It was the coffee wot dunnit.
And the delish and decadent fare wot won it.

Making delicious food since 1997

Back in the nineties, Kenneth McClarty wanted a flat white. But there was not a cappuccino to be found for love or money anywhere on the South Peninsula.

So, over some delicious Chardonnays, he and some of his foodie friends plotted and planned their own place. They wanted a local, somewhere with the simple, spontaneous, passionately-prepared fare that Kenneth relished cooking up himself for family and friends.

What did it matter that funds were few when there was so much love and talent to go round? In November 1997, a greasy old fish-and-bait shop named Olympia Café had the words “and Deli” added to its signage, and those iconic corner doors opened for business. A legend was born.

We’re proud of our roots in the fishing, somewhat bohemian, village called the Kalk Bay of old. And we’re even prouder that Olympia Café remains the institution at the very heart of today’s caring Kalk Bay community.

So don’t stand on ceremony. You can’t book a place at our tables. But you can stand in line like so many others before you. While you’re waiting, check out the chalkboard for today’s menu, feel the flash and flare of the pan, breathe in the aroma of the coffee (flat whites, Americanos and all the rest), and drool. (At the food, at the baristas… We don’t mind.)

Oh, and feel free to lick your fingers and the plate afterwards. That’s our style.