Seebamboes reinvents surf and turf

Chefs and restaurateurs Anouchka Horn and Neil Swart are set to excite the Cape Town culinary scene with their latest project, Seebamboes.

Known for their farm-to-table fine dining restaurant, Belly of the Beast, and their seafood-focused eatery, Galjoen, the business partners are embarking on their next experimental gastronomic venture. Seebamboes, meaning ‘sea bamboo,’ is an intimate mezzanine restaurant above Galjoen.

Created in collaboration with chef Adél Hughes and artist Liebet Jooste, the team aims to redefine the concept of “surf and turf” in new, playful and delicious ways. “If ‘surf and turf’ has had a bad rap, it’s because it’s been badly executed in the past”, Swart said. “It was always these obvious combinations, like steak and calamari, or steak and prawns, often quite unflatteringly prepared”.

In contrast, Seebamboes will allow the visionaries to play with the potential of ingredients from both the land and the sea, a nostalgic, culinary intermingling that harks back to seaside holidays with the family.

“We’ve always been very passionate about ‘surf and turf’. We want to take that nostalgia aspect and flip it around, creating something new with it,” Horn said. Hughes, who will lead the kitchen, echoed this sentiment: “Rather than typical surf and turf combinations, we’re coming in from the side and creating unanticipated flavours. At some stage, I do want to create a pairing of chokka and trinchado.”

Seebamboes introduces dishes like a Korean barbeque-style wagyu rib-eye served with vegetables cooked in a kelp stipe, snoek mousse with biltong powder, and shoestring fries with bokkom butter. A standout dish features kelp spaghetti with exotic mushrooms in a seaweed broth, paired with wagyu brisket that melts under the hot pour. They also experiment with simplicity, such as lamb chops with seaweed salt or venison tataki with veldkool.

The restaurant’s setting is as unique as its menu. Accessible via stairs from Galjoen, the mezzanine space offers an intimate and exclusive dining experience, with just 16 seats available and food prepared within view. “A tasting menu should be like […] a good show”, Swart said. “It takes you on a journey that flows according to a rhythm”.

Encompassed in the journey, high tables and tall chairs allude to a bar-like atmosphere with a view of Table Mountain visible behind the chefs, while reclaimed glass embedded with sand and sea bamboo-inspired colours create a calm, immersive environment.

The beverage selection is equally curated, with an interesting wine list featuring unique, personally discovered wines, many available by the glass. “We’re going to showcase wines we’ve personally discovered and feel passionate about. New finds will land on the list, and when one offbeat wine is finished, we’ll follow up with another” Jooste said. Desserts continue the seaside nostalgia, with elevated ice cream sandwiches and reinvented Eskimo pies incorporating elements like dried sea lettuce and caramel crunch.

Sustainability is a core principle with Swart emphasising their strict commitment to sourcing only local ingredients. “We’ve set our boundaries as the borders of our country — no imported prawns, salmon or anything of that sort. We simply don’t believe in bringing in foreign ingredients when we have such an abundance right here.”

Dinner at Seebamboes is priced at R1,200 per person, available Tuesday to Saturday from 6.45pm. Bookings open on February 14, with the first service on March 7. The restaurant is located within Galjoen on Harrington Street, Cape Town. For reservations, visit www.seebamboescpt.co.za and follow @seebamboes on Instagram.