The Big Dog Café

6 December 2019

THE BIG DOG CAFÉ

Lower Ground Floor, Workshop 17, 32 Kloof Street, Cape Town

The Big Dog Café is a lovely place, offers interesting food and good coffee, and seems to be an ideal work-away-from-home spot.  Right now, it’s probably the best coffee shop option on lower Kloof Street.

Way back in antiquity, no wait, it was as recent as the early ‘90’s of the previous century, this complex of red brick buildings belonged to, or was used by, CAPAB for, amongst other things, storing stage sets and props. By 1994 CAPAB had abandoned the site and the interiors of the buildings were gutted so that each floor was a huge, open space.  I knew the guy who lived at the back of the  property, as a kind of caretaker, in 1994. He earned a crust as set painter but also had fine art ambitions and hung his paintings on several floors of the empty buildings, which became his very own, very private, gallery.

Today, as the latest occupant, Workshop 17 (‘co-working, private offices, meeting & event space, for start-ups, companies and individuals”)  is the name on the building, so to speak, The Big Dog Café is the coffee shop, casual eatery or chilled hangout for those who use the formal facilities, those who like working from coffee shops and the public at large wandering by on Kloof Street.

One gets to The Big Dog Café  through an arched entrance on the side of the building and descending to an open atrium space, with marbled topped tables, some high tables with bar stools, picnic tables, banquette seating against a far wall and one L-shaped couch for outdoors lounging. It must be perfectly sheltered, despite the lack of roof, for those exhilaratingly windy summer days in Cape Town.

The roomy indoors space is the café proper, with two sections divided by a tall display unit with Terbadore coffee and branded merch (hoodie, T-shirt and cap) and barista and service counter next to it.

The tables have blond wood tops, with dark wood chairs, there’s banquette seating on either side, free standing tables, couches, and communal tables. There are power points everywhere  for those who don’t like running their MacBooks on battery power.  And believe me, this place is MacBook City. It always seems to me that PC laptop users are ashamed to be seen in public spaces.

The look is chic, sleek contemporary, full of literal and figurative light. You want to step inside, sit down and luxuriate in the trendiness.

The Big Dog Café is not the place for those who think the ultimate breakfast comprises overcooked eggs, fatty bacon, baked beans, black pudding, fried bread, and the like. This is not even the place for those who like nothing better than a good eggs Benedict. Naah, if “plant based” (though not necessarily vegan) is your dream cuisine, this could be a close approximation of your nirvana.

At first glance, the menu caters for the modern day trends of gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, lactose intolerant food. It doesn’t seem to be divided into breakfast or lunch options, so one should be able to order anything for breakfast.  The dishes I think of as the breakfast options contain no pork products but there are flat rib, lamb and chicken amongst presumably the lunch items.

There is a smoothie  bowl, a granola bowl, oats bowls, quinoa bowls, bowls with lunch food, filled croissant, toast ad spicy tomato and beans. Bowl based meals!.

My choice was the Turkish eggs and quinoa bowl (R68), with two poached eggs, garlic & dill yoghurt, fermented red peppers, avocado, spinach, and toasted sesame butter.

I scratched my head and pondered the existential question of what made the (overcooked) poached eggs and yoghurt underneath so “Turkish” and reached out to Tayfun Aras for conceptual clarity. His explanation was that “Turkish eggs” is called çilbir and should be poached eggs on a bed of yoghurt and melted butter and with chili flakes strewn on top.

This is not how the eggs were presented, except for the yoghurt underneath them. Perhaps the chef here does a “twist” on the traditional way. If it is that, it’s a pity because a burst of chilli wold have perked the dish right up, which is otherwise bland unless you add copious seasoning.  I didn’t detect any sesame butter.

Other than that, it was a good dish, with a generous amount of avocado, spinach and well-cooked quinoa. Afterwards one just feels the health exuding from one.

The Terbadore coffee was good, though this is one of these joints that  doesn’t believe in a generous pouring of espresso.

I also had a thick slice (R25) of moist, delish, spiced sweet potato loaf, just for the hell of it.

The bill, including the espresso, a double latte and a bag of ground coffee (I think it was R90) came to R239.

The establishment was quite busy, with a mix of what looked like tourists, and those who seemed to be here on business of some kind, though obviously not suited and tied businesspeople.  I’m a great people watcher and in spaces like this, it’s a bonus to overhear random conversations and marvel at the way people talk and fixate on the subjects they pick.

Go hang out there. It’ll be fun.