Egghead Diner — Restaurant in Gardens

Egghead is a beautiful little spot with an absolutely gorgeous aesthetic, very cozy and thoughtfully designed. We were hoping to sit in one of the booths, but unfortunately, they were all full, so we ended up on the high chairs near the window, which weren’t our ideal choice.

When we arrived, we were asked to wait a moment as the table was being cleaned, which was fine. However, the waitress ushered us to sit before it had dried, so we sat at a still-wet table, which was uncomfortable.

It took unusually long for anyone to come back and take our drink order, by then, we were ready to order food too. I had the Eggs Benedict with two extra eggs, and my partner had the rare roast beef sandwich with a chai latte and a Coke Zero. We were happy with the drinks.

The food experience was mixed. I enjoyed my Eggs Benedict, not amazing, but solid. My partner, though, really didn’t enjoy hers. The sandwich bread was burnt along the roast being having a poor meat : fat ratio, which made the meal hard to get through.

The service overall was poor. I had to call the waitress over twice, once for salt (which had been forgotten) and again for something else I can’t recall. Each time, she came across as disinterested and slow to respond. Not rude, but definitely not attentive.

In the end, the vibe and food just didn’t make up for the lackluster service. My partner summed it up perfectly when she said we won’t be...

I had a wonderful dining experience at Egghead Diner, in Gardens. I went for their three course meal, which is part of Restuarant week. The food was fantastic from start to finish.

I kicked off with the avo and roasted corn salsa salad, which was fresh balanced and delicious. The creamy avo, charred corn and greens dressed in a balsamic dressing.

For the main I had the vegetarian burger, the patty was hearty perfectly cooked, and reminiscent of the beyond meat patty. The bun was well toasted and held the sauce well. Gherkins balanced out the richness of the single deep fried battered onion ring.

To finish I had the popcorn cheese cake, which was the standout. The cheesecake was light, creamy, sweet and slightly tart. Topped with crunchy caramelised popcorn was a great addition to contrast the texture of the cheesecake.

My only critique is the burger patty did not fit the bun well and the popcorn was a bit tricky to eat with the cheesecake.

The service was exceptional, my server was warm and friendly and even charged my phone which was about to die. This allowed me to take the pictures used in the review.

The diner itself is charming a bit on the smaller side but was spotless and very pleasing to the eye. The place looks fresh, cool and trendy.

All this for R195 was an exceptional deal.

I am curious to try out the soup and sandwich which was the other vegetarian option...

I chose this place based on reviews, and although my experience doesn’t seem to be the norm in comparison, I feel obligated to provide my observations as they may help others. As background, I went on a Saturday morning, so while no one was waiting more than 10 minutes to get a seat, it is a small place and the staff were busy enough that it took a while to place the order, get what you ordered, and finally pay the bill. This volume of customers likely led to a few missteps. First, while the coffee was fine, it was cold by the time I got the milk that was supposed to be brought out with it. Second, the hash brown I got on the side was so overdone that it shattered into oily shards when I tried to cut it (they did remove it from the bill, without me asking, when they noticed it hadn’t been eaten - but honestly as a former waitress, I wouldn’t have even served it). Finally, the flavor of my main dish was a bit flat. Although the eggs were nicely scrambled, I couldn’t detect any heat in the chilies scrambled into the “hothead” breakfast sandwich, and I had ordered it on the premise of being spicy. For anyone reading this, I’d suggest going at a less busy time and hopefully you will have a better experience. For me, while the staff was friendly, the food simply wasn’t good enough to come back for another chance when there are many other options and my time in Cape...