Hang ten at Barefoot Café for a smorgasbord delight
[caption id="attachment_34403" align="alignright" width="300"] PIZZAS UP: Barefoot Café waiters Michael Thobi and Luvuyo Klaas show off an order of piping hot, delicious pizzas complete with generous toppings. PHOTOGRAPH: BARBARA HOLLANDS[/caption]
PEOPLE take the name of Chintsa's popular Barefoot Café literally and traipse off the white sands of the resort village's panoramic beach straight into the laidback vibe of the popular restaurant.
And that is exactly the kind of chilled atmosphere former "Jozi boy" owners Barry Jeffreys and Marcel Smulders were after.
"We wanted a little surf café where you can sit in either your business suit or your wetsuit straight off the beach," said Jeffreys, who took over the cafe in March last year.
The invitation to kick back and enjoy uncomplicated food in down-to- -earth surrounds is further encouraged by Barefoot Café's décor – Backpacker chic, complete with suspended surfboards, walls painted in contrasting colours and chunky tables and benches
And, true to form, our waiter, cool surfer dude Michael Thobi, was attentive in a relaxed kind of way.
Barefoot Café is situated in a rather pedestrian facebrick building which also houses the village's general dealer, liquor store and a gift shop. While this means there is the intrusion of everyday life if you choose the outside tables, it gives one a feeling of being integrated in village life. The café is frequented by many international volunteers and backpackers, many linked to Africa Heartland Journeys who come to Chintsa to work in teacher and vet training in the coastal village.
Its menu, which consists of breakfasts, pizzas and burgers, is complemented by blackboard specials, which can include steaks, pastas and curries, has bestowed some startling names upon some of its dishes, which are as baffling as they are funny. There's the Mugabe breakfast (R69) in which the whole gamut of breakfast dishes – egg, mushroom, bacon, sausage, tomato and cheese – is served on a pizza to "seize the day", the Dodgy Ozzie breakfast (R43) in which egg, bacon, tomato and caramelised onion embellish a roll and the Gadhafi is Gone burger (R84) of a lamb pattie on a bed of rocket topped with chilli mint yoghurt. I opted for the simpler Genuine burger (R63) which arrived in a charming enamel plate with high sides and was delicious. With cheese liberally melted on the tasty, homemade burger, which nestled between two piles of golden chips, the dish took care of both my lunch and dinner requirements. Glenn raved about his choice of The Greek (R79) pizza which was generously topped with roast lamb, garlic, feta, cherry tomatoes and peppers and drizzled with yoghurt. Yoghurt on a pizza was new to him, but he loved this innovative touch.
So filling was The Greek, that half of it went home and was snacked up at dinner time. The café proudly serves Chintsa-produced Emerald Vale beer, brewed and bottled just a few kilometres away.
It is not big on desserts , judging by the lack of them on the menu, but waiter Michael brought us a slice of a tri-coloured dessert served with ice- cream and chocolate sauce which goes by the name of Double Chocolate (R42).
Weekend Post restaurant reviews are done unannounced and the bills are paid for in full. - Barbara Hollands
