So apart from the awesome Annique massage/pamper voucher I got for Chantelle for her 31st birthday earlier this month, the big event was of course our trip through to the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town on Saturday the 3rd of December, to attend the Phantom of the Opera, presented by Pieter Toerien and The Really Useful Group.

This was the first time Chantelle was going to see the Phantom being performed, and needless to say, she was pretty damn excited!

Joining us on the evening was her folks Cheryl and Monty, and after dropping Jessie off with my folks for the night, the four of us drove off to Cape Town for a VERY early supper, before heading out to the theatre a little later.

Chantelle had picked out the supper venue earlier in the week, settling on the very trendy Headquarters (HQ) restaurant in Heritage Square, Shortmarket street. The restaurant is situated in a stunning old building, with its interior being a combination of the trendy New York style dining and polished industrial look. The menu is pretty simple – They only offer a single sauce steak and chips as a main, with a leafy green salad as a starter, nothing more, nothing less. There is a simple dessert menu to follow up of course, but that is it. As a result, they specialize in their steaks and as such, this probably was one of the best pieces of steak I’ve ever had the pleasure of devouring.

(Apparently the green salad was pretty good too, but that’s the opinion of the rest of the lot – I didn’t really find it all that spectacular.)

Because we ate so early, the restaurant was empty save for us (hell, even the live entertainment gave up after one song), so I can’t really comment on the ambience, but naturally the service was good and of course the party trick of having bottomless chips on your plate was pretty fun to play with.

According to Claire, HQ is currently one of the more popular spots in Cape Town, so Chantelle certainly chose well, though that said, be warned that they are pretty pricey. For the four of us the bill came up just short of a R1,000, obviously much, much more than what we Northern Suburbs dwellers are normally accustomed to paying for a meal out! And it must be said that I won’t necessarily go back either, not because of the price, but rather because of the fact that they are a one-trick pony. You really, really have to like their version of steak and chips, because you’re not going to be getting anything else there. Personally I think they should offer a wider variety of sauces with their steak (you know, instead of only ONE), but hey, this business model is obviously working for them, so who am I to complain?

Anyway, apart from the price we really did enjoy the dining out experience, and left pretty satisfied, so thumbs up to them.

After a roundabout drive to the theatre, we arrived to a quickly filling up parking lot, and after a quick cup of coffee, we moved into our seats which were pretty much in the middle of the theatre. In the end these were actually the perfect seats, because we got the best view of both the actors and the magnificent set pieces, which themselves are worth the admission price alone!

With Andre Schwartz unfortunately sidelined through a throat infection, the lead role of the Phantom had to be filled by one Jonathan Roxmouth (who was meant to be playing the role of Raul), a performer we’ve seen (and enjoyed) on stage before, like when he played the lead in Grease back in 2010.

As it turned out, the entire cast were absolutely fantastic in their roles and combined with the fantastic set pieces, effects, scenery and sequences, the Phantom of the Opera was as delightful as ever to take in. The Montgomery clan enjoyed it, I enjoyed it and in the end it was a great night out and a worthy watch for Chantelle who can now say that she has seen the Phantom of the Opera live and uncut! :)