September 2010
It was a confused scene: smoking man with dog scrunched over a newspaper on the pavement table outside, next to him a young couple in love; inside, the display counters showcased a fine variety of basically everything you would expect from one of the city’s best butchers /delicatessens; on the other side of that, a handful of small tables with a handful of apparent foodies, devouring various dishes from across the menu eagerly debating each mouthful; finally, out of the terrace at the back there was a large family with children laughing heartily and tucking into several platters-worth of meat and treats. All very befuddling, especially for an outlet that calls itself ‘café’, has a deli at its heart, décor straight from a bistro or diner, and restaurant prices.
However, strangely, wonderfully, this identity confusion made absolutely no impact on the experience. The Blue Cow doesn’t care for such pretensions. It operates and its clientele can think of it what they will, can take it or leave it. And from the evident bustling trade and several positive web reviews, it seems more and more diners are choosing to take it.
Obviously the big draw is the meat. The name Fogal (standing for Fed On Grain And Love) is well known to supermarket shoppers who seek more out of their meat and The Blue Cow is Fogal’s very own diner. As a result the burgers are tremendous; succulent, moist and accompanied by a perfect amount of crisp, fresh salad (although as a point of note, the chicken burger is defiled by mustard for reasons unclear). The same goes for the sausages, which deserve to be explored two at a time right through the selection of pork, beef, chicken, lamb, Italian, chorizo and my favourite, boerewors. They also offer freshly prepared kebabs and all the above are available off the menu along with two side orders, including mash, fries, wedges, vegetables, ‘pigs in blankets’ and a brilliant coleslaw, the secret of which was the addition of sweetcorn to the mix: inspired.
For somewhere with such an extensive normal menu, Blue Cow Café’s kids’ menu is a bit of a letdown but it does at least exist. You’ll find spaghetti, fish and chips and other predictables on it but in general the portions on the normal menu are so large that you should be able to comfortably feed a small eater off one portion. Their sausages are very good (one of the rare places that serves pork) and the pigs in blankets are bound to be a kiddy favourite.
Fittingly though it was their cooked breakfast that really left me weak at the knees. Extensive, generous, vast and enormous begin to give the impression of this magnificent plateful, which even included a rump steak if you can credit it. Full up enough for several breakfasts to come we left the café (or whatever it was) and got entirely lost trying to relocate the car in the maze of Plaza Damas. Such a shame that such a terrific little restaurant is so tucked away. Or maybe not. As long as you happen to find it. Matthew Bellotti