Cassis

21 February 2019

CASSIS SALON DE THÉ

Gardens Centre

My Friday morning breakfast habit started at Cassis possibly 5 years ago now, and then I was a regular until I'd worked my way through the menu. Since then I’ve spread my wings to sample the early morning pleasure of the City Bowl and surrounds. You know my story there.

Over the recent past Cassis has had its ups and downs and when the wife and I eat at the Gardens Centre, we prefer Pulp, which sits cheek to jowl with Cassis, but today I thought I'd make a nostalgic visit.

There's been some minor remodelling of the dining area and nowadays there is a much larger selection of bread and sweet pastries, and the menu is also quite different, both in the colourful laminated format and the dishes, with proudly announced new offerings alongside the old favourites.  

The eggs Benedict at R112 and salmon Benedict at R118 seem challengingly priced and I've always wondered why a relatively simple poached egg dish is generally so much more expensive than anything else on a breakfast menu. The quantity is usually economical and the Hollandaise imperfect, to say the least.

I chose one of the new additions to the menu, the croissaumon avocat (R72), which is scrambled eggs, smoked trout and avocado on a croissant, with a choice between potato croquettes, fries and salad. I asked for the salad, a fresh combo of leaves, a few cherry tomato halves and some cucumber.

It was a good, filling, tasty dish that could do with more avocado but that's a minor issue.

My gripe du jour is particular in this instance but is a common phenomenon. As is my wont, I kickstarted my working parts with an espresso, a very generous amount at Cassis. I like to round off the meal with a latté in a take away container because I fancy that the coffee tastes better that way.

This morning, there was no further service delivery at my table after I'd received my food. The waitress who’d served me, was no longer visible and her colleague served other customers and ignored me until I asked for the bill. 

This kind of thing happens far too often. It seems, on average, that serving staff lose interest in patrons once the last course has been served. Most typically you can’t find them when you want to pay the bill, and today I had to forego my latté. Life is full of crushing but meaningless blows (Bob Dylan said that) but a breakfast without a final coffee is a vibe killer (I said that.)