Bree street was always the ugly duckling of the upper section of the CBD. Having more that its fair share of unattractive buildings leering over the street, unappetising businesses such as wheel and tyre workshops, medical facilities, and double carriageways putting cars above people meant it wasn’t the street to hang out on.
That seems to have changed over the last decade or so. Coffee shops and eateries have slowly colonised what cute one and two-storey Georgian buildings there are, livening up what used to be dead pavements. And the initiative to occasionally block part of it off for pedestrians and have the restaurants extend onto the road has helped the post-lockdown revival. on First Thursdays Bree has been known to throb of its own accord, and not just with the overflow from the ever-popular Long Street. We decided to brave the hipster fonts and get with the set.
A table at Clarke’s seemed a good place to try, with its tables filling up the pavement, Parisian style, sort of, with the addition of cars brushing past less than a metre from your plate. (Given Bree is four lanes wide in places, permanently narrowing it to two and giving people more leg room might be a good idea).
Clarke’s has a relatively narrow frontage on the ground floor of one of the nicer two-storey buildings, and at first glance it doesn’t seem much more than its seven chipboard and formica outdoor tables more suited to a fast food outlet than the good-food eatery it actually is.
But inside, there’s surprising depth, with a large Z-shaped front room, then a covered courtyard hung with plants where the laptop set seem to congregate over the Wi-Fi, and through that, a bar area a the back, big enough to host a popular youngster’s 21st.
The menu is equally surprising, offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner options. The breakfast menu is available all day and is not your usual English eggs-and-sausage fare.
There’s fire eggs: two eggs in a tomato chickpea stew baked with Swiss chard, aubergine, fresh herbs & a slice of toast. There’s hash eggs: toasted cauliflower, parmentier potatoes, peppers & spring onion with two poached eggs, hollandaise & pea shoots. Even a taste of Korea with kimchi fried organic rice along with two eggs, mushrooms, radish, kale and sesame seeds.
I leant toward the Mexican, choosing huevos rancheros as breakfast for lunch. On a plate which arrived sooner than expected were organic black beans slow cooked in red wine, beer and smoked tomatoes on toast, with two eggs (fried or poached), house-made queso fresco (crumbly white cheese), and salsa topped with avocado and coriander.
First off, the poached eggs were perfect. They’d been stirred in a pot of boiling water rather than steamed in a mould, and were firm on the outside with about half the yolk running out when cut. The beans were rich and filling but the heaviness lifted by the spice in the salsa and tang of the coriander, mixing with the egg and avocado in a compelling mixture of textures and tastes, each forkful slightly different. Settled with a home-made hibiscus and lime soda to clear the palate, it was a delicious, satisfying meal. I’d have it again, except there are so many other delectable dishes on the menu, and we haven’t even got to the lunch or dinner offerings yet.
Clarke’s is committed to ethical food and kudos for stipulating their beef and chicken is free range, and ingredients mostly organic and seasonal, yet with the pretentious prices that often tag along.
A satisfying cappuccino, filling meal, and home-made soda came to R174 excluding tip. Also, there are a number of smaller meals for about R50 or less if you need a bite but don’t want to suffer a drowsy afternoon, or pay day seems to be taking its time to come around again.