Warning: You need a sense of humour to visit this place. So if the find the F-bomb offensive then best you visit a different eatery.
Address: Upstairs at 109 Waterkant St, De Waterkant
Hours: 7am-6pm Mon-Fri, 7am-3pm Sat, Closed Sun
A (mostly) vegan eatery with (some) dairy, but no meat that insists you don’t call vegetables “veggies”. What? To understand this place you need to go there, because come the 27th of January 2018 it will be GONE. Think of it as a temporary vegan art exhibit – fleeting, flirtatious and confident (and a little crass).
Bae told me about this all-new vegan café that had opened in De Waterkant. I had never heard of it, therefore it was impossible that it really existed. And yet – when I saw the menu (that I think he may have stolen and brought home with him) I had to go, IMMEDIATELY. Why? Because one of the dishes was called “you fucked up my life.” SOLD!
The pictures in the post will give away most of the aesthetic of the place, but the vibe – well that’s down to the waitrons, who are as entertaining as the pop-up eatery itself. In the course of an hour I was served “punani juice” (YES! You read right!) and offered some crack. Stick with me here. I wasn’t quite sure whether to blush or to politely decline or maybe just dive straight in (no puns intended), but I rolled with it and was pleasantly surprised at every turn.
Their pièce de résistance was the 4-course lunch for a measly R195 (including a glass of Rosalie Rosé):
- Start – pani puri bombs, puduni pani water, chilli cumin chickpeas
- Soup – chargrilled cucumber, horseradish, soy sunflower seed, flax tapioca crisp
- Savoury – black lentil & carrots, petit pois hummus, zucchini shitake oil, coriander hemp seed pesto, crispy onions
- Surprise – lolly for your dolly and meebos (petit pois merci)
Their menu is fairly extensive for such a small eatery and include items such as:
- no glove no love
- why you cussin girrrrrrl
- you fucked up my life
- you speak Catalan?
Make time to walk around the shop and be blown away by the art/books/trinkets, etc. all carefully chosen and strategically placed by owner, Neil Roake, who has produced some award-winning cookbooks. Now it all makes sense.
They serve breakfast from 7am and lunch from 12pm. Plus they have wifi (always a must).
If none of what I’ve said makes sense, then it’s probably because it doesn’t. It’s an experience, so go immerse yourself in it.
Sadly this “pop-up” venture will be dismantled, so get your vegan backside to The Light Side Café before the 27th of Jan 2018, before it’s gone!
Fabulous place. Get there before it’s gone.