The Blue Cafe

Someone from this business manages this listing.

#196 of 886 Restaurants in Cape Town CentralCafe, Vegetarian friendly, RR - RRR

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The Blue Cafe

Review

At a glance

Open until 10:00 PM

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Website

+27 21 426 0250Improve this listing

About

Features

CUISINES

Cafe

Meal types

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

FEATURES

Outdoor Seating

Seating

Serves Alcohol

Table Service

Takeout

Wheelchair Accessible

Location

13 Brownlow Road Tamboerskloof, Cape Town Central 8001 South Africa

City Bowl

Does this restaurant accept bookings?

Yes

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Hours

Suggest an edit

Open until 10:00 PM

Sunday

8:00 - 22:00

Monday

7:30 - 22:00

Tuesday

7:30 - 22:00

Wednesday

7:30 - 22:00

Thursday

7:30 - 22:00

Friday

7:30 - 22:00

Saturday

8:00 - 22:00

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4.0

126 reviews

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Terrible

LadureeFan

Richmond1407 contributions

Really nice neighborhood restaurant - where the locals go!

Feb 2024 • couples

Recommended by friends who said it's where the locals eat, we walked here from our hotel on Nicol Street. Small restaurant on a neighborhood street with tables outside. Our server was attentive and our food was great. We had the Margherita pizza and falafel salad.

Written 11 March 2024

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Dawn

Qualicum Beach172 contributions

Really good breakfast!

Oct 2022 • none

We had lovely cappuccinos, eggs, bacon , delicious banana bread ( it did not need butter, it was that flavourful and moist) and bran muffins. Unfortunately we were only in Cape Town for one night, I would have happily ate every breakfast here otherwise. This is a great neighbourhood cafe.

Written 9 November 2022

Annmarie

Arlington447 contributions

Great breakfast

Dec 2022 • none

We stayed in an AirBnB one street over and walked here every morning to pick up breakfast. We loved their croissants, bread, jam, and yogurt with fruit. On a quiet street in a neighborhood, really seems like a neighborhood gem!

Written 16 January 2023

Philippa S

1 contribution

What a Shame

Jul 2024 • family

Unfortunately this is a recurring experience, and because we love the neighbourhood, we always give it a second, third, fourth etc chance. In the past I have been served raw muffins, this time there were no muffins. Ordered the muesli. Came in a plastic punnet, half frozen and rotten strawberries. Unacceptable.

Written 26 July 2024

Murray von H

Hi Philippa. Im sorry you never enjoyed your experience at the cafe. Our neighbourhood cafe exists to service its community. It has done this for 122 years. When family and friends have a problem they talk to each other to ensure the problem gets solved - yet you chose to publicly broadcast your views without ever chatting to us? We get feedback regularly regarding service, product and pricing suggestions. We chat, we provide context and we value every exchange with our patrons to ensure we continue serving our community. You make reference to more than 4 visits and yet we have never heard from you directly (on our menu we plead to please contact us directly if there is something we can improve on). So one has to ask...what is your intention? Do you want to help play a positive role in shaping and improving a neighbourhood institution or is your intention to bad mouth a small business on social media - thereby succumbing to toxicity of social media? In future - with us and other restaurants - I urge you to consider what kind of role you want to play as a patron in shaping the future. [Muffins are baked daily except in winter. My wife bakes them at 6h30am. For one of our most prized baked goods I'm sorry yours was raw - we would have loved the feedback. By popular demand our muesli yoghurt and fruit salad (The Works) is served in punnets to reduce serving time and cater for quick take aways. It's not ideal but its the outcome of what the locals prefer.]

Written 28 July 2024

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

willem

Pretoria19 contributions

Disappointing experience

Apr 2022 • friends

This once reasonable neighbourhood cafe has become quite pricey as food costs soared but unfortunately the quality has fallen. Small packet of rusks at R100 and 6 hot cross buns at R60. The flourless almond chocolate now comes packed in cellophane and was easily a week old, dense and heavy while it used to be light and fluffy. Pre packaged and prepared can never compare with freshly baked. It is quite a small restaurant so why not bake fresh daily. Rather run out than keep food in fridges and freezers for weeks. Coffee and service was fine but Waterfront prices while it is very unlikely that they pay the high rent which businesses pay there. A

Written 15 April 2022

Mikael Audebert

4 contributions

2 is not enough for this place

Sept 2023 • couples

Kicked out because we were 2 sitting at a table for 3, told "if someone drives by, they will think we are full and drive off"...not caring about how much I, a customer currently there (not a "maybe customer" who may or may not drive by) spends there DAILY! I was absolutely dumbfounded by this completely ridiculous argument that I can't spend as much money as 3 guests and the table should remain empty JUST IN CASE 3 or 4 people drive by, especially after coming there daily, and seating at tables of 4 before! Definitely not coming back and happy to change my daily routine to find someone who really needs my business. Management should revisit what their team members tell guests, and how they tell them. The waiter did not even try to hold us back or offer an alternative when we said we were leaving. Sad what busy businesses think about not having to care when business is good. Then comes a downturn..and people DO remember.

Written 11 September 2023

Khanyi Z

1 contribution

Mediocre food, cute cafe, rude management

Jul 2023 • solo

Dine in | R 200–250 I've been to the café three times and sit downstairs doing some work and ordering thoughout my stay. [As one does in a cafe]. I was handed the *rudely worded* laptop policy yesterday. I found it interesting that I hadn't seen anyone else being handed this notice, I thought it was because my skin tone matches the staff,* which was the energy I got from the large pinkish man I often heard berating the kitchen staff* but after reading the comments here I realised it's possible they just pick and choose whoever they don't like at random. I went back because of its small town, local feel which is a great escape from the city buzz, and always tipped the staff generously, but it's actually not worth it. Anyway if you'd like mediocre homestyle food you know where to go.

Written 27 July 2023

Murray von H

Wow Khanyi - I see you have posted several reviews of your untrue and unfair accusations. It's very disappointing to see social media being used in this way. We think it’s reasonable to treat people and businesses in the same manner in which you expect people and businesses to treat you. The manner in which you treated our cafe is not reasonable. Summary: you set up an office in our cafe, sat for almost 3.5 hours; your bill was R89, you left zero tip (even if you were upset not tipping screws the staff not the cafe). You arrived at our cafe at 8h17am and took up a single seat on a table for 3 in our little basement. You set up a work station including plugging in your electronics into our power (behind the curtain on our private shelving without permission). The basement is a cosy 16sqm bunker with 4 other tables and our cafe's only indoor seating (highly sought after in winter). You then proceeded to start working which included wearing ear phones and conducting online zoom meetings. After more than 3 hours we approached you explaining that we are not a free remote office and that we have a laptop policy to avoid people spending the day at the cafe. Shortly after at 11h36 you left the cafe…almost 3.5 hours with a bill of R89 and you left zero tip. Your total bill doesn’t even cover the waiters salary while you were seated. The cafe lost money during your visit and the waiter was not tipped. Consider this - if you owned a neighbourhood cafe and we did the same to you; your business would go bankrupt. No cafe can exist as a free working space. The fact that you then go on social media and rate us 1 star is unbelievable. You declare your attraction to our cafe is because it has a small town local feel - and that you come to escape the buzz. Please come back to the cafe with those objectives in mind.

Written 11 August 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Louise B

1 contribution

I am disappointed in Blue Cafe

Jul 2023 • couples

I had a very distressing experience at Blue Cafe. On Monday, 10 July at around 16:15 my husband and I enjoyed coffee in the basement room. Before departing I used the far end toilet where I dropped my sunglasses. When I returned 2 minutes later, someone was inside the same toilet. When I returned a minute later, the person had left and the sunglasses were missing. It could not have been a basement patron who had taken them because these patrons had left earlier. I immediately alerted the staff of my loss and thereafter my husband and I phoned Jessica to enquire. Clearly the security cameras are dysfunctional. The glasses have not been retrieved.

Written 18 July 2023

Carolyn F

6 contributions

Neighborhood gem!

May 2022 • none

We walked here for lunch our arrival day. Sat outside in a tent and enjoyed watching the neighborhood come in and out - such a popular place. Flat white and Chai tea were wonderful and food was delicious.

Written 31 May 2022

Antony H

Fish Hoek13 contributions

Seek it out!

Feb 2020 • solo

I literally fell on this place when jogging the neighborhood and even though it’s been there in various forms since 1904 I never knew about it. All I can say is amazing in every way. Small menu for pizza and pasta as well as breakfast and lunch. Legendary coffee with your choice of roasts and steeped in history. Relaxed none pretentious and the chef manager is a gem.

Written 5 February 2020

CharlotteUBG

London127 contributions

Gorgeous little cafe

Jan 2023 • couples

We’ve been to Blue Cafe a number of times and absolutely love it! The staff are brilliant, as is the food. It’s on a lovely quiet residential road, away from the madness of Kloof Street etc. We would definitely recommend

Written 6 January 2023

DickyTheDuck

Cape Town Central3 contributions

Regular at this lovely cafe

Feb 2020 • friends

Ensure I'm here at an absolute minimum of once a week. Always leave with a smile on face. Great food. Lovely tea selection. Lovely olive selection (the white olives are amazing)

Written 9 February 2020