Cnr Beach & Sidmouth Rds, Muizenberg, Cape Town. Tel: 021 788 1860. tigersmilk.co.za. Mains R75-180. 500ml South African draught craft beer R35-47

Enjoy this view, beer in hand, at Tigers Milk

Finally, the seafront strip in Muizenberg is getting some appealing eating – and drinking – options. Tiger’s Milk has a kind of industrial-chic American brewpub vibe going on (though to be clear, it’s not a brewpub, but a bar/restaurant offering a decent beer selection), with an outdoor loungey section at the back and most importantly, vast windows overlooking the beach, with a long, ocean-facing bar where you can sit and sip while watching the waves. There’s free wi-fi, so it’s a great place to take your laptop on a lunch date.

The menu is largely meaty, with a range of steaks, some tasty-looking burgers and what I’m told are some particularly tasty ribs. When I’m by the beach though, I always want to eat something that originated in the ocean, so I ordered the grilled calamari with “green sauce” (which somehow sounds so much better in Spanish). The calamari was nicely cooked, sauce had just a hint of zing to it and it left me with enough room to shovel in a large slice of cheesecake. The dessert selection is lacking, but the cheesecake was a good one. That said, it wasn’t the New York- style cheesecake advertised on the menu (or if it was, it was severely under-baked – maybe it was a loadshedding issue?!?). It still tasted damn good, but if you’re looking for baked and not fridge, double check before you order.

While staff are aware of the craft beers on the menu, you might be on the receiving end of some basic errors – your beer in a glass branded with another brewery’s logo or worse, the wrong beer in the right glass. That said, some staff were making recommendations to customers, asking what sort of beer they like and trying to find a good match, which was super to see. Overall, the staff are smiley and welcoming and the food comes out quickly – just a little training needed on the beer front and all will be awesome.

There are 11 beers on tap, from four different labels (CBC, Jack Black, Devil’s Peak and Woodstock, plus Bing’s Bru, which I believe is also brewed at Woodstock). It’s nice to see Woodstock’s inifuriatingly hard-to-find beers on tap and Tiger’s Milk has the full range. Try the witbier with the calamari – it works superbly. Bottle-wise, it’s all lager, lager, lager (including Heineken, Windhoek, Amstel and a range from SAB).

There are ocean-side restaurants that trade on their location alone, serving sub-par food (and beer) because they know people will continue to come just for the view. Tiger’s Milk is not one of those places. The food is good, the service is friendly, the place is very cool and the beer selection is solid. Oh, and the view ain’t bad either. Maybe I’ll take my own advice, grab my laptop and turn Tiger’s Milk’s ocean-facing bar into my new office.

Keep an eye out for Tiger’s Milk Long Street, due to open May 2015..