Charly's Bakery

Silver-chocolate-denim-luff-luff-silver-sparkle-white-petal-gardens. There is a place where this phrase actually makes sense, and after a long morning of Free Taxi driving, we ended up there, at Charly’s Bakery, for lunch yesterday.

You can’t really miss the building, as it is covered in a wall-to-wall mural and the trademark neon pink and white stripes. You walk in, and you’re a kid again. It’s that simple. Lumo cupcakes, chocolate everything. Tarts, cookies and confectionary of every kind. Enough sugar in the vicinity to put you into a diabetic coma. Absolutely glorious.

We met with Alex, one of Charly’s daughters and one of the people largely responsible for the incredible range Charly’s Bakery produces. Charly himself, who has been baking since he was 14, has actually retired, and the business is now run by the women of the family, with matriarch Jaqui at the helm. Alex and the team have designed and produced cakes for the likes of Nelson Mandela, Elton John, Oprah, Thabo Mbeki and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. She once put a wedding cake together in 20 minutes after a docket slipped through the cracks. The bottom line is that these ladies know their what they’re doing. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak.

Mention Charly’s Bakery to any Capetonian and you’ll be met with all kinds of salivation. The place is, to quote their slogan, Mucking Afazing. Yet they aren’t overpriced, they aren’t snobbish, they’re just an functional family business run with decisiveness, confidence and a generous dash of sound business sense. Their stuff is in such demand, they operate a night shift and a day shift, so that they are literally baking 24 hours a day, all year round.

So, if you’re looking for a lunch spot or a birthday cake in the CBD, Charly’s is pretty much it. There’s a seating area out front where you can watch people go by and enough parking for minimum hassle. The coffee’s great. The food is great. And so is the sugar rush. Check out our video below.