This is a restaurant we pass at least twice a week on our shopping trips to Checkers. There were some negative comments recently on the Restaurants Good, Bad and Ugly site on Facebook about it lacking in atmosphere. Lots of our friends go there so we decided it was time to try it. We have always loved their almond croissants, so rich that one is enough for two people; we thought that breakfast might be a good way to sample their wares
We
got there at 9 am and it was busy; we managed to get a small table immediately,
almost out into the Mall which has lots of people passing by. We can see why,
sitting there, one might think there is little atmosphere out on the edge of
the restaurant, as this puts you more in the passage than inside where its all
'happening'. We confess that we don’t enjoy eating at Willoughby’s In the Waterfront
as that too is in a passageway, despite their reputation for good food and the
attempts they have made to separate it from people walking past, who seem to be
examining what you are eating!
Lots of locals, different age groups all eating
breakfast
Sitting in the edge had its advantages as two separate
friends who had been shopping in the Mall came past and joined us for coffee!
It's an open kitchen and the restaurant is quite
lively and noisy but in a good way
and you can buy baked goods and bread to take home
after your meal
The menu (4 pages) with its All Day Breakfast. The
person who wrote the controversial review did say that he'd had the best sandwich he
had eaten in years, so they must be worth trying
We began with 2 Americanos, the best way to start
the day. Freshly brewed and not bad
Lynne went for the Sweet corn fritters that come
with half an avocado, roasted tomato conserve and a bowl of creamy herb sauce.
R50. You then can top it off with different things. She chose the smoked salmon
and poached egg option which took the dish to R99; the salmon was excellent,
of very good quality. It was topped with a poached egg, firm but runny in the
centre as ordered. BUT there were two problems. Please restaurants, trim the poached egg of those "tails",
they are like plastic and not nice to eat. The crime was the Sriracha
Hollandaise "sauce' on top of the poached egg. It was really awful. Not a
hollandaise by any stretch, but a horrible vinegary salad dressing with some
warm spices stirred into it. They might have got away with it had they used Hellman's
mayonnaise but this was quite dreadful and had to be scraped off the egg and
expensive salmon. We did complain to the manager, who shrugged. The fritters
were full of big kernels of corn and some unidentified herbs; there were three and
so the dish was filling. We are not sure of the role of the avocado, enjoyable
as it was, some toast might have been nice to have this with, nor of the creamy
sauce accompanying it. And the one mini confit tomato, sliced in two, was just
a gesture; a pity because it was sweet and complex. So a Curates Egg (sorry!)
of a dish
John enjoyed his cheese and ham omelette, nice and
gooey inside he said, served with three slices of baby tomato with pesto
beneath, two generous portions of butter and toast that someone had managed to
char at the edges. He asked for and was brought some marmalade
Lots of ham in the centre
The bill, with five coffees was fairly standard
for the area. Service was good, and there was no kitchen drama. We do hope they
sort out the pretend sauce on the poached eggs
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2018
