I was recently invited to attend the new vegan summer menu launch at The Courtyard Café and was blown away by Chef Michael Keating’s incredible creations!
The Courtyard Café
The Courtyard Café is one of my favourite eating out spots! I’ve been there quite a few times, and I have tried quite a few of their vegan options, including their amazing vegan burger (see blog post here). When I received my invitation to attend their new vegan summer menu launch I immediately RSVP’d, as I wouldn’t miss it for the world!
Chef Michael Keating has a obvious passion for food, and has become a master at creating unique vegan dishes. The Courtyard Café is very lucky to have him on the team. At The Courtyard Café they even make their own (awesome) bread, pasta, almond milk, hummus, pesto, salad dressing, etc. After the event we each got a goodie bag full of their products, so we could enjoy them at home.
The courses
When we arrived at the Courtyard Café, we were treated to champagne, various delicious hors d’oeuvres, as well as some delicious juices (green, red and orange). The most memorable were the crumbed mushrooms and the red beetroot juice. The 1st course included a trio of chilled soups: avocado gazpacho, borzcht, and butternut and orange; and 3 salads: quinoa, waldorf carpaccio, and panzanela. It was wonderful to taste the various flavours of soup – the avocado was my favourite. The salads were all wonderful, but the quinoa salad inspired me to try emulate it at home.
The second course consisted of pasta arribiata, the Chef’s stacked slider, and a lentil and aubergine moussaka. Each item was delicious and definitely something I would order again and again. For the last course, we were treated to an almond chai latte panna cotta, a chilled beetroot cashew cake, a dark chocolate brownie with banana ice cream, as well as brilliant millionaire’s shortbread. I’m not kidding when I say it was all mouthwateringly delicious!
Throughout the event the meals were paired with lovely Catherine Marshall Wines, which are also all vegan.
Where are they?
The Courtyard Café is literally in a courtyard which you enter through a passage on the ground floor between the Artvark gallery and The Kalk Bay theatre on Main Road. They are open from Monday to Sunday from 7:30am to 5:30pm. Look out for the A-frame café sign that is usually on the roadside.
Have you been to The Courtyard Café yet? What was your favourite vegan dish? I’d love to hear from you – please comment below! If you’d like to see more places where I have eaten, have a look here. New eating-out spots are posted regularly. And be sure to look at my directory for a list of all the awesome green & vegan products I have found locally as well as the local markets I love.
Let’s Get Social!
Be sure to follow The Courtyard Café on Instagram and Facebook. And follow me on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with my posts! If you end up trying this vegan eatery, after reading about it for the first time here, please tag me and let me know what you think. Remember to hashtag it #thegreenveganchick
