's not that child friendly - "not a negative just a fact" The pool bar proved just too tempting for several kids, despite a no under 18 sign on the gate. There is a kiddies menu, so you could grab a bite to eat and beat a retreat before the vibe lures you in...  We will definitely visit Moyo again, this time we're make sure and try out the menu and hopefully the tables at the pool, oh yes we will also pile on the sunscreen, "we both have, burnt knees and sun-glass tans today"

See you soon ...