Primal Kitchen

1 February 2019

PRIMAL KITCHEN

210 Loop Street, Cape Town

Well, one more (repurposed) newbie in the new year. Primal Kitchen (offshoot of Primal Eatery?) has replaced Eurohaus in Loop Street.  The whole space has been revamped, with the bakery section still next door but completely renewed and modern, and being more and separated from the restaurant, with a deli addition, though there is still access from the one side to the other.

The interior of Primal Kitchen follows the old arrangements with banquette seating and small tables around the wall, some tables in the middle of the floor and outside, the barista counter and kitchen still in the same places, but the immediate impression is that Primal Kitchen is better lit and brighter than its predecessor.

The breakfast menu is set up intriguingly, with a short list of a la carte items, 5 sweet and 5 savouries, and a much longer list of elements from which you can build your own breakfast. That kind of deal is always dangerous because the meal can quickly become less cost effective than a standard breakfast, as the elements seem so enticing. The categories are: protein, plant, cheese bits & bobs and toast. This last offering goes against the grain (yes!), as the prices, presumably per slice, range from R11 for 100% rye to R22 for some freakish thing known only as Ezekiel.

On further consideration, one would be a fool to build your own breakfast unless someone else pays the bill.

The sweet dishes appear to be gluten free, grain fee and even vegan. The savoury dishes are shakshuka, Turkish eggs, poached eggs and salmon on a low carb latke, frittata and a savoury waffle. THIS place should be called the “Cape Town Health Kitchen,” rather than the joint in Commercial Street I visited last week.

I chose the savoury low carb waffle with bacon and roasted tomatoes (R88) and additional caramelised red onion (R12) and roasted peppers (R17.) I wanted latkes too, but they were “out of stock.”  What, they’re not made in house? I guess this would also have meant that the poached eggs and salmon on latkes would not have been possible.

The waffle, made from coconut flour, is quite lovely to look at, very thin and with a dry texture that makes one long for a standard wheat flour waffle, but the taste is good, and the extras mitigated the dryness. The bacon was perfectly cooked to my taste (not crisp), and the tomatoes, onion and peppers also brought the flavour to elevate the dish to yumminess. It’s not the biggest of breakfasts but a satisfying one, at least culinary speaking.

My rather miniscule quantity of espresso was served in a small glass and I suppose the latte would’ve been in a larger glass, but I prefer drinking my bigger coffee from biodegradable take away cups. Never mind the eco friendliness; it tastes better that way for me.

Primal Kitchen wasn’t as busy this morning as Eurohaus used to be. The service was friendly and efficient. The coffee is excellent though the standard patron might prefer it hotter than it arrived at my table. 

But wait, there is the small yet significant matter of the bill, which came to a nifty R167,00 with the food being R117 (with the added elements) and the tiny espresso at R20 and the latté at R30. Now, as you might know, I don’t usually go on about the cost of eating out, but, gosh darn it, R167 for this breakfast is crossing a boundary I would never have wanted to cross. The meal was nice (and I use the word advisedly) but neither the quantity or quality of the food or drink merited paying that much.