The Best

I have no doubt that this is where you get the very best coffee in Cape Town.

Morning coffee

Working hard at home, so no time for coffee shops and delicious breakfasts. But our espresso machine makes pretty fine coffee - especially with this Bean There fair trade Ethiopian coffee in my favourite scottie mug - and some Ticklemouse Country Fare (a small company in Pringle Bay) Farmhouse Rusks.

Coffee and roses

Chart Farm, adjacent to Wynberg Park, is one of Cape Town's most enjoyable places to visit. They have the most wonderful homemade cakes and really classy coffee, and some great lunch dishes. There is always a table, inside or out on the terrace, yet its never empty. And after indulging you can walk around their magnificent grounds, with views that sweep from False Bay over Table Mountain to Table Bay, and pick your own roses. (R4 per stem - an absolute bargain!) A children's paradise. There is a farm stall with homemade preserves, and fresh veges and fruit and a little nursery selling roses and compost.

Boerewors roll for lunch

Coffee and a boerewors roll. You don't get more South African than this! Very delicious! And pretty damn cheap. This is the wonderful Truth Coffee Shop attached to the enigmatic Prestwich Memorial in Somerset Road, Green Point.

Eye candy

Christmas shopping along Simon's Town Main Road today - and this shop caught my eye. It is The Meeting Place where you can enjoy delicious teas and lunch in a wonderfully relaxing and pretty shop while admiring the lovely Christmas gift displays like these well dressed reindeer (in Arran and Fair Isle knits) - and lots lots more. I feel positively Christmassy now!

The Sweetest Thing

The Runciman Building in Simon's Town was built in 1785, but was given its present "facelift" in 1899. Don't ride past it because inside, behind the yellow brollies, lies the best patisserie in the whole of the Cape Peninsula - The Sweetest Thing.
I tried the Pear and Frangipani tart and was hooked. Now I can't wait to go back on the weekend to try a Botstock as they only make those then.

Swan in for a coffee and some culture

"Swanbourne" is a lovely old house in the shadow of Muizenberg Peak which you can just see on the left. It was designed in 1899 by non other than Sir Herbert Baker, the renowned "arts and crafts" architect who lived and worked in South Africa for a while at the turn of the nineteenth century. It can be found in Beach Road, Muizenberg, and anyone can pop in for a look and a cup of coffee. It was acquired by the great-granddaughter of the founder of the Cape Times, Joan St Leger who bequeathed the house and adjoining properties to create an arts and cultural centre where there are changing art displays, a library, a gallery of evocative photos of how Muizenberg once looked, and a café. Concerts are sometimes held too. This house is also part of a retirement home for the rather affluent. For more on that and its history, click here.

Coffee Out of Africa

My eldest son travels a lot and he swanned into Cape Town the other day bearing gifts - some delicious Mastertons coffee from Port Elizabeth.

Morning coffee

Just time for a quick cup of coffee in the Aroma Cafe (another red-painted building!) before heading out to the airport for the start of a week-long break in the warm and sunny Eastern Cape.

Starlings

I'll have that one. Starlings Coffee Shop in Claremont is a super swish little eatery in the heart of Claremont - in an ex-suburban house. The coffee is superb and the food consistently delicious. You can sit inside or outside - just suit yourself.

For more scenery, see ABC Wednesday.

Going Dutch

Breakfast this morning at Dutch - a surprisingly restful, stylish and, well, deliciously Dutch restaruant tucked away at the back of an old house which they share with the famous Alison's Flowers (good for the soul to gaze upon all those flowers) and a children's emporium for well heeled offspring of the yummy mummy set called Kiids. Life is tough in Africa!

Seeing red

Not quite as trendy as Long Street but just as nice, Loop Street runs parallel to Long Street and also has wonderful old buildings and cafes and antique shops. Nip into A Colour Red Cafe on the corner of Loop and Hope streets and hope to escape the heat (which is already soaring over 30 degrees) and try some of their Caturra coffee from Italy. While you are there you might as well tuck into their Breakfast Express too.

C'est la Vie!

One of my favourite parts of town is the suburb/seaside village of Kalk Bay. This is C'est la Vie - a French-style cafe and boulangerie up one of the little cobbled streets where you can buy bread and other patries, or sit and have a cup of coffee and a croissant. What a life!
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Mmmm

Early morning coffee at Mimi's, in Obs. Just the thing to brighten up a Monday morning.

Coffee at Rhodes Mem

The delightful tea room and restaurant at Rhode's Memorial was closed for a few years, but is now open again and still feels just the same as it used to. In winter there is a cosy fire inside, and in summer, sit in the garden under the umbrellas and look at Cape Town, far, far below, through the stately old pines. There is a children's play area as well as a boules court. The food is pretty good too.

International Italian

Today is rainy and a bit cool, but that did not deter us coffee drinkers. This Italian restaurant with its international flags and incredibly tasty food is a favourite morning coffee and lunch spot on Greenmarket Square, Cape Town.
More ABC posts.

French style

Breakfast and coffee special at Pastis - a French-style bistro on the edge of Constantia's vineyards. Buy a cup of Origin coffee and get two breakfasts for the price of one.

And shops for the browsing, like Juju et moi and The Little Fisherman, add even more value.

Car guard

With Cape Town's World Cup Soccer Stadium in the background, this informal car guard is expecting that business will boom in his area of Greenpoint when the first match kicks off tomorrow night. (Uruguay will be taking on France.)

He was quite happy with a fee of R5 for keeping an eye on the car while we had coffee at Giovanni's.

Bread and butler

A very warm welcome to Woodstock's trendy new coffee spot - Bread at The Bromwell. The top-hatted doorman was part colonial butler and part artful dodger - an intriguing mix. This morning was chilly, but we sat outside in the sun and watched the world go by, sometimes quite noisily. Hubby said his cappuchino was one of the best he'd ever had. Unfortunately they were all out of pain-au-chocolat and my croissant was a bit stodgy and cold. And they didn't like me taking photos! I managed to sneak this one in before I was asked to stop. They wouldn't say why, but perhaps a camera-shy VIP was lurking amongst the rather eclectic patrons?