The Olive Station, Muizenberg, Cape Town: Cafe Review

The Olive Station
165 Main Road, Muizenberg
Cape Town | Map
(Near the Muizenberg train station.)

Specialty: Olives, coffee, Mediterrannean breakfasts & lunches, vegetarian and special-diet deli foods
Contact: Tel: +27 (0) 21 788 3264
theolivestation@icon.co.za

SA Blog recommends a look inside? If you’re in the area.

Further Insight & Opinion
Like all other eating establishments along the False Bay coast from Muizenberg to Simonstown, the Olive Station lives under the shadow of the mighty Olympia Cafe and Bakery. Unlike most of the other joints, however, this one manages to distinguish itself, no small feat.

Olive Station Courtyard

First, the Olive Station is a cafe, serving good coffee and light, Mediterranean-influenced breakfasts and lunches – all vegetarian – which, however, are hit-and-miss in the “meeting expectations” department, and have attracted mixed reviews (good | tepid). To my mind, the portions could be bigger or the prices lower – this is not a place to go if you want to “eat yourself fitter”. That said, both the indoor and outdoor settings are lovely – grab a table either in the pleasant courtyard (see pic), or sit solo at the counter inside, and enjoy the view of Muizenberg beach – and this is certainly a wonderful place to meet friends.

Second, the Olive Station is a deli-cum-olive factory that stocks a range of hard-to-find foods, such as wheat-free maize linguini, as well as more conventional items like homemade Seville-orange marmalade (which I just ate a spoonful of for breakfast – delicious). Inside the factory, olives soak in their special vinegar-and-spice marinades by the barrelsful – samples are always available to taste – and there’s much that’s non-edible in the way of local crafts and such to be browsed through, too.

Verdict: Visit the Olive Station for the olives, atmosphere and coffee. Order lunch or breakfast if you like the feel of the place, and are comfy testing others’ food-and-service hypotheses.
Note: The Olive Station is open for dinner on Thursdays, when it also has an organic produce market.