Judd's Local livens up Kloof Street

 11 March 2022

 

JUDD’S LOCAL

143 Kloof Street, Cape Town

 

Allegedly, one can never go home again but today I did venture back to my old Kloof Street stomping grounds and specifically the area where I once lived for 5 years and, much later, worked for almost 16 years. The neighbourhood is not only almost unrecognisably different to the ambience it had 36 years ago  but there have also been many changes in just the past 3 years.

 

Judd’s Local, for one, wasn’t there in March 2019 and neither were the Bootlegger outlet, in the old Post Office premises,  and whatever eatery is on the corner where Coca Oola used to reign supreme.

 

When I moved to Cape Town in February 1986, the row of small, terraced cottages houses was residential, as was most of Kloof Street. Frieda’s restaurant, where Café Paradiso is now, was the first restaurant in this area, opening for business in the latter part of 1986.  When the owners of the cottages started selling, the first commercial occupant was, natch, an estate agent and soon there was a gaggle of them. The first restaurant in one of these cottages, in 1998, was a farmer’s market / deli / café kind of place that didn’t survive the end of the millennium despite my best efforts to support it, though it was mostly because I had a crush on the waitress.  Manna Epicure  occupies that site now.

 

The estate agents are mostly in the dustbin of history, and other than Judd’s Local, the terraces are also home to The Dark Horse, Manna en Carné.  

 

The restaurant comprises two cottages that have been repurposed into one substantial space with both front stoeps and interiors linked by breaking through adjoining walls. It seems that much of the old interior, particularly the rather spectacular Oregon pine floor boards, has been retained.

 

Both stoeps have been extend with wood-like composite decking to create counter seating looking out over the pavement, with small tables further back on the  stoep.  The table surfaces look like faux granite and the chairs are, presumably, contemporary versions of the bent metal and plywood school chairs I grew up with.

 

There is  a huge bar / service counter inside, with two front room spaces, the one with two large, hight tables and the other one  with banquette seating against the wall with small square tables, and another row of small round tables in front of that.   This means that one part of the interior looks like beer house and the other part resembles European café.  

 

I peered into the interior of the adjoining building and saw old fashioned lounge furniture, once again the image of an  elegant  European café. 

 

The breakfast menu  offers 10 options, of which the shakshuka is the most exotic item. There are also variants on the fry up, eggs Benedict, an omelette, smashed avo, French toast and croque Monsieur. One can add a goodly number of additional items to upsize your meal. 

 

I tried the croque Monsieur (R80) and the highest compliment I can give it, is that it’s pretty much how I’d make it at home, with  a metric tonne of moreish cheesy bechamel on top of lovely, thick slices of sourdough bread. My happiness index was splendidly bullish. 

 

The espresso is well priced at R18 a shot but one does get only a half full, delicately beautiful, small cup of it,

and the latté is R28, also a good price though it’s not exactly the grandé size that Vida e Caffé serves.

 

The downside was that no apple crumble or cheese cake were available. They were, ominously, allegedly, still “frozen” until lunchtime.

 

The bill (without tip) came to a decently proportioned  R126,00.

 

The USP of Judd’s Local would be that one can sit outside on. a lovely day,  nibble at a little something and relax over a coffee in a simple, unpretentious bistro atmosphere.  The vehicle traffic is often a tad annoying but the people traffic is equally as often quite fascinating.

 

The coffee is good, the food is good and seems reasonably  priced. It’s not a place for which I’d fight a zombie tiger to get to for breakfast but in the Kloof Street neighbourhood it’s well worthwhile a visit.