Review – Deer Park Café, Vredehoek

Address: 2 Deer Park Drive, Vredehoek

Hours: 8am-9pm Mon-Sun

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Situated on the upper slopes of Vredehoek overlooking the city, this City Bowl eatery is great for all ages with inside and outside seating available with big bay windows overlooking The Rocklands Rd Park. Table Mountain is the backdrop with Deer Park being the popular gateway into the reserve.

This Cape Town Vegan needed somewhere to have a breakfast meeting, so I popped in here on the off chance that they would be able to whip me up something vegan (wihout avo, bananas or mushroom!) #fussyvegan

I had been here in my pre-vegan days and was never disappointed, so this would be an interesting experience.

They were out of vegan muffins (!!!), but could give me their Oats and Quinoa which was served with soya milk and sides of toasted almond flakes and poached papaya. It was PERFECT. Also forced me to be a little healthier for once. It came with honey on the side as it is not a strictly vegan menu item, but I wasn’t complaining.

Our waitress was lovely, the vibe was chilled for a week day morning, and all-in-all it was just what I needed it to be!

I spoke to Anel Clarke, the manager of Deer Park Café who said that most of the waitrons are familiar with vegan dietary requirements, but advised that when ordering one should always just re-specify. Fair enough. I do by default anyway.

Here are some things to bear in mind when ordering from their menu:

• request that they do not put butter on your toast
• their veggie spring rolls are sadly sealed with egg – so don’t order those!
• there is always a manager on duty, so order directly from the manager if you are unsure

So what CAN you have at Deer Park Café that is vegan? I’m glad you asked!

• any eggs can be swopped for avo (if they have available)
• Oats and Quinoa can be made with water or soya milk
• Falafel Salad is vegan and gluten-free
• Burger (with vegetarian patty) is vegan if ordered without mayo and cheese – use hummus and avo instead)
• Stir Fried Vegetables as a side are fried in oil
• Small Portion of Chips as a side are fried in oil
• Las Paletas Artisan Lollies – the sorbet ones are vegan
• There are also lunch specials between 12-8pm that can easily be made vegan
• Their buckwheat bread is vegan, sugar-free and gluten-free

And… (how cool is this)… if you make a booking by phone, specify that you are vegan, and they will make sure that there are some delicious vegan options available. What?!

2017 looks like it will be a great year for vegans as well, as Deer Park Café is currently working with their wine suppliers to ascertain exactly which wines are vegan and which are not, so stay tuned!

They also do quite a bit of vegan catering including vegan cakes, making sure that there is never any cross-contamination when producing them.

We love you Deer Park Café.

The restaurant books up quickly on the weekends – so best to phone and book your table. Inside seating is perfect protection from the Vredehoek wind and toasty in winter with the fireplace.It’s GREAT for families and small children (because of their EPIC playground), so be warned if you are noise sensitive on weekend mornings between breakfast and brunch. I think it’s lovely 🙂

Support what this eatery is doing for us #howluckyarewe

Peace Xx

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