3 West Coast farm stalls on the R27

By Roxanne Reid
Any adventure from Cape Town to the West Coast will take you along the R27, which runs through Milnerton and Tableview before reaching open countryside on the way to coastal villages like Yzerfontein, Langebaan and Paternoster. Along the way you’ll discover a few places to stop to rest, eat or play. Here are 3 West Coast farm stalls on the R27.

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This is the West Coast Way, where you’ll find scenic views of the Atlantic Ocean, culture and heritage, fynbos and spring flowers, as well as food. These three farm stalls on the R27 have that special West Coast flavour, from hearty meals and farm-fresh bread to a relaxed atmosphere that encourages lazy weekend mornings.

Vygevallei Farm Stall

The Vygevallei Farm Stall was named after the wild sour figs of the area. We arrived a few minutes before it opened on a Sunday morning and it looked deserted and sad, but within half an hour it was humming with visitors and regulars.

​In the grounds there’s a wine shop, geese and hens for kids to watch, a table in a little arbour, and tables with shade umbrellas where you can sit to enjoy your meal while the kids play on the grass.

Inside, the restaurant has white tables and chairs, a white dresser, and sepia photos of old trucks, bikes and enamel teapots. We enjoyed our omelettes and bacon-and-eggs, but if you don’t want a sit-down meal there are plenty of pies, cakes, quiches, freshly baked bread, dried fruit and rusks to take with you as padkos.

The Louw family of Nuweland Farm owns Vygevallei so you’ll also find the full range of Nuweland jams, preserves, chutneys, dressings and cordials. Simply Bee toiletries from Hopefield make an appearance too, and the different rooms of the farm stall are packed with good old-fashioned goodies worth browsing.

Where: 40km north of Melkbos on the R27, opposite Jakkalsfontein entrance

West Coast Farm Stall

A bokkie on a motorbike outside sets the tone for a somewhat surreal experience at the West Coast Farm Stall. The shop sells jams and preserves, dried fruit, rusks and cakes, as well as fresh farm bread. You’ll also find honey-based toiletries, wool and lots of crochet items as well as clothes, parrots in cages and perhaps even a dog browsing the aisles with its person.

The homely restaurant with its plastic table cloths and crochet curtains serves dishes like oxtail, tripe, fish-and-chips, pies and toasted sandwiches. On weekends there’s a buffet breakfast where you weigh your plate and pay only for what you’ve dished. They also do a Sunday roast buffet with the same weigh-your-plate drill.

It was crazy busy when we visited on Sunday lunchtime in flower season. We decided on items from the menu rather than the buffet but waited around a long time before we realised we were supposed to order and pay at the till instead of having our order taken by a waiter.

Country music was playing and little girls in shiny purple and pink Sunday-Best dresses were drinking bright milkshakes behind us. One of the staff had a ponytail with feathers in it and strutted around at high speed as if he was training for the Olympics.

Outside there’s an aviary that will keep the kids amused and a nursery selling indigenous plants – the only kind that will grow here in the harsh West Coast environment. Some giant cable roll ends have been painted with animals like monkeys and lions, and kids (and adults) love to stick their heads through and have their photo taken. There’s also a giant chess board, a large wood carving of the Big 5 intertwined and a pair of life-sized pink stone lions.

Where: at the intersection of the R27 with the R315 to Yzerfontein

Weskus Spens

You can’t miss the Weskus Spens with its bold sign painted on the wall of a potbellied external bakoond (oven). The day we visited was cold and drizzly so it was great to have a wood fire burning in an old stove to warm the space.

​Spens is the Afrikaans word for pantry, so expect the jams, preserves and biscuits you might find in your grandmother’s pantry. It also sells fragrant fat loaves of farm bread, as well as enamel pots, mugs and gifts, which are part of the decor of the restaurant. Tumbleweeds and dried flowers hang from the reed ceiling. 

At lunch time we were tempted by fresh chicken pies with salad and homemade ginger beer. The pie was stuffed full of meat, no gelatinous goo in sight. There were other pies too, as well as bobotie and snoek koekies (fish cakes). The lemon meringue pie looked tempting but we were too full to face it. They also serve a big breakfast complete with bacon, eggs and boerewors.

The entrance courtyard has purple walls and flowers growing in an old wooden boat, a nice West Coast touch. I believe they also sell bokkoms (dried, salted fish) but it’s an acquired taste ... and I haven’t acquired it.

Where: on the R27 10km before Vredenburg, 20km before Velddrif

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