Enjoy Japanese and Asian-inspired comfort food at Tjing Tjing Torii in Longmarket Street, Cape Town.
Tjing Tjing rooftop bar has been a happening spot for cocktails and after-work drinks since it opened five years ago, regularly making on to the lists of Cape Town’s top bars. But, if food is your focus (and having scooped Eat Out awards two years running, the food is well worth focusing on) rather skip the climb to the rooftop and enjoy the oasis of elegant calm provided by Tjing Tjing Torii on the first floor. Here you can explore the full menu of Asian-inspired small plates, bowls and larger dishes and enjoy a relaxed tapas-style meal.
Chef Christi Semczyszyn is the mastermind behind all three levels of the historic building, including the day-time cafe Dear Me on the ground floor with a flexible menu catering to all dietary requirements. “I love Japanese food and when The White Room closed we decided to go that route,” says Christi of opening Torii as a regular evening restaurant two years ago. “But there are so many other Asian things that I love to do that we have kept the menu broad Asian with a focus on Japanese.”
On a chilly winter evening, we fell in love with the ochazuke, a bowl of sushi rice in matcha and dashi broth topped with succulent strips of fried linefish – the ultimate umami comfort food. Small tastes that also wowed us were the tempura oysters (heaven in a shell), beautifully fresh and zesty tuna tataki, and bang bang cauliflower – deep fried and piping hot, which made a substantial winter warming starter.
The casual finger food that also appears on the bar menu upstairs is well worth tucking into: the pork atsui dog with plenty of miso and ginger enlivening the pork sausage and excellent home-made kimchi topping, duck bao rich with hoisin sauce, crispy karaage chicken wings with a lime and chili aioli and succulent sticky pork belly either on skewers or in a bao.
Christi is recently back from maternity leave and is planning to change up the menu this month. “The menu started out just being two pages and it actually keeps on getting bigger and bigger. As we come up with new dishes, we never want to take any old favourites off!”
Experience for yourself:
- Tjing Tjing Torii | 021 422 4920 | tjingtjing.co.za/torii
This article originally appeared in Neighbourhood,Sunday Times.
View more of the neighbourhood here:
