Big Box Cafe

1 March 2019

THE BIG BOX

18 Roeland Street, Cape Town

A couple of years ago these premises were proudly yet briefly occupied by a Middle Eastern, vegetarian restaurant that was perhaps an overoptimistic venture, even if it were adjacent to the City Varsity campus. This lower section of Roeland Street has not yet become a hub of hip and the students probably weren't impressed by the ambition of the patron, or his exotic offerings.

What we have today is a “board games café” of decidedly funkier and more student targeted concept than its predecessor. It’s heavily themed with stacks of board games of all types, shapes and sizes displayed on shelves around the room. Even the menu simulates the playing board of a game and one can quite conceive of it as the prize product of a brain storming design students.

There are a couple of communal tables with bench seating, two smaller tables at the window with bench seating and two six-seater round tables with red, round backed metal chairs. It seems that the proprietors want to encourage the full-on playing of board games as a wholesome and intellectually challenging pastime. No alcohol fuelled pub quizzes here, mate.

The barista and service counter is front and slightly off-centre and the plainly visible, yet not open-plan, kitchen is to the side.

So, pretty much a student friendly joint, exemplified by die many students who popped in or hung out until it was time to report for lectures.

The colourful, excitable and fully stocked menu is something of a sensory overload for the slightly older guy. The breakfast choices seem to be limited to muesli & yoghurt, omelettes, eggs and croissants but the other items are available too.

My choice was the “bazar bizarre” crêpe (R70) with egg, bacon, cheese, tomato and Tabasco, which, to my surprise, was served with a load of thin, crisp fries and a tiny salad of carrot shavings and cucumber slices.

The crêpe is made from buckwheat flour, imported from France, and was well made.  The fiery Tabasco overpowered the flavours of the other elements in the crêpe and cheese and tomato were the predominant other tastes with what one could call essence of bacon rather than anything substantively porky. The fries were excellent even if I’m not a fan of potato products for breakfast. I ate them in the interest of science.

Not a bad bite and definitely a carbo-loading bite.

My espresso was generous, and the latté was quite good. The coffee is from Tribe Roastery.

I was on average probably 40 years older than the other patrons, students at City Varsity, and it was wholly absorbing and fascinating to observe and listen to the youthful interaction of the influencers of tomorrow. Thank goodness my student years are a dim, distant, vague memory.