Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Enjoy a fine breakfast in record time
Café: Hard Pressed Café Address: Portside Tower, 1 Bree Street, Cape Town Contact: 079 066 8888 Hours: Monday to Friday 7-5pm, Saturday 9.30 to 2.30pm, closed on Sundays. Dish Eaten: Robbie’s Full Williams Price: R65
JAN CRONJE
THE LOGO of Hard Pressed Café , at the foot of the 32-storey Portside Tower in the Cape Town city centre, is a cup of coffee at the centre of a record.
This tells you a fair bit about the beliefs of owner Yaron Wiesenbacher. Whether you come to browse the vinyl collection and have a cup of coffee, or pop in for coffee and a look through the LP’s, he wants you to leave happy.
At 9am on a weekday morning, the café is full of business people grabbing coffees to go or laptopping and smartphoning (there is free wifi). The décor is tastefully eclectic. One side has a few hundred records on sale (think Dire Straits, Culture Club and Cat Stevens), while the other has a bookcase full of bric-a-brac, from old coffee grinders to wire sculptures.
Between them are half a dozen wooden tables and a long window counter (there is also seating outside).
A bottle of Zimbabwe’s famous Mazoe Orange Crush, which I took for a decoration, turned out to be on sale (R95 for 2 litres).
I ordered the Robbie’s Full Williams (many of the dishes are named after musicians), which is smoked salmon, pesto, avocado, poached eggs, rocket, cream cheese, tomatoes and toast.
The cold breakfast was delicious. The salmon was fresh and slightly salty, the pesto nutty, the avocado al-dente and the eggs came as ordered (I asked for hard, but soft might have worked better).
Best of all, the order – which requires only the poached eggs to be cooked – was ready in under five minutes.
Other options include homemade muesli, eggs on toast and a variety of bagels (the salmon and cream cheese is good) which are served throughout the day.
The coffee, which was very good, is blended on site.
If you are adventurous try the Amy – a blend of peanut butter, chocolate and ice cream and espresso, named after Amy Winehouse, which Wiesenbacher said was “incredibly popular”.
jan.cronje@inl.co.za