Eatery cooks up tasty, casual Middle Eastern cuisine for your entire family

JAN CRONJE

Cafe: Cooked Address: The Watershed market, the V&A Waterfront Hours: 10am to 7pm daily Dish Eaten: Nivik chickpea stew Cost: R78 IF YOU have spent the morning shopping in the Watershed at the V&A Waterfront or taken the kids to the Two Oceans Aquarium, Cooked is an easy and casual place to stop off for a bite to eat.

On the Watershed’s ground floor, the restaurant offers fast and fuss-free Middle Eastern and Mediterranean-inspired cuisine for breakfast, lunch and supper.

Like a sushi bar, it displays a selection of daily meals on a counter, where you also order and collect meals.

At brunch on a Sunday these specials included a lamb burger (R65), falafel khoubis or flatbread, (R95), a mezze board (R85) and the nivik chickpea stew (R78).

I ordered the nivik chickpeas, which come with a mushroom and egg-filled phyllo pastry square. It was very good. The chickpeas, still firm, came in a delicately-spiced tomato sauce.

The filling in the phyllo pastry was deliciously oozy and the creaminess of the egg and mushroom complemented the spice of the rest of the dish.

The restaurant also has a selection of soups and latkes (potato pancakes) for between R35 and R45 that you can top with salmon and cream cheese, slow-roasted lamb or bacon and egg. The eatery has a relaxed air. You can bring your children after admiring the clownfish exhibit at the Two Oceans Aquarium, or have a cappuccino while reviewing your loot from the stores at the Watershed market.

For dessert, try the original baked cheesecake.

Cooked is open daily between 10am and 7pm.

The easiest way to find it is to enter the Watershed at the entrance nearest the aquarium. jan.cronje@inl.co.za

PICTURE: JAN CRONJE A dish of nimik chickpeas at Cooked, a casual eatery in the Watershed at the V&A Waterfront.