.: Lunch at Pajamas & Jam, Somerset West

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Lunch at Pajamas & Jam, Somerset West

We were invited to an awards presentation in Somerset West at 3.30 in the afternoon last week and, to give extra justification for the trip, we decided to try out one of the local restaurants for a bite of lunch. Friends who live there, depressingly, told us that this is where restaurants go to die, so we were a bit cautious. Then a friend in our industry said, "Try Pajamas and Jam, just off the N2, they are good". So here we are. It's not difficult to find it; just look for the scrapped Sikorsky S61 helicopter on top of the building. You take the turning to the right off the N2, just before the bridge (heading for Sir Lowry’s Pass). It is at 32 van Zyl Street, off Fabriek Road

The entrance is quite smart. Inside it’s a huge warehouse connected to another next door

It is enormous. At the front there is a shop with lots of comestibles to buy to take home

The lunch menu. There is also a Morning section for breakfast

NB no licence, so no wine or beer. We had not brought any wine with us

and we were on our way to a wine event, so we chose two of these healthy juices

Menu of the day. Obviously croissants were very popular, as at 12.30 this choice was sold out

And the restaurant is filled with shelves of what the 'antique' trade calls Tut. Next door, there is a scrap metal business and we suspect that much of it ends up here on the shelves. It is mostly metal, like brass or copper, with some glass and other items. Not many items bear prices. Some are reasonable, many are not, but a lot of the prices are ridiculous; many are marked R1750 for something small and not valuable. We suspect that they are not really for sale. (Lynne was in the Antique trade in London in her 20's and used to buy stock for the gallery she worked for - from dealers, markets and from the top auction houses). It is fun to browse while you wait for your food

It is obviously a very popular place for lunch, working or just meeting friends

These old copper geysers and urns are now worth a lot of money

Piles and piles of books, mostly marked "Not for Sale, do not touch"

Love the old walnut piano, but we wouldn’t suggest sitting down to play, you might get stuck....

An old traction engine in a dusty corner, with some plaques from old steam trains

and an old fashioned bike with a basket

Lamps. chandeliers and long tables near a warm round fireplace,

welcome in this huge space on the chilly day we were experiencing

We ordered two of the variations of Quesadillas and were impressed when two arrived on each plate. The wraps were well toasted and the cheese inside had melted nicely

Lynne had chosen the pulled pork with sweet onion jam, mozzarella and cream cheese. Very enjoyable, tender and moist pulled pork with good flavour (So different from the overcooked and dry pulled pork we have had elsewhere in the past). Not a fan of the huge quantity of rather sweet onion jam on both versions. We would also have liked some greenery, like rocket, and perhaps some tomato

These are generous portions