Rossouws Restaurants

The most interesting thing about lunch at the Newlands Wijnhuis yesterday was learning that its sister restaurant, La Perla, is closing this winter for renovations after 50 years of operation. Our waiter looked familiar and he turned out to be a 34 year veteran of La Perla, his son now also working for this family operation. Wijnhuis Newlands, unlike the Stellenbosch incarnation, has the distinction of having this cadre of elderly Muslim gentlemen who serve you with dignified reserve. They are efficient in the way that  professional waiters have, they are not easily moved and can seem pretty rude, or at least offish - at least that’s what happened at La Perla.

Wijnhuis Newlands occupies a higgeldy-piggeldy space that manages to combine stylistic clutter reasonably well so that the sum of the parts feels comfortable. Businessmen love it. The menu is ostensibly Italian, with simple meats, pastas and pizza, but the execution and quality are both so ordinary that all becomes generic restaurant food. At least they have a good wine selection and decent prices - though very few by the glass?