Tucked away between the maze of roads and side streets of Cape Town’s city bowl, hides some gems when it comes to pubs. Offering up a mouth watering line-up of Saturday sports viewing, and old Perseverance Tavern (Persies) up on Buitenkant Street must surely rank among the best of them

Among one of the oldest pubs in Cape Town if not South Africa, Perseverance Tavern or Persies had sailors and erstwhile travelers stumbling in and out of it’s doors from as early as 1808. Much has not change except for the obvious renovations and the clientele tends to be more sports mad locals clamouring for a seat at the next big game or serious beer quaffers chasing that next ice cold draught.

Literally styled on what one would expect a typical English pub to look like, the entrance and first half of the pub has dark wood (think mahogany) bar counters and tables with historic portraits or Cape Town from the years gone by. Leading out into a dining type room followed by an outside garden. The outside to me is the best part. Big wooden benches with a braai area at the back, easy viewing access to well placed flat screens, and most importantly in Cape Town, generally wind free makes settling outside in the garden at Persies for a good graze well worth it.

The menu at Persies covers most bases and even has an Eisben as an option which was unexpectedly pretty good. Service was fast and friendly but took strain with a rammed pub due to the champions league final and the Sharks playing earlier in the evening, the preceding Stormers match may have played it’s part in the crowd…A word of advice, book a table if a big match is on as I saw enough sulky faces with an air of bewilderment about them trying to will a free seat out of thin air. 

Verdict, Persies is a great spot to have a beer and decently priced pub grub. It has a great vibe and definitely takes a place as one our my future ‘local’ haunts, especially with the international rugby season around the corner.