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SPOTLIGHT: ACT ONE at Theatre on the Bay is a class act
- Maria Kearns
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Maria Kearns
A restaurant has existed at Camps Bay favourite Theatre on the Bay longer than I’ve lived in Cape Town, and the prospect of visiting this establishment in its latest iteration, ACT ONE, filled me with a reasonable degree of excitement.
To a resident of a neighbourhood firmly on the landward side of Lion’s Head, a visit to the Atlantic Seaboard always has the potential to feel like a slightly more affordable alternative to a trip to the Riviera.
Dean Roberts’ ACT ONE, sprawled across the first floor of the familiar theatre building on Link Street, enthusiastically plays its part in this fantasy thanks to the sense of intentionally faded seaside glamour evoked by the restaurant’s interior—a pink neon sign broadcasting the advice ‘Find Your Light’ stands out as a rare nod to current décor trends.
Our waitron, Nothando, a friendly presence who never crossed the line to cloying, led us to a table with a view of the glowing horizon. This is undeniably a great spot to watch the sun dip behind the waves (though, I suppose, geography and planning-permission willing, it’s hard for a restaurant with an ocean view to the west to get sunsets wrong).
The first thing you’re struck by when settling down to the business of ordering is the compact nature of the menu. Presenting a choice of only three mains means a kitchen had better have a strong belief in the quality of these dishes. Happily, it turned out that the chef has every reason to be confident if the steak and fish of the day presented to our table are anything to go by.
The sirloin was tender and truly medium-rare, as ordered. It came on a bed of mash that was perfectly creamy but not drowned in dairy. The line fish of the day was kingklip, and it was a buttery, flavourful triumph. Creatively freer than the steak, this dish came with a lovely mediterranean salad and a truly to-die-for creamy barley and pea risotto. The quality of these two offerings made us mourn the fact that we didn’t have time to try the last member of the mains triumvirate, the miso-glazed aubergine.
We chose the Meadow Salad to accompany our main courses, and this turned out to be a good decision. Yes, there are pomegranate seeds in everything now, but there’s a reason for that, namely their deliciousness. Expertly and lightly dressed, this fresh delight comes with a mild goat’s cheese. (I was concerned that an establishment with such a small menu may not take kindly to special requests from the allergy-prone and texture-sensitive, but my fears were allayed when Nothando was more than happy to accommodate my dining companion’s wish to have the cheese served on the side.) The salad was well thought-out and clearly not just the result of a throwing-together of a lot of disparate flavours.
Speaking of disparate flavours, however, the sole dessert option, a crème brûlée cheese cake, suffers somewhat from its apparent desire to be too many things to too many palates: the tartness of the berry coulis was overwhelming, though the biscotti finger was a nice touch (and the overall presentation was pleasing).
The ambitious drinks menu also deserves a mention. Our De Grendel rosé and Paul Cluver pinot noir proved satisfactory accompaniments to the meal, but wine-lovers possessing more adventurous tastes have a wide range to choose from.
Though we sadly didn’t have the time to sample the cocktails, the list looked inviting. According to Roberts, the plan is to tailor the restaurant’s drinks offering to suit whichever production’s running at the theatre—certainly an intriguing prospect.
In short, ACT ONE is an excellent option for a pre-show meal, and that’s decidedly not just because getting from your table to the theatre doors involves only a quick flit downstairs.
ACT ONE is situated at Theatre on the Bay on Link Street, Camps Bay. Last orders are taken 30 minutes before curtain, and mains range from R140 to R185.