Enjoy a lip-smacking breakfast at CBD eatery

Cafe: SMAK Delicatessen & Restaurant Address: 22 Bree Street Hours: Monday to Friday 7am to 5pm; Sat 9am to 3pm Website: www.smak.co.za Phone: 021 824 5023 Dish eaten: Smoked trout, cottage cheese, pickled fennel, poached eggs, deep-fried capers and salmon cream on rye. Price: R89.

JAN CRONJE

SMAK Delicatessen & Restaurant is a new eatery on Bree Street in the Cape Town city centre, an area that that has become known as Mother City’s creative food hub.

An open-plan light-filled restaurant serving breakfast and lunch six days a week, it launched earlier this month on the ground floor of the Bowman Gilfillan building near the Foreshore.

At 9.30am on a weekday, the eatery is filled with the pleasant murmur of business people meeting over breakfast and tourists popping in for coffee while studying guidebooks.

Smak’s metal, wood and glass furnishings give it a sleek modern feel, but it retains a South African flavour, with touches like fresh proteas on the tables.

I ordered the intriguing-sounding “three streams”, which is smoked trout, cottage cheese, pickled fennel, poached eggs, deep fried capers and salmon cream on rye, with an avocado.

The breakfast was excellent. The eggs were poached to perfection and, when cut, their yellow runny inside spilled over the fresh trout. The pickled fennel lent the dish an acidic bite and the deep-fried capers a salty punch.

The only thing I couldn’t taste was the salmon cream, which may not have been on my dish, but this hardly mattered.

A side order of avocado (avocado! in Cape Town!), suggested by the waiter, worked well.

Other breakfast options include French toast with vanilla cream, mixed nuts and a choice of sautéed stone fruit and berry compote (R58) or Granny’s Granola, which is home-made granola, with a selection of fruit, toasted seeds, dates, beurre noisette and “maple syrup emulsion served with coconut milk” (R58).

Smak also is a deli and you can browse a selection of cured meats, cheeses and baked breads, or create your own sandwich to go. jan.cronje@inl.co.za

GOOD START: A breakfast of smoked trout, cottage cheese, pickled fennel, poached eggs and deep-fried capers on rye bread, with a side order of avocado.