Tashas at V & A Waterfront

 24 February 2022

 

TASHAS

V & A Waterfront, Cape Town

 

I returned to Tashas for breakfast today, for the first time since before the hard lockdown of March 2020, and it was like seeing an old friend you don’t see for ages but when you do reconnect,  it’s as if no time had passed at all. 

 

It’s the same premises, the same chic, luxurious styling, the same excellent quality of food and service. The only difference I noted was that the previously imposingly large menu, as I recollect, is now reduced to very much smaller folded item,  about the size of a greeting card when folded.  I  also received a separate tapas card, which was a bit odd at brunch time, but what the hell, eh?

 

The benefit of a midweek visit is that there is no queue and plenty seating. It seems that the service personnel aren’t allocated specific tables as a rigid standard; at least three people helped me make my brunch dream come true.

 

The breakfast options are generally intriguing and not quite a the bog standard offerings of most other eateries. No huevos rancheros or Turkish eggs, but still plenty good eats for the discerning diner. 

 

My choice was the butternut and zucchini rösti, with lime, grilled onions, (a bushel of) rocket, red onion, chives, coriander, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, all of it floating on a cushion of labneh (R98). I added a poached egg for an extra R10.

 

The dish was quite delicious and filling, but I would say that butternut and zucchini aren’t the best combinations for making rösti. The crisp part of it seemed a tad tougher than a potato rösti would be.

 

Tashas coffee is good and the single espresso is very generous.

I think I’m going to rate restaurants by the quantity of coffee you get when you order an espresso. Some give you about a tablespoonful; some fill up the espresso cup. However, coffee prices at R25 for the espresso and R35 for a flat white are on the cusp of being exorbitant.

 

For afters, I had a slice of cheesecake, which at R60,00 is a tad steep for a yummy yet petite dish.

 

The bill came to R228,00 before tip.

 

We’ve always liked this Tashas because it’s a wonderful place and you can’t fault the food and service. Today, particularly, for a people watcher like me, it was a carnival of delighted gawking at the clientele passing me by, either dressed in utmost holiday casual or top-drawer formal elegance like the ladies who go out for eggs on a Manhattan Saturday morning in the series Sex and the City.

 

Hey, I’m pretty sure Tashas doesn’t need my recommendation to survive and lots of people already like it as much as we do, but if you haven’t been or haven’t been lately, and are loitering hungry in the Waterfront, get in there.  Spoiler alert: there’s hectic queueing on weekends around mid-morning.