Lazari’s

021 461 9865
Cnr Upper Maynard & Vredehoek Ave.,
Cape Town, 8001 (map)

• Service 3/5
• Atmosphere 3/5
• Taste 3/5
• Menu choices 3/5
• Wheat free – Yes
• Vegetarian – Yes
• Coffee – 3/5
• Toilet condition 3/5
• Price $$$

Lazari used to be my local and old faithful and still a firm favourite

Although my eye’s have been opened to the many offerings in our city, I love Lazari! The food is always good, the staff remember you and are friendly and attentive. It is not a vacuous space and the comfort for their venue shines through in your food.

It has an open kitchen, which I love, and a cashier full of home-baked treats that are very difficult to refuse.

I always order the same thing, 2 medium poached eggs on rye and if I am feeling particularly hungry, a side of avocado or bacon. I am never disappointed. The eggs are always done perfectly, the toast doesn’t need a steak knife to cut through and the avocado is ripe and the bacon crispy.

A few things stand out for me at Lazari:

1. Their attention to detail – Presentation is accurate but never pretentious.
2. They know the difference between a cappuccino and a flat white  – So often other venues serve these to be exactly the same.
3. Like Cheers – A welcoming local and they are always glad to see you.

As one friend put it, you are bound to see people you know. So if you have something to hide from the night before, best give it a couple of weeks before visiting for a relaxing, not awkward at all breakfast.

I have come to the conclusion that the standard of food in Cape Town is very high. We have investigated a few well known places but it is the independent venue that keep producing the best breakfast so far.

There are still so many places to try and each week I get suggestions on places were people are convinced the breakfast is the best.

I am still on the look out so the search continues…

Jason Bakery

021 424 5644
185 Bree St, Cape Town 8001 (map)

• Service 3/5
• Atmosphere 3/5
• Taste 3/5
• Menu choices 3/5
• Wheat free – No
• Vegetarian – Yes
• Coffee – 3/5 maybe 4/5 as the take-away queue would suggest
• Parking: Street (council controlled)
• Price $$

On the bustling Bree street in the centre of the City Bowl, Jason Bakery is a popular little eatery frequented by gym goers and local independent business employees. It is a busy venue with a constant queue for take-away coffee but the queue’s are fast-moving and the atmosphere busy without being chaotic.

People wait patently for their turn, each looking cooler that the next, and their patience is rewarded with friendly service and well made coffee.

But we are here to eat breakfast. Seating is precious so grab it when it is available. The menu choices are creative and they excel at sandwich making, catering for the near by lunchtime business trade.

I wasn’t blown away by the standard of food, needless to say I could have produced the dish easily at home but the eggs were done very well and the service was fast.

Jason’s is a nice break from the madness of the centre of town and a great place from a quick morning meeting over a coffee, but don’t expect a laid back Cape Town vibe. Jason’s is a dizzy mix of people coming and going, with a more mature, down to earth customer who are creating and socialising with the best of them.

Oh, they do the best Portuguese custard tarts in Cape Town – dainty and perfect for one to be enjoyed with your choice of great coffee 🙂

 

 

Koi (formerly Salt)

• Service 3/5
• General atmosphere/ambiance 2/5
• Taste 2/5
• Menu choices 1/5
• Wheat free – No
• Vegetarian – Yes
• Coffee – 3/5
• Toilet condition 3/5
• Price $$$$

Mention the Salt restaurant to most people and they will wow you with the depiction of superb sea views through glass walls high up on the Bantry Bay shore. Yes, the view is breath taking… but we were there for breakfast and one word can be used to describe the experience – underwhelming.

Situated in the prime site of the Ambassador Hotel, the restaurant very much has a hotel feel about it. Impersonal, lacking in atmosphere and full of wordless, tired travelers.  Your menu options are limited as breakfast is a set price and includes continental and hot breakfast with no price alteration offered if you just want one or the other.

The buffet is simple but the items are of good quality. I even cheated on my wheat-free diet as I couldn’t resist the delicious cinnamon wheel pastry. Your choices aren’t as extensive and lavish compared to other posh hotels in Cape Town but considering you must have a hot dish so this is just as well.

Opting for old faithful, poached eggs on rye (not 100% rye) I found the servings large and the eggs a little too vinegary for my taste.

The seating was comfortable and the view amazing but I feel this is another Cape Town eatery that weights its prices with its name/position at the “expense” of the quality of food served. There are much better breakfast to be had in our fair city. As previously mentioned, a rather underwhelming experience.

The search continues…

When Breakfast Became the Most Important Meal of the Day

This weekend I was unable to indulge in finding the best breakfast in Cape Town. But fear not, I found a great article explaining the origins of our beloved breakfast.

Article from History Magazine. Vol 4, April 2013.

There is not a vast record of breakfast in the earlier centuries and little attention is given to the first meal of the day. There are accounts of lavish 2 day banquets and feasts where tens of thousands of beasts are killed and prepared for Kings and Queens. As it would happen, most of the population existed on 2 meals a day. Breakfast was a privilege for royalty and their invited guests.  In the 2 meal-a-day routine, the first was generally had at around 10:30am and the second about 5 hours later.

But why did things change?

From as early as 1573, documentation exists that show household servants were usually denied breakfast but schoolboys were given a morning meal. Then in literature dated 1542 state “a labourer may eat three meals a day (ie including breakfast) but two meals is adequate for the rest of man”.

What emerges from various studies is that breakfast was often provided for labourers and gentry in the late 13 and early 14^th century generally out of necessity rather than a demonstration of status. Breakfast was also seen as a medicine; prescribed to sustain the sick and old.

Practical breakfasts (rather than ceremonial ones) were fairly basic. There are few references to anything being cooked and none to the provision of sauces. During harvest time, breakfast usually consisted of bread, cheese and ale. Interestingly, the travellers breakfast usually on consisted of nothing but ale or wine (liquid breakfast).

The noblemen’s breakfasts in the 16^th century were more elaborate. On fish days (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) the breakfast consisted of pike, plaice, roach, butter and eggs – not forgetting the house baked bread, beer and wine.

For the love of dairy

More dairy appeared in the 16^th century. Bread and butter became exceedingly popular. Sometimes herbs were added to the butter to impart their properties. From this, the idea that breakfast could do you good was no longer only applied to the sick and old.

When is the first meal of the day?

The regular hour of breakfast can be attributed to the change in the patterns of employment. It was such a long time to 11am since dinner so people needed sustenance to keep them going.

By the late 16^th century, more people worked of others with prescribed working hours. From this dinner was delayed to 7pm or 8pm resulting in a knock on effect. Lunch was moved to 12pm – 1pm because it was popularly believed that there be no longer than 6 hours between these meals and because of this shift it was recognised that a substantial in the start of the day to keep them going.

So breakfast is an urban phenomenon that has grown into an essential health benefit and a favourite pastime.