On Saturday evening I ate at a Greek restaurant called Marijka’s for the first time. It’s on Victoria road just after Bakoven (on the sea side), you can’t miss it as it’s the only restaurant along that stretch. We sat on the veranda because we had some smokers in our party, but the veranda is protected by some roll down awnings so the weather and passing traffic were not as intrusive as they could have been.
The decor is very simple, white and clean, as one might expect from a Greek restaurant. The place is quite small, a couple of tables outside and 5 or 6 inside. The place filled up nicely as the evening progressed. It’s not a festive, plate breaking Greek place but rather a casual and relaxed dining environment.
The food was very good. We had a selection of starters like calamari tentacles, potato wedges, humus and salad. Starter prices averaged R25. For mains I had the special of the day which as chicken and mushroom phyllo pie. It was delicious, but extremely rich. I was always told to eat what’s on my plate when I was younger and have struggled to shake that habit which means by the time I finished the very generous portion of pie, I felt very uncomfortable. A few people had the chicken or lamb skewers and others the Moussaka. Everyone thought their dish was very good. All mains are served with a choice of salad, potato wedges or pasta rice and the price of the mains averaged about R80.
A couple of people had homemade halva ice cream and a baklava did a trip around the table. I didn’t try them (was still dealing with all the chicken pie I had eaten) but comments were positive. The total was about R150 each. The wine list was small but sufficient for most and not badly priced. No complaints about the service.
If you are particularly in the mood for Greek food then I think this is one of the better options in Cape Town. Some of the other Greek restaurants I have tried here have not been great.
Comments
3 responses to “Marijka’s review”
Hey Dax, good to see you again on Saturday! New site looks awesome and a definate move in the right direction, congrats! Marijka’s is a great Greek restaurant. I have personally been there and could recommend it for a civilized evening, glass of wine and really good food. From what I understand, the restaurant is owned bt Mano’s (Mano’s Greenpoint) sister!
Cheers bud
Marc
Had an amazing meal at Marijka’s recently. The service was great, the wine list had more than enough of a selection. It is the kind of spot you can go for a casual evening and leave with your tummy full and as happy as a clam. I am not a fan of meat on the bone, but decided to be brave and have the house speciality the baked lamb (can’t remember the name sorry.) It was very tasty, tender and just fell off the bone. There was also a special desert for the evening, which was freshly baked and yummy. I did notice lots of seafood on the menu, more so than meat, so I will be heading back to check out the prawns and the fish sometime soon. It’s rather small so I would book, I can imagine it being really popular in summer.
Ate at Marika’s last night. First off, it’s Marika’s, not Marijka’s, which is why initially I couldn’t find the review on your site. I found it under “Greek”.
It’s everything you say, a very delicious evening, although a little bigger than I imagined — about 10 tables inside, and very spacious.
We ordered a selection of vegetarian mezze, very tasty. Thick tzatsiki that you can pick up like thick cream. And the skordalia is the best I’ve ever tasted (also according to the Greek friend who ate with us), so we ordered it again to take away. However, I just made the mistake of tasting the skordalia for breakfast, and the garlic won’t go down too well at a meeting I will be at shortly! Yes, it has crunchy garlic as a main ingredient.
I would skip the veg moussaka. Tasted too meaty to me, full of soya mince. And the mince gave it a very mushy texture.
I asked which red was most popular, and went with that choice — the Marika’s Merlot. Don’t bother. While R22 is cheap for a glass, you get what you pay for.
Took ages for the food to come out, but the ambience was so lovely, we didn’t mind.
Halva ice-cream is to die for.
Definitely a wonderful neighbourhood-style restaurant, totally unpretentious in the vicinity of Camps Bay. We booked a week in advance, and it was full last night (Thursday).