Time Out Market Cape Town — Restaurant in Foreshore

So my wife and I finally visited the market today. We arrived at around 11h00 and spent over 2 hrs there. We ordered dishes from five different chefs.

We started our day with some good coffee from Nosh. It made for a promising start 😁 We then order the 6 chicken 'wings' from The Barn for R90. They were actually 3 wings chopped in half to produce 6 pieces. They were overcooked and dry as hell.

Our next dish was well reviewed by several people when I read through about 100 reviews prior to this visit. It was the Shrimp Mac and Cheese for R120 from.Melting Pot. Well, we must have got the remnants from yesterday as our small portion had a burnt crust, and no moisture whatsoever. No shrimp was visible or reflected in the taste. It was one of the worst dishes of the day for us.

Next up was what looked really fantastic to the eye...the mixed six piece Pani Puri for R115 from the Kapoocha Indian Street food vendor. Unfortunately it was also disappointing...a teaspoon of filling just didn't do it for is. We left half the serving uneaten.

My wife decided to take over the ordering after my three failed attempts. She ordered Ou Mense Onder Die Kombers for R150 from Barakat...it purported to consist of Osso Buco wrapped in cabbage I think. When I saw the plate I honestly thought she had been given the wrong order. I could see that it consisted of a very small half-round of a mushy meat of sorts, accompanied by a larger portion of very overcooked rice. At this point the manager of the market approached me to complain about me filming a review without permission, so my attention was not fully on the dish at hand. We ended up having a lengthy conversation about our bad experience thus far, about the negative reviews of the food and common complaints, and about the market in general. Once he had left I tried to eat my portion of the meal but it was so bad I only had a mouthful.

In the meantime my wife went and ordered another type of chicken wings, this time from Mlilo...Pepe Wings for R110. These were not as dry as the wings from The Yard, but to my palate they were bitter...I obviously didn't take to the Nigerian spices used in the dish.

At this stage, and around R700 in for the day, we decided to cut our losses and seek out greener pastures. I really wanted to have a positive experience, and the venue itself is great, but of course the proof is in the pudding. For us the food was just not enjoyable. My wife is literally sitting next to me now at home eating last nights leftovers of the supper I cooked as she complained of still being hungry after our failed visit...

Disappointed to make an inaugural visit this morning, it’s 10:15 and only 1 vendor is open. To add insult to injury the majority of the venue is roped off with security policing entry. Sad and unwelcoming. I know it can be better. I’ve also just paid R50 for 330ml still water that I’ve served myself! Now I feel like a fool.

Round 2.

I gave it another go. Went for dinner with my wife and daughter. It left me in what must have been the mood on the Titanic when she struck ice. I’ll just list what went wrong; Waited 38 minutes for my daughter’s pizza, demanded a refund. In the meanwhile the buzzer called us in several times erroneously, that was fun. Got a surly refund, granted I was angry at that point. Ordered a draught beer, was told the keg is empty. (Oh my!) Asked them to put on a new one, surly look number 2. Came back for beer after 15 minutes, nope keg is empty. Amateur stock ordering for a Saturday night. Paid, didn’t tip, surly look #3. Ordered Indian cuisine. When my order time hit 20 minutes I went in for a check, not ready. BTW the buzzer had also erroneously called us in early. FFS. Finally got my food after 30 minutes. Not so happy. Ordered braai plate for child, after 28 minutes received an undercooked mix of grey chicken wings, lamb chops and sausage. It went in the bin for R190 or around there. I couldn’t anymore after that. All the upping and downing, to and fro to spend about R900 serving myself and putting out fires. 🔥

The concession was a decent meal from Ramenhead that left my wife happy, extra steps on my health meter and apologetic staff at the Indian cuisine stall. But still, all seriously overpriced by around 30% I’d say, very mixed food quality, no value for money and poorly managed. It’s a shame because the venue is actually awesome. I fear the overall concept is not sincere, these vendors are not food stall operators and seemingly don’t care to be. It’s too contrived and there are too many hands in the pie. Change the vendors, lower the prices, work on volume and create a welcoming atmosphere. Far too often I see empty tables here and very few locals. It’s mostly out of towners who come like...

If you're looking to dip into flavoursome meals from exceptional chefs then this place is for you!

Time Out recently opened and wow, what an experience. It is a lovely place (market) to come with friends,family and/or your significant other.

Setting: The layout is great. There is ample seating which comprises of benches, couches and stools. You can sit inside on the ground floor, upstairs or outside if the weather is great.

There are many food stalls from expert chefs (the names are recognisable) and you go around looking for what you would like to eat and drink.

Atmosphere: Very vibrant and fun. We went in the evening and there was a DJ which was great as the music he played set the tone for what promised to be a splendid, spontaneous evening. The seating is spread out and the music is not too loud so you can hear each other speak.

Food: We tried a bit of everything especially from restaurants we've never been to.

We tried corn from Mlilo. It was divine. It's not sweetcorn but traditional corn and the lime with spice had the best flavour to the corn. Yum!

We had samoosas - one snoek and apricot and another masala steak. I preferred the masala one over the snoek but the samoosa was lovely and light.

We had a fried hake bao bun. It was my first time having a bao and woow, was it divine. The bao was so fluffy and light, it basically melted in my mouth. The flavour infusion was great in the mouth and the flavours complimented each other.

We had shrimp mac and cheese. This was really divine. Each bite was memorable. The spices and aroma made it worth every bite.

There are drinks from various stalls both alcoholic and non alcoholic. We had San Perrigino.

What we did was select a few dishes so we could taste as much as possible. Can't wait to come here again.

PS. The Time Out Market is international including markets in other locations like...