A quick lunch on a sunny day, the deck here is one of those surprisingly rare spaces in CT – a place to eat right at the sea. Being in Sea Point, La Perla also has the advantage of being shielded from the South-Easter; and has long traded on its reputation as a society “it” spot. The refurbished deck filters ambient clubby music and the waiters in their anachronistic “lab” coats just look cooler and cooler as the decades pass. The deck also now features a snack/tapas menu with such un-Italian offerings as chilli bites and Chinese dumplings. From this menu, tried the zucchini fritti, and they lay like strands of seaweed from an oily sea. Better go to A Tavola for these.
In fact, you’d better know that you are going to La Perla to be seen or for a few items they do passingly well, like the fried calamari. Their baby kingklip is also good, but for an Italian, their pastas are tragic, over-cooked and clumsy. Salads (a popular society choice) are Italianate in their simplicity and reliance on only a few ingredients, but a case in point is the salad of tomato, onion and garlic. The fact that this is on a menu at R45 is remarkable. Yet it could be really good: take sun-ripened tomato, blanch the worst from the onion, use fresh mild garlic and the best olive oil. Serve with crusty bread. Done here? Not a chance. (Though their bread is decent, to be fair).
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One Comment
I found their waiters to be very snooty and disinterested…