Cape Town Social Club: South African food/drink in Amsterdam
A piece of Cape Town in Amsterdam
(Photo: Cape Town Social Club)
A piece of Cape Town in Amsterdam. What does that mean? According to the owners, this means plants with good wines, original cocktails and whiskeys. That always sounds good, and it made me wonder if it was an asset. Last week I tried out Cape Town Social Club and these are my next ones.
Since South Africa is quite a flight, we don’t come there every week. Yet that is a shame, not only because of the beautiful nature, but also because you can eat and drink fantastically. Two South African entrepreneurs who live in Amsterdam came up with a solution for this. They opened Cape Town Social Club, in the Raamstraat.
Refined snacks and pastries
The place where Jack’s BBQ Shack used to be (oh noooo, are they gone? We were fans!) has recently opened a new restaurant, which I can warmly recommend. The first thing that strikes me is the very friendly staff. Not only for me and my table companion, but also for the other guests. A hospitable atmosphere, an absolute plus in the downright unfriendly Dutch hospitality industry. After the concept was explained to us – choosing from numerous small snacks with sweet products is a good thing.
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What immediately catches the eye are the open kitchen and the cozy cocktail bar. The German bartender has put his practice gained in establishments into a varied cocktail list. Unsuspectingly, I order the Margarita, my eternal benchmark cocktail. It seems that the bartender of CTSC made it with flying colors. It has a twist on the regular margarita and it tastes good too. So good that I have to fight with my table companion for the last sips. Strengthened by this boost, I decide to create the rest of the evening drinking cocktails. I will not regret this, each and every one of CTSC’s cocktails is very tasty and original. Good looking.
Beef fillet to keep dreaming about
Then the food. Chef Sebastian Erasmus has experience in top restaurants and it shows. He cooks creatively and with flair. The dishes are small, but packed with flavour. That is also the concept, so that evening there are many plates that we eagerly empty. It was hard to choose, everything on the menu sounds good and so we made up the mistake of not ordering the Beef Filet. Fortunately, maitre Alexander Heim corrected us and the dish came to the table anyway. Well, we knew that. I have never had more tender and tastier meat. And that’s saying something.
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But the scallop, oyster, shellfish taco, artichoke tartare and cheese board were also welcome. The desserts were fine and bite-sized paired with the salted caramel espresso martini and a pumpkin spice cocktail. We didn’t adjust the wines, but the wine list looked flashy with a good mix of surprising South African wines and more famous toppers. Cape Town Social Club is definitely an asset to me in the southernmost tip of the Jordaan. It was an evening to die for and I wish the very friendly owner and staff a long and successful stay in Amsterdam.
Cape Town Social Club in Amsterdam
Cape Town Social Club is open from 5pm Wednesday to Saturday. You can make a reservation via the website.
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Cape Town Social Club: South African food and drink in Amsterdam