This is a photograph of the menu for the Brass Bell in Kalk Bay, Cape Town. It’s a place I always insist on going to for a drink whenever I’m in Cape Town, despite my Capetonian friends throwing their hands up in horror because only (mainly) tourists go there. And there is no worse fate for a Capetonian than being mistaken for a tourist. Particularly a Joburg tourist. No, death is infinitely more attractive.
But I always insist on going and always do, sometimes on my own. Because I like it, particularly on a nice day when the Southeaster isn’t howling through, and the waves are gently breaking on the shore and you can watch the fishing boats returning from a hard day’s … um … fishing. It’s a postcard scene and it really makes me feel like I’m on holiday.
But sometimes you have to wonder at the ingenuity – and utter cheek – of the ways some businesses take advantage of the tourist trade. You probably can’t read the type at the bottom right of the menu being held by my mate Seamus so I’ll spell it out for you.
It reads, “Copies of our menu for sale at R50.” I’m not kidding. Check it for yourself next time you’re down there. R50! I realise that for Wolfgang from Munich that only equates to about five euros, but still. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or applaud.
Instead I took a picture of it, and if any South Africans want a copy of it I’ll send you one for R2. Europeans, though, will have to pay two euros.
After all, we need the foreign exchange, apparently.
