A visit to The Old Biscuit Mill in Cape Town - South Africa

A visit to The Old Biscuit Mill in Cape Town - South Africa

There’s nothing particularly eventful about this story and my visit to the Old Biscuit Mill, but rather a glimpse of a brilliant marketplace and a must-see spot in Cape Town. 

We headed-off with my niece Kiki and my brother Billy on a Saturday morning being very aware that the later in the day we would go the more crowded it would be.

We parked near the Mill in a neighborhood that seemed to have evolved thanks to the arrival of this monster marketplace. I felt this because it seemed as if the locals decided to open up their homes and set up their precious antiques right there on the sidewalk and hopefully catch a sale from the people walking to the Mill. Hey! you can also pay 10 rand for a free parking space if the local hustlers say so!

But regardless, we arrived to this giant old mill which has been tastefully transformed to a marketplace which hosts a lot of local designers; couture, handcrafts, kitchen designer objects, ceramics, furniture all of them carefully curated. Then on Saturdays you have the Marketplace; which is set up in a sort of adjacent barn. Mind you, this space hosts two of the arguably best restaurants in Cape Town The Pot Luck Club which I love and The Test Kitchen, which I will visit next time.

The Mill is not so much of a market place where you can buy fresh produce or meats, but rather a place filled with stands of amazingly well executed foods and products made by local food artisans. Breads, biltong, fresh mushrooms, local honey, chocolates and then all the prepared foods; sandwiches, pizzas, whole baked breads, lots of vegan and vegetarian foods, indian food, german-like dishes, Argentinean, asian; vegan sushi rolls, burgers, you name it! It also seemed as if they have carefully curated which stands are featured so there’s not too much of one thing.

It is a great place to sit down and enjoy a drink and food especially if you are into people watching, all the cool local Capetonians, hipsters and the likes seem to attend on a regular basis. 

As we predicted the place got out of control with hoards of people walking by but the vibe is super relaxed, courteous and lively.

So that’s how we spent our Saturday morning, sitting at the Old Biscuit Mill, having a chilled, hoppy IPA, nibbling on some asian dumplings and myself; watching the good-looking south african women do their thing.

Props to the minds behind The Old Biscuit Mill, if you are in Cape Town over a weekend you must go and experience it. No question!