Blue Waters Cafe, Port Elizabeth

This week I had a little one night rendezvous with my boyfriend in Port Elizabeth. Why PE, I'm sure you're asking? The closest airport to Grahamstown, where said boyfriend is studying, is the PE "International" airport. We stayed in a hotel across the road from Blue Waters Cafe, and decided to head over the road for dinner, the advantage being that we could try a few cocktails, have a glass of wine or two, and stumble home.

Situated right above the water's edge in Summerstrand, Blue Waters Cafe has a beautiful view of the sea and the pier. This is a good start. Friendly and efficient waitstaff attended to our cocktails and orders as we browsed the somewhat tackily presented menu, sporting random Jamie Oliver quotes about big mammas rolling pasta, and unrelated facts about herbs. The pickings are slim for the vegetarian. Other than a few light meals, the choice of two penne dishes, or a vegetarian platter did not really impress us. The idea of a plate of every non-meat item in the kitchen, all on one plate, usually in measly proportions, is never appealing. We decided, since we were at the seaside, to have fish.

Said boyfriend ordered the blackened Kingklip with chips and veg. A decent sized piece of fish it was, but I'm not sure I was such a fan of the cajun flavours with seafood. Slightly dry, but certainly fresh, this dish didn't impress us much. I ordered a fried hake and grilled calamari combo, which was a luckier pick. The hake was beautifully tender and moist, and the calamari was soft and delicately seasoned. I ordered these with surprisingly lovely savoury rice and veggies, and really enjoyed the whole meal.

Boyfriend and I are big on our baked cheesecake, so for dessert, we opted to give theirs a try. Though somewhat skimpy on the base, it was a pretty good version. It had good flavour, but it did seem as though they had used chunky cream cheese rather than smooth, which made it somewhat lumpy. Nonetheless, still a great way to end what turned out to be not a bad meal all 'round.

I wouldn't recommend this restaurant for the discerning vegetarian who likes variety, but it's pretty good as far as seafood goes. What this restaurant lacks in edge on the food front, it makes up for in location, service and ambiance, and for Port Elizabeth, we thought it was pretty good.