I received a media release from Communication Services Africa on Friday, to publicise the new weekend Breakfast offering of their client Shimmy Beach Club, the highlight being their Breakfast Pizza, of which they had sent along a photograph (left). Sadly the photograph sent did not match the Breakfast Pizza I was served yesterday.
The publicity photograph looked so good that I made sure to get to Shimmy on a grey Saturday before their Breakfast service finished at 11h00, making it just in time. I need not have rushed, as I was the only patron in the vast restaurant, which I wrote about a year ago. One of the hostesses took me through to my table, and excitedly I told her that I had come to try the Breakfast Pizza (R89), and described my dry cappuccino request to her. She promptly handed me over to Russian waitress Olga, repeating to her what I had just ordered. The LavAzza coffee did not come dry, being a full cup of coffee with a thin layer of foam. Kindly Olga got them to try it again, and the second attempt was much better. A plate with three containers of garlic, chili, and tomato sauce was brought to the table.
I asked Olga about the chefs, having written on this blog about six months ago that two chefs had taken over from Chef Seelan Sundoo, who has opened his own restaurant Seelan’s in the V&A Waterfront. Group Executive Chef Adrian Cook is still at Shimmy’s but was not on duty yesterday. His colleague Head Chef Johann Breedt, a Season 1 Kokkedoor participant and previously at the Westin Cape Town Executive Club, has left again, to join the Mount Nelson hotel, Manager Lucian Jeppe thinks. It took him 15 minutes to come and see me, when Olga could not help me with information about where Chef Johann had gone to. Lucian himself is relatively new, having previously been Front of House Manager at Catharina’s at Steenberg. At the reception the very summery magazine Shimmy Style is available for one to take, and contains a write-up of both chefs, even though Chef Johann appears to have left quite some time ago!
It took what felt like half an hour to receive the Breakfast Pizza, and when I started cutting into it, I noted that the egg white was still raw, with the yolk looking pretty undercooked too (right). This pizza 
had bacon, rosa tomatoes (looking more like cherry tomatoes), two fried eggs, cheese, and mushrooms. I asked for the ‘caramalised’ (sic) onions to be excluded. This was topped with a sprinkle of dried thyme, probably from a Robertsons bottle, and differed from the publicity shot, which had fresh rocket on it! When Lucian came to check how it was, I showed him the raw egg whites. He returned in what felt like only 15 minutes, 
with a Breakfast Pizza (left) with separately fried eggs and raw cherry tomatoes added after, not looking half as attractive as the first pizza served, and completely different to the one in the PR shot.
The other items on the Breakfast menu are corn and thyme fritters with grilled boerewors, two eggs, and chili chutney (R65); Eggs Benedict served with smoked ham (R80) or smoked salmon (R70); muesli, fruit and yoghurt with bluegum honey (R75); The Usual, consisting of two eggs, bacon, sirloin steak, ‘caramalised‘ (sic) onions, sautéed mushrooms, balsamic tomatoes, and rocket (R85); banana flapjack stack with crispy bacon lardons, berry compote, maple syrup and cinnamon sugar (R55); and City Slider, with two eggs, bacon, tomato, and toast (R40).
Olga did her best to repair what was going wrong in the kitchen, offering me a second cappuccino while I waited for the pizza replacement, but did forget my request for a second glass of water. Surprisingly both Olga and Lucian told me that they did not have the password to allow patrons to use the AlwaysOn wifi, and one account which showed to be opened required one to log in, appearing applicable only to those with prior registration and having pre-paid it! It was odd how both reflected this strict dictate from the higher beings of management! It did not stop me from using my own 3G to Tweet before and after Breakfast Pizza pics, without any reaction from Shimmy!
Two first-time customers arrived about half an hour after I did, having got lost, and despite it being past 11h00 and the chef being strict about closing off the Breakfast service, Olga put in a good word for them and they were allowed to have their Breakfast order placed. The cream placemat had a blue paint stain on it, even though nothing is painted that colour in the restaurant. Annoying was that Olga tried to ask me whether my MasterCard was a credit card, debit card or cheque card while I was busy with a call on my phone! Shimmy Beach Club had a typical case of the Winter Blues on a very grey day, there being no energy nor perfection in the soulless empty Shimmy Beach Club. It was a disappointing return visit.
Shimmy Beach Club, South Arm Road, outside V&A Waterfront, Cape Town Harbour. Tel (021) 200-7778. www.shimmybeachclub.co.za Twitter: @ShimmyBeach Breakfast Saturdays and Sundays 9h00 – 11h00.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage
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