Bootlegger, Gardens Centre

8 December 2019

BOOTLEGGER

Gardens Centre, Cape Town

The expansion of the Bootlegger brand goes on apace with the recent opening of this new outlet virtually on my doorstep and in place of the much-loved Pulp Kitchen. Today, coincidentally, we also saw a Bootlegger on upper Kloof Street (in what once used to be the Kloof Street Post Office), my stomping ground until about 8 months ago, that we did not know of before. So, within a radius of approximately 1 km from my home, there now are 3 Bootleggers.

The get up and style is brand characteristic. Half of the “outdoor” (i.e. not in the main room) space of the establishment is taken up by a large, square barista station, with bar stools around it. It was immediately noticeable that both interior and exterior sections provide for far less seating than Pulp used to have. The purpose could be to avoid overcrowding but it’s puzzling in this day and age when this type of business should want as many bums on seats as possible, especially a well-established brand that is sure to draw plenty attention.

The wife and I came here after an impromptu decision to leave the house for breakfast yet reluctant to drive very far. It was late morning, we were hungry and the wife wanted coffee asap.

Perhaps we’d missed the peak brunch crowd, we had no problem finding a good table.

The extensive menu offers all day breakfast as well as light meals.

It was already midday and for the wife, who chose the omega smash (salmon, poached eggs, toasted rye) (R105), it was a late brunch, yet for me it was lunch, so, ever mindful of current plant based trends, I chose the Indian bowl, with chickpeas, roasted butternut, masala spiced lentils, avocado, lettuce, coriander and yoghurt. (R95)

About a minute after taking the order, the waitress rushed back to ask me, breathlessly, whether I wanted one of several protein options, none of which had been mentioned as options, other than chicken, on the menu. I chose the Indian bowl because I had no wish to increase global warming and so I stuck with the bare basics of it.

Both meals were excellent though the wife thought that her dish was a tad pricey for what she got but philosophically accepted that the salmon pushed the price up.

The chickpeas in my bowl were lightly toasted and delightfully crisp and the lentils were spicy and unctuous, the butternut slightly sweet and the avocado was, well, avocado-like. The lovely yoghurt added a sauciness where required. Once again, it’s one of those dishes that effortlessly promotes the value of well-cooked, pleasingly presented, tasty and filling vegetarian, or vegan, food.

Here’s the thing, though. Our respective flat whites (R29 each) were served in glasses, a methodology I’d thought was reserved for the venerable, multi-layered latté, and that seems to serve no purpose for any other serving of coffee except as a nod to trendiness. Conversely, when the wife ordered the excellent Earl Grey tea (R20) rather than a post-prandial coffee (she dislikes drinking coffee from a glass), the cup was that small, thick porcelain cup I associate with eateries that offer Deluxe brand coffee, and that’s totally inappropriate as a tea cup. There’s some conceptual mix up here.

The coffee and tea were good, the service was good though some of it was a tad overzealous and we thoroughly enjoyed our nosh.

The bill came to R307 before tip.