Florentin: çilbir and chill

 9 February 2024

 

FLORENTIN

The Tokyo, 87 Loop Street, Cape Town

 

The wife came up with this suggestion; she saw that someone on the group recommended Florentin’s shakshuka.  I studied the online menu and saw çilbir.

 

“Why go out to eat something you cook at home?” the wife thought out loud. 

 

Because I’m going out for breakfast, duh.

 

As it turns out, nobody, not even my lovely, loving wife, likes a smart aleck.

 

Florentin is on the ground floor of The Tokyo Aparthotel, a very new, ultra-chic looking development at the corner of  Loop and Longmarket Streets. The main café space is on one side of the building entrance and there is a bar with small tables on the other side of the entrance.

 

The café comprises banquette seating at the windows looking out onto Longmarket Street and against the rear wall, two large, round tables and some smaller tables in the central area. The look is blonde wood, wooden frame  chairs with upholstered seats and backs and a granite-look floor. There is plenty of natural light from windows on three sides (including towards the passage leading into the building) and though I wouldn’t describe it as cosy, it’s certainly upmarket comfy.

 

The breakfast menu wouldn’t challenge War and Peace for either length or complexity. You can have shakshuka, çilbir, Kiyma (eggs, ground beef, walnuts, zhug and yoghurt), their version of French toast, an avocado dish and baked granola.

 

As you will notice, there’s hardly a trace of any Japanese influence.

 

Of course, I chose the çilbir (without the grated raw garlic) (R120) and received a most pleasingly plated and presented dish. The flatbread reclined languidly  on its own wooden pedestal.

The eggs were perfectly poached, the yoghurt was probably labneh, the chilli butter had a cheeky lilt of heat and the dukkah (strictly speaking not part of Turkish eggs) added a satisfactorily crunchy textural variation. The soft flatbread was very good too.  All in all, very enjoyable and quite filling.

 

Florentin and Mulberry & Prince have the best çilbir I’ve eaten at restaurants in Cape Town; they aren’t even Turkish eateries. If pressed, I’d rank the Mulberry & Prince version slightly higher but only because their puffy, aerated flatbread is so exceptionally good.

 

On the other hand, I prefer the ambience of Florentin and the çilbir is also considerably better priced than Mulberry & Prince’s version and is therefore better value for money.

 

I started and finished with cortados (R34 each) and my sweet delight was a very good pasteis de nata(R35) with crisp, flaky pastry and an abundance of unctuous, delightful custard filling. 

The coffee was good and the service was friendly and efficient.

 

The bill came to R258,00 before tip.

 

So, if you’re keen on a Middle Eastern style breakfast in the elegant atmosphere of a brand new bistro space in the CBD, Florentin should be on your GPS’ list of preferred destinations.