“I wonder if they’ll have a man playing an accordion,” my mother says hopefully, as we park the car outside Allee Bleue. I, on the other hand, am more excited about the food, because we’re here for the Bavarian Sunday lunch. Taking place each Sunday, the Bavarian-themed lunch costs R145 a head and is, by the sounds of things, the real deal. The owners, Friedrich-Wilhelm and Elke Dauphin, hail from Germany.

“The meat and sausages are made by the German butchery,” managing director Wolfgang Leyrer explains, when I ask where they find their authentic German meat. “They’re better than in Munich!” he insists. Inside, we’re greeted by a vast buffet of cold cuts, coleslaws, mustards, and breads. This, apparently, is just the starter.

Somewhat unwisely (what is it about buffets?) we pile our plates high with rye bread and giant freshly baked pretzels, radishes, cold cuts and cheeses, and take our seats in the courtyard outside the tasting room.

Right on cue, the man with an accordion appears.

For mains, we wolf down a number of meaty dishes: chubby weisswurst, literally translated as ‘white sausage’ (made from finely minced veal and bacon); bratwurst; Frankfurters; and leberkäse, which translates rather unappetisingly to ‘liver cheese’. The dish itself is rather more appealing: made from corned beef, pork, bacon and onions, it is baked like meatloaf. There is also pork neck and sauerkraut (pickled cabbage, for the uninitiated), and wiener schnitzel with Lyonnaise potatoes.

Finally, we help ourselves to apple strudel and kaiserschmarrn – a German pancake with rum-soaked raisins in the centre.

This is hearty stuff. It’s the kind of food that pairs much better with beer than with delicate wines, but it makes a lovely change from the more French-inspired froths and foams many fine dining establishments serve. And where else can you find an accordionist on a Sunday?