One can develop a hearty appetite after a busy day of safariing for Sri Lankan elephants in the wilds of the Udawalawe National Park. Fortunately, our tour had that covered. Near the southern entrance to the park, not far from the Udawalawe Dam and Udawalawe Reservoir, is an amazing piece of architecture that houses a fantastic pottery studio and a wonderful restaurant featuring authentic Sri Lankan food. That means this food is heavy on rice, curry, sambols (spicy Sri Lankan condiments), vegetables, fruits, chicken, fish, and the occasional red meat (beef, mutton, pork). The full name of this place is Craft Tunnel – The Potter’s Retreat. Here is it’s location in relation to the park:
Craft Tunnel – The Potter’s Retreat at Udawalawe National Park (Google Maps)
Much of the Craft Tunnel structure is open-air, and it does indeed have a tunnel-like appearance once you step inside:
Craft Tunnel – The Potter’s Retreat
The studios, kitchen, offices, and restrooms, may be enclosed, but when I say that much of this place is open-air, below is what I mean. This is what you see when looking beyond the areas shown above:
Craft Tunnel – The Potter’s Retreat
And if you’re in the mood to shop, there is some truly fascinating pottery to be had. Little wonder why this place bills itself as “an authentic fusion of Sri Lankan traditional art and the world of modern Studio Ceramics.”
Craft Tunnel – The Potter’s Retreat
Since this lunch was included in the price of our safari, we didn’t even look at the menu. Instead, the wait staff just started bringing out food. And more food. And more food. We couldn’t keep up, and there was quite a bit left over at the end of the meal. Here’s a photo gallery/slide show of our feast:
Time to begin another long series on yet another lengthy trip. Over the coming months I’ll be showing you our forty-day Southeast Asia adventure, which began in Siem Reap, Cambodia via Singapore on 1 November 2025. From there we ventured on to Bangkok, Thailand, then returned to Singapore for a two-night stay before embarking on a 14-night cruise. That cruise took us to Penang and Phuket, Thailand; Hambantota and Colombo, Sri Lanka; Cochin and Goa, India; finishing up in Mumbai, India. After disembarking in Mumbai, we began an extensive 17-day exploration of India. That tour took us to Jaipur, Ranthambore, Agra, Chennai, and finally to Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram) before heading back to Singapore for two nights. So, as you can see, we have quite a lot to cover here on the blog over the next several months.
Golden Temple Residence, Siem Reap, Cambodia
But before I get to the fascinating antiquities in and around Siem Reap, Cambodia (such as Angkor Wat), I’m going to do something I seldom even consider. I’m going to show our incredible accommodations here and, on Wednesday, I’ll show you the traditional Khmer dances we enjoyed at this resort’s restaurant during their weekly dinner show. Yes, we were that impressed with this five-star resort — the Golden Temple Residence on Angkor Night Market Street near Sok San Road and almost directly across from the Golden Temple Boutique, which is another five-star resort falling under the same ownership. Not only were the accommodations superb and the restaurant wonderful, but the location was also perfect. We found ourselves less that ten minutes’ walk from Siem Reap’s Art Center Night Market and other major shopping areas.
Golden Temple Residence pool
When you arrive to the Golden Temple Residence and pass through the nondescript outer wall, you’ll stroll past the pool (above) and into the entrance leading to the main lobby:
Golden Temple Residence entrance
Before we take a look at our room, let’s focus once more on that pool:
Poolside seating area
Golden Temple Residence pool
We’ll head to the restaurant in a moment, but for now it’s time to show you our fantastic room:
After visiting the room, Ursula and I headed back toward the lobby and stepped into the adjoining restaurant:
Golden Temple Residence restaurant (reception area visible through the opening on the left)
Here you’ll find a restaurant that caters to local cuisine, which you can see at this menu link. If that’s not to your liking, however, restaurants featuring more western-style foods are nearby. But when in Cambodia….
Wednesday’s article returns us to the same restaurant, but this time for a dinner show featuring traditional Khmer dances.
On this, our first visit to Cape Town, South Africa (we’re going again later this year), we dined at several establishments. Two stood out among the rest. So, today I’m presenting a Fun Food Friday two-fer. The first restaurant featured in today’s article is Mama Africa, on the corner of Long Street at Pepper Street. Mama Africa pecializes in native African cuisine with an emphasis on wild game — crocodile, eland, kudu, ostrich, springbok, and even zebra. For the less adventurous, fish, chicken, lamb, and oxtail. Want to see the menu? Here you go:
Mama Africa menu Page 1
Mama Africa menu Page 2
The restaurant decor is charming, the staff friendly and helpful, the food delish, and the menu extensive. The only downside is that it’s on the expensive side. But Mama Africa is well worth at least one trip for dinner. You may even enjoy it enought to go back a second or third time. We almost did, until we stumbled upon today’s second restaurant (more on that shortly). First, before we get to what Ursula and I dined upon, let’s look at the interior:
Ursula and I are big believers in trying the local cuisine. As such, we opted for game meat. Ursula’s choice was springbok, a type of antelope. I had the ostrich, as our waitres informed us that it would be a more moist meat. She was right. Ursula’s springbok was tasty, but the meat was dry. We both agreed that the ostrich was the better dish. Now for a look at the food:
If it appears that I’m giving Mama Africa short shirft, it’s because the next eatery is the one both of us most highly recommend. Meet Quay 4 Restaurant & Tavern, located on the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. And when I say this place offers up views of the waterfront at least as good as the food and prices, you can see why below. Those white squares are outdoor dining area umbrellas:
As to where this is in relation to the rest of V&A Waterfront, below is a wider view. The Quay 4 is in the upper left quadrant. Swing Bridge and the Clock Tower District are upper center.
Quay 4 Restaurant & Tavern
The entrance to Quay 4 isn’t particularly difficult to find on Dock Street, but you will have to watch for it:
Quay 4 entrance
After you pass through the opening above, continue toward the back. Along the way you’ll pass some large posters depicting the menu:
Quay 4 Menu 1
Quay 4 Menu 2
You’ll even pass by a poster showing off Quay 4’s daily specials. And whereas R149 (South African Rand) may sound steep, that works out to just over $9.00 USD:
Quay 4 daily specials
Because of the views and the moderate temperature this day, we opted to sit in the outdoor “tavern” rather than head upstairs into the “restaurant”:
Quay 4 outdoor “tavern”
Ursula is ready to peruse the…
… Quay 4 menu
Ursula is a sucker for seafood chowder, and I enjoy it as well. So, we both opted to start with a sampling, which turned out tasty but which doesn’t quite compare to our favorite — Glacier Brewhouse in Anchorage, Alaska. Nevertheless, Quay 4’s was worth the price of admission; R75 ($4.54 USD) gets you this:
Quay 4 seafood chowder
Quay 4 seafood chowder
For our mains, Ursula opted for this tasty piece of fish, for which she was given a choice of seasonings (if I recall correctly, she went for a cajun flavor), and a salad with ranch dressing:
Quay 4 cajun-style fillet with salad
I was in a fish & chips mood, so that’s what I ordered. Quay 4’s “secret batter” rendered the fillet light, airy, and, most importantly, crisp. The fries fresh from the fryer and were equally tasty.
Quay 4 Fish & Chips
How good was Quay 4? Good enough that we went back, and good enough that we’ll give another try when we return to Cape Town later this year. Although next time I think we’ll try the main restaurant rather than the tavern. For the latest Quay 4 menu, head on over to these links: Quay 4 Tavern Menu; Quay 4 Upstairs Menu.
Today’s article concludes our 2025 visit to Cape Town, South Africa. From here we boarded a cruise ship and headed north, so next week I’ll be showing you our first cruise destination — Walvis Bay, Namibia.
Decisions — Murder in Paradise
The Globe — Murder in Luxury
