De Hoop Nature Reserve is recognised as one of Africa’s primary marine conservancies. Boasting 36 000 hectares of unspoilt fynbos and hugging a substantial span of the Southern Cape Coast, the De Hoop Nature Reserve is a beautiful year-round destination. This is home to the luxurious, off-grid, Relais & Chateaux accredited Morukuru Ocean House and Morukuru Beach Lodge. Our guests can enjoy uninterrupted space, offering nature walks, dune boarding, mountain biking and encountering species such as Bontebok and Cape Mountain Zebra during a nature drive. During our Winter (June – October), it is home to migrating Southern Right Whales visiting from Antarctica to mate and calve. This means land-based whale watching is on the agenda.
This perfect escape has just got better with the launch of Bites Beach Café by Morukuru Family De Hoop. A genius reimagining of ‘Koppie Alleen’, a historic Cape Dutch cottage, has resulted in a unique relaxed dining venue. This remote, beautiful, thatched fisherman’s cottage is situated on rocks next to dunes with views of the magnificent shoreline of the untamed De Hoop Nature Reserve.
With a casual daytime menu of fresh fish, wood-fired pizzas and burgers, Bites is open to our guests and day visitors to De Hoop Nature Reserve for lunch. In the evening, Bites is a private space for Morukuru Family guests with a menu of African-themed fine dining. Our diverse team of professional chefs is passionate about homegrown cuisines like Cape Malay and traditional Xhosa & Tswana cuisine. Inspired by tradition, our talented team interprets popular local food to deliver our African Feast at Bites Beach Cafe.
Everything from our Morukuru Family de Hoop kitchens is inspired by fresh, local, sustainable produce. We are proud to support nearby suppliers like Elim butchery, B’Bos trout farm from Struisbaai, freshly caught fish from Fish & More fishery (Struisbaai), Varsmark fruit and veg (Bredasdorp) and Klein River cheese (close to Stanford). Our team interprets these ingredients for our Taste of Africa menu.
With a backdrop of a spectacular sunset and a soundtrack of traditional African songs, guests can enjoy an exceptional dining experience. Starting with welcome drinks and ending with a dessert of Traditional Amarula malva pudding served with homemade Anglaise & fresh minted Berries with Cape Velvet ice cream. In between, the menu showcases canapes like Spinach & Feta samosa, Beef kofta with Tzatziki biltong and Droëwors (a Southern African snack food based on the traditional coriander-seed spiced boerewors sausage.); starter choices such as homemade Pot Bread with flavoured Butter and smoked Snoek pâté with an Apricot jam or curried cape Malay mussel potjie; main courses including pepper crust Klein Karoo Springbok loin with Morongo and Sadza drizzled with a jus, traditional umngqusho (Umngqusho is a South African dish based on samp and sugar bean) with fresh Pears from Elgin region and Klein River cheese with crispy Spinach or freshly caught local linefish of the day served with chakalaka, pome puree with Sheba sauce. This sophisticated menu includes palette cleaners such as fresh Berries & Lime, Castle milk stout and pineapple and yoghurt sorbets.
