Cafe Komodo

LOCATION
In the food and fashion precinct of Prospect Road, ten minutes from the CBD.

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
If you are not feeling cool and groovy while venturing down the cobbled walkway to this cafe, you will the moment you enter. It is easy to find your mojo in Komodo. Think retro, retro, retro. It is seriously 70’s stuff with laminated tables, mismatched chairs and a lighting mix of chandeliers, lampshades and fairy lights. The curtains remind you of a time when orange was the colour de jour in decor. It is an intimate space with a cosy, little club feel. Set back from busy Prospect Road, this buzzy hub is also a meeting place for a community of jazz lovers. Live performances are staged every Friday night with a funky feature wall backdrop of vinyl LP’s. Summer Sunday sunset sessions are well spent in the courtyard with a vino, cider or ale – and live soul, blues and folk music. Manager, Edwin, is an amusing host to have around and when chef Chris is in the kitchen, they are like a comedy duo.

Breakfast is, appropriately, served all day. Perfect for those who have played up late the night before. Wholemeal date pancakes with cinnamon, ice-cream and maple syrup are a well-behaved way to start the day. The salmon omelette is a sophisticated option, plumped with baby spinach, Spanish onion, cheese and dill. “Mushroom magic” is a mischievous offering of fungi in a creamy seeded mustard sauce with fresh herbs served on rye. The specials board gives variety to mains with the likes of Nepalese meatball curry, roast vegetable and chorizo frittata or Persian chickpea and sweet potato soup. Never off menu, and sounding like they deliver, are “killer komodo burgers”. The standout being the organic tofu version with satay sauce, poppyseed coleslaw, cheese and greens…after it you will feel fit enough to slay a Komodo dragon.

Roz Taylor