One of our favourite old haunts in the Noordhoek Village, Western Cape, has been bought by ex-Springbok rugby team captain and open side flanker Bobby Skinstad, so we decided to investigate.

The Toad wine list

This little tavern that could, has the atmosphere of an English country local, with an ample fireplace and seating beneath huge beams and thatch. The first delight was finding that we had arrived on a live music evening and later discovered that The Toad offers entertainment all week, including open mike sessions, quiz evenings and well known local musician performances. Not intrusive at all, the oldie numbers played created a great vibe.

At any eatery the first thing that grabs my attention is the wine list, which is so often disappointing and over-priced. The Toad offers a wide selection  of premium wines from many of the Western Cape’s top wineries and the mark-up is negligible so there is the sense that we got value for money which was also carried over in the food menu.

Impressively, the menu is put together by the previous head chef, Brad Ball, who now heads up the new Bistro Sixteen82 at Steenberg Vineyards and for pub grub, it can’t get much better than this. I went for the fresher than fresh beetroot and goat’s cheese salad while my partner tucked into a perfectly cooked (no garlic, no basting, just as it fell off the cow) sirloin steak. All of this served by Aaron, our waitron, who was helpful and informative.

Find The Toad in the Noordhoek Farm Village, Noordhoek or call on (27) 21 7892973 to make a table reservation.