Café Crème: when coffee meets cute

Ryneveld seems to be taking over as the coffee street of the Stellenbosch Coffee Project. As soon as we finish at one shop and take a further step on our adventure, we land straight on the doorstep of yet another coffee haven and Café Crème was no exception.

Tucked away under black awnings and set into the building, it's not quite so easy to pass this one by. The atmosphere draws you straight in. In the warmer weather, an assortment of tables stand crowded onto the pavement, seemingly calling to passers-by to sit down for a quick something. 

We ventured a bit further into the shop and weren't disappointed, before we even got to the caffeine (after all, while the coffee is vital, the vibe needs to be there too). This is undoubtedly one of the coziest coffee shops in Stellenbosch thus far and finding a room with more buzzing atmosphere will be a tough task. 

The coffee is good, if forgettable and slightly on the wrong side of "not hot enough", but still provides a pleasant accompaniment to the delicious variety of treats on hand.

Word must be out about what a lovely experience this particular stop; the constant traffic and scrambling for any table that's available is testament to the fact that this 8 month old café is doing something right. Having the owner on hand and actively involved in the experience is also a huge plus that seems to be a common trend in the coffee shops that always make you want to go back for more. (See The Blue Crane and the Butterfly for another example)

For more info and updates on specials, go check them out on Facebook here.

Note: no wi-fi available yet so you'll have to put the laptop away and soak in the surroundings.

    

Sunshine and cupcakes

Last week, Stellenbosch decided to give the flooding and miserable weather a break and instead broke out its reserve vintage of limited edition Sunshine.  And what a glorious few days it was. In the spirit of not wanting to waste such fantastic weather, Adrian and I decided to venture off campus and take a walk. We ended up at Hazz coffee shop on Ryneveld street, a regular haunt of students (we're everywhere), tourists and business folk looking for an informal meeting spot, and wow are we glad that we did. Just walking into the shop provides a hit of the most delicious roasting beans and made us want more- always a good start when I've enjoyed the coffee before I've drunk it yet!

We decided to splurge and each try one of the delicious looking confectionery items on display. About R40 each later we were seated outside under the trees happily discussing studies and test results (there's probably no better place to discuss such heavy topics, with the promise of chocolate cake on its way to soothe the soul).

The waitress was lovely, besides a mistimed joke about us having ordered hot chocolate instead of cappuccinos that left both of us hastily correcting her before realizing she was having a laugh at our expense o_O Not so sure it was the right tack, but different strokes for different folks. Thoughts on strangers making cracks like that? Funny or not?

Besides that, the coffee was absolutely divine and the red velvet cupcake with white chocolate that I had to accompany it was the best I've ever had. The chocolate cake didn't quite make "soul soothing" status, but it was (apparently) still rather delicious. All in all it was well worth the R36 spent, and I would definitely go back ASAP if I wasn't determined to have tried every cup of coffee in Stellenbosch within the next year or two. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!