Mauro’s Restaurant, St. Francis, South Africa
Mauro’s Restaurant is situated in the quiet seaside village of St. Francis. This Italian restaurant is a must visit if Mauro is there.
Dave and I drove back from East London, deciding to stop in Cape St. Francis on our way back. We had quite a strenuous drive, having run over a monkey on our way to Port Alfred. This resulted in the car needing to be towed, and us having to get a hire car on a Sunday. Not that simple in rural Africa. Friends of ours organized a Bed and Breakfast for us to stay in and the owner made a booking at Mauro’s in St. Francis for us.
Our first visit
We arrived and were shown to our table overlooking the harbour. The waitresses on duty were very friendly and Mauro himself came over to chat to us. In fact, he even gave us the name and phone number for his cousin in Italy in case we found ourselves in the village he lives in. Upon recommendation I had the prawn soup to start (R59) and Dave had the melanzane alla parmigiana (R69). For mains I chose the homemade gnocchi (R99) and Dave had the linguine agli scampi (R120). It was this dish that had us going back a few months later.
Our second visit
Mauro was not there on our second visit and so we could not tell him that we had not been to see his cousin. We chose the Guardian Peak Merlot 2015 (R132) to accompany our meal. This is a local estate wine we both enjoy. Given how generous and tasty Dave’s melanzane was the previous visit I ordered that to start. I was really disappointed as there was a lack of eggplant in the dish and it was mostly just the sauce. It was however really tasty. Dave had the calamari fritto (R69) which proved to be a good choice.
Mains and dessert
For mains I chose the pork scaloppine done with Marsala (R129). Marsala is on my shopping list for while we are in Italy. Dave had the linguine and I think now we can make this at home. Feeling like a sweet treat after our meal I ordered the creme brulee (R49). The brûlée part was great, but I did not like the dusting of icing sugar on top. Our bill including gratuity came to R667.70
Contact them on: +27 42 294 0121
Dave and I are overseas in Europe. We will be back at work on the 2nd of May. I will start replying to comments then. I won’t be able to read any blogs while we are away so please forgive my lack of visiting back. You can follow our trip by taking a look at our holiday blog.
Inspiration published on Lavender and Lime April 19:
- 2015 – A Hippo Love Story
- 2012 – Chicken Liver Pâté
- 2011 – Mushroom Pasta With Truffle Oil
- 2010 – Seared Tuna Served On A Bed Of Noodles
Sounds like a wonderful place to have a great meal. Hope you are having a great trip on your trip.
We are having a super holiday, thanks Cheri.
Everything looks amazing! I can’t believe you got stuck there after running over a monkey (things that don’t happen in New England, USA!), but I guess it’s good you got introduced to this spot 🙂
We have a lot of wildlife on our roads so it’s quite something that this is the first time we’ve had an accident.
I hope you’re having a great time in Europe! The icing sugar is an odd touch agreed but it sounds like the other dishes are lovely 🙂 I’ve never had prawn soup, what was it like?
It was quite interesting and a bit spicy. But not something I would order again.
Sounds like a beautiful and very welcoming place, love restaurants with a view!
We would go back if we were in the area, which is unlikely.
Oh, this sounds like a beautiful place. Everything here looks so delicious. Hope you are enjoying your holidays in Europe.
We had a super time Anu 🙂
que restaurante mas interesante, lo habras pasado muy bien
It was really good the first time we went 🙂