Coco Safar pop up at Hertex 1987 Eatery

 25 February 2022  

 

COCO SAFAR pop up

Premises of Hertex 1987 Eatery, Maynard Road, Gardens, Cape Town

 

“Under new management” can be a good thing or it can be a less good thing. 1987 Eatery, a well-loved favourite in my household, seems to be no more and the space has been repurposed for a Coco Safar pop up café, but it’s not yet quite trading as its best life. 

 

The wife and I liked 1987 Eatery a lot for its setting,  chic style and food, especially one of the best eggs Benedict dishes in town, and it didn’t seem to require new management  but here we are.

 

There’s nothing yet on the exterior of the building to indicate that something new and exciting is afoot and the changes in the interior are subtle, mostly the removal of a display unit in the front, interior section, with  tables spread out over the floor. The courtyard looks pretty much the same. The waiting staff are dressed in the Coco Safar uniform and offer the same efficient, friendly service.

 

The first impression of the menu is that sweet pastries predominate and that there are only a few savoury things for breakfast, like their take on eggs Benedict, a cheese stick (eh?), a quichette (in vegetable or meat alternatives) or a lamb bobotie croissant pie.

 

On the coffee quantity rating meter, the espresso (R26) is a damp, brown smudge in the small cup. Okay, maybe two tablespoonsful. The latté is more substantial but the price (R42). Is truly where the substance lies. The blow is softened by the mini Madeleine that accompanies each coffee. 

 

I went for the BENNY (their capitals) croissant clafoutis (R110), described as a Benedict-style baked croissant with cheese & lamb bacon, topped with a poached egg and hollandaise.

 

What you get, is a small square of thick, soft bread with the advertised toppings. Lambs don’t produce bacon but the meat was crisp and tasty and the single egg was poached to order. I liked the dish, but no more than that, and it was more filling than it appeared at first glance. 

 

Seeing as how there was such a wide variety of sweet pastries on the menu, I felt pressurised to have one. My first choice of an apple cinnamon croissant would not be. I was informed that of the 14 options listed under “croissants,” only 4 were available. Okay, I appreciate that a pop up might not have the full capacity of the parent entity but why raise the customer’s hopes of a multiplicity of croissants when almost two thirds of the items aren’t available?

 

There are three types of cheese cake at R145 a pop and because I thought that yesterday’s slice of cheese cake at Tashas was pushing the envelope at R60,  I wasn’t going to order cheesecake here just for the sake of comparative research.

 

I took the churros cream croissant (R55), a well-baked sweet croissant with a pleasant cream filling. 

 

The bill came to R233 before tip.

 

At roughly 09h45 when I arrived the restaurant was quiet, with only two other customers, but by 11h00 it was filling up nicely. I’m used to seeing lots of chic people having design and decoration meetings here, and perhaps this was just a slow morning.

 

Coco Safar is a luxury brand, I guess, and it charges luxury brand prices for food that is good quality and generally yummy but not priced for the fainthearted, and the coffee seems to be overpriced. 

 

The restaurant space is lovely and the Coco Safar service is good but right now, and until, apparently, there will be a more comprehensive menu and availability of everything on offer, this pop up is really just a place for coffee and whatever pastries one can get,  and not a must visit brunch destination.