Chill at The Hussar Grill

19 January 2019

JESSY’S WAFFLES

Dunkley Square, Lower Gardens, Cape Town

I took the goddaughters to breakfast at the 1987 Eatery @Hertex while the wife was having her hair done and when she collected us afterwards, the four of us went to Jessy’s Waffles, long on the “must visit one day” list, because I do like a waffle and the younger women were keen on a sweet delight after the savoury breakfast, while the wife would have a lunch type waffle.

Jessy’s Waffles is on the corner opposite Maria’s in a converted shop with the most circumspect of frontages. The square was buzzing with patrons at Maria’s and Roxy Coffee and Jessy’s was as busy with mostly what appeared to be the hip, bohemian crowd, the ones with alternative tastes to that of us old fogeys, as Jessy’s is not the establishment you want to frequent if a wheat flour based, gluten enriched waffle is your thing. It’s kinda the yang to Milky Lane’s yin.

One always believes that the interior decoration of any new place is a deliberate choice but I must say that Jessy’s interior very much makes the business look like a shoestring outfit, with little to lift it out of the ambience of starkness and plainness taken to uncomfortable extremes. I was very much reminded of the cheap joints of my early days in Cape Town when both owners and patrons were cash strapped and didn’t seem to mind their surroundings as long as the food and drink were well-priced.

The background pop music was good but the loudness of the music competing with the happy conversations around us and the imperfect acoustics of the place made conversation difficult at times.

The waffles are gluten free and probably strictly vegan and when you order coffee or a milkshake, you can have milk or one of the many milk substitutes that Millennials favour. I am probably fortunate that I’m neither celiac nor lactose intolerant and find it interesting that all these allergies seem to be more prevalent now than in my younger days. Be that as it may, gluten free waffles, no matter how healthy or well-made, are not for me.

I drank a good peanut based (“milk”)shake, and the half portion “la gringa” waffle (R62), described as a BBQ base, topped with guacamole, and smoky coconut chips, served with a side of salsa. The wife drank a flat white and had a half portion of the “say cheese” waffle (R64) with paprika and ‘mozzarella’ base with a side of relish and ‘mayo.’  She asked for guacamole (R15) as well.

The goddaughters ate sweet waffles and drank healthy juices. One of the sweet waffles was supposedly a cinnamon sugar concoction that was almost black in colour, like a squid ink waffle, and quite off-putting if one were expecting something like a cinnamon sugar pancake.

The general comment was that the toppings elevated the thick waffles, which had peculiar, not very satisfying, textures, slightly dry, perhaps too brittle. They were the perfect example of a “healthy” version of a well-known standard food not being anywhere near as tasty and in fact the argument for not trying to simulate gluten enriched, high carb, nut filled, lactose heavy dishes with food groups that cannot replace the “unhealthy” elements and just make one wish for the real thing.  I love good vegan ood and these waffles, worthy as they may be, just don’t hack it. 

Hey, folks, don’t trust me! I’m an old school curmudgeon and Jessy’s Waffles was quite busy, with new arrivals all the time, so it must be doing something right for a significant Cape Town demographic.  I’m not part of that group and now that I’ve experienced Jessy’s, I’ll head back to the Wimpy for my waffle fix.