Cousins Lorenzo, Paolo and Lapo Magni and friend Nick Shepherd opened up The Odyssey gastropub at the end of May in the old French Toast space. “I couldn’t find a spot to kick back at with friends after work,” explains Lorenzo, who Cape Town locals may recognise from Blues.

Food

The boys are still finding their feet with the food offering, and are currently making daily tweaks. A brief blackboard menu names the specials of the day, but you might find traditional British pub grub like bangers and mash with crispy leeks and mushy peas; a contemporary take on cottage pie with very fragrant mince and a crunchy rösti in lieu of mash; a very meaty burger with piles of chips; Italian options like lasagna or rigatoni pasta with honey-smoked bacon and artichokes; or even a bowl of mussels in a delicious but very subtly Thai-influenced cream sauce. Some of the dishes still need some finessing, but carefully sourced produce like Richard Bosman’s cured meats and pork belly from Happy Hogs, and the willingness on the part of the owners to adapt, bode well.

Wine

Beer lovers are well catered for with five beers on tap (Two CBC options, two Jack Black options, and Stella Artois) as well as &Union, Darling and Boston beers available in bottle form. The wine list is currently quite small but expanding, with some of the favourites from Jordan, Warwick and Creation in attendance, along with affordable options like Graham Beck and Porcupine Ridge.

Service

Charming and unobtrusive, though a little slow. They’ll need to sharpen this up, particularly if they want to take advantage of the Bree Street lunch trade.

Ambience

Exposed brick, sunshine streaming in through the windows, lots of wood and pastel green details make for a relaxed but attractive environment that would work equally well for lunch as for a dinner date. Downstairs is more intimate, while the upstairs section can become a little noisy, and is thus better suited to groups. There's also a beautiful fire in winter.

And…

The restaurant is open on Sundays for a traditional roast for lunch.

By Katharine Jacobs

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