Rosetta Roastery

 8 December 2023

 

ROSETTA ROASTERY

101 Bree Street (corner of Shortmarket Street), Cape Town

 

Rosetta is a split-level joint, with the service and barista counters, deli fridges and two high tables on the upper floor, at the rear of the space,  and banquette seating with four tables and a fifth, round, table on the lower level, and more tables outside on the corner of a rather busy intersection.

 

There are large windows on two sides to provide superb natural light.

 

Clearly, it’s a Mac user’s comfort zone, as all four of the tables at the banquette were occupied by one person with a MacBook and there was a constant turnover.

 

The breakfast menu is exceedingly simple: oats, granola, banana bread goat cheese quiche and unspecified focaccia sandwiches. I suppose this is fair for a coffee shop that doesn’t seem to aim at full restaurant service. 

 

I chose the morning plate (R95)  of soft-boiled egg, dark, seeded rye bread, select cheese and butter and jam, and drank an espresso and a cortado.

 

The barista asked me whether I preferred a Brazilian or an Indonesian bean. It would’ve been nice to have some baked beans with the breakfast but I  chose to have coffee brewed from South American beans.

 

My dish was a light breakfast par excellence; the highlight was the bread, butter, plentiful cheese and jam. The egg wasn’t soft boiled and in any event a boiled egg is hardly a mind-blowing culinary adventure. Salt and pepper are carefully placed on the plate in two small patches, which is just odd.

 

I didn’t enquire about pastries and left as soon as I’d finished by cortado.

 

The bill came to R134,00 before tip.

 

The espresso was harsh and unpleasant on the palate, without sweetener, but cortado add the satisfactory,  full-bodied richness of Brazilian coffee.

 

The service was friendly and efficient, the food was okay, the coffee was good and Rosetta Roastery affords one a splendid opportunity for people watching, both patrons who enter the joint and passers-by, especially now that holiday and tourist season is upon us.