Cosy and charming are two words that popped into my mind when I visited Antique Rose last week for an early lunch. I have been there on, perhaps, a dozen occasions in the past and have always enjoyed the setting and ambience of what must be one of Harare’s most attractive dining venues.
Restaurant Review with Epicurean
It’s officially listed as a coffee shop or café, one of a great number now found across Harare’s northern suburbs, and I think this is because it is positioned as a place to visit through the day and not at night. As a mealtime venue, however, it certainly ranks along with most restaurants as a source of good breakfasts and lunches, and not simply a place to pop in for a coffee or tea.
My predecessor on this page, Dusty Miller, always enjoyed Antique Rose and several times enthused about its ambience and cuisine in his columns. Other writers have been equally fulsome in their praise over the years. And while I am not going to contradict their views in this report, I would like to point out a missing element that would, in my view, add to the pleasure of the experience.
It always helps in dining venues to see the face of the “top person” and not simply the waiter taking the order and delivering the results. Whether it’s the owner or manager or host for the day, does not matter; the personal touch is always worth the effort from a customer satisfaction perspective. Sadly, I have never in all my visits to Antique Rose had a welcome or quick check from such a person, and I feel that this element is an important one that needs correction. It could be, of course, that I have always managed to visit just when the said person or people is/are out for a short while, but this then means something is wrong in the venue and not with the customer.
I have on a number of times in this column expressed the view very strongly that the personal touch of managers or owners, and the access to “the management” by customers, is a key factor in successful restaurant operations. The lack thereof is very often the cause of so many of the problems faced by diners, while the provision of such a feature definitely gives an edge to venues that have such a presence.
When my guest and I visited this past Wednesday at about 11:30am, we were the only guests present until about 12:30pm, when one or two other tables took customers for lunch. Sadly, this is all too common a factor in the restaurant scene in Zimbabwe at the moment, and it’s been my experience in the past two months that, increasingly, guest numbers are dropping because of our frightening economic crisis. I have to express admiration for all the venues that keep operating against all the odds and I hope that, sooner rather than later, their perseverance will pay off and that the economy reverses its slide and everyone has money to spend again.
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We were warmly welcomed by our waiter and enjoyed good service from him throughout, so my reference to the need for personalised service from management was not a comment on anything negative in the service side. The order took a while to come, but we assumed this was because we were enjoying what the Americans refer to as “fresh, not frozen” and this is always to be welcomed. We looked at the menu on the table, which included breakfast and teatime offerings, and also checked out the notice board for specials and recommendations; we both chose from the latter.
I ordered the spinach ricotta ravioli and my guest had the pork chop with polenta. Both were excellent, though not especially large in portion size. There was a jug of water on the table and we ordered refreshments: fresh orange juice for my guest and venue-made lemonade for me. These, too, were greatly satisfying. My guest said her pork chop was very tasty and she thoroughly enjoyed the polenta, something infrequently seen on menus in Zimbabwe. My ravioli was great, and the accompanying tomato-based sauce was very Italian in character.
My guest went on to dessert: three mini crepes served with fresh fruit and delicious whipped cream. I had a cappuccino to end and was delighted to have done so. Our bill totalled $40 and we were happy with the value enjoyed in the expenditure. I would say prices at Antique Rose are in the middle range of Harare dining venues, and although I could have argued the point for portion sizes slightly larger, I don’t think anything was unfair.
Antique Rose is run and was established by Stacey Attwell, and it’s clear she has gone for a very pleasing venue, relaxed and enjoyable ambience and cuisine that is well above the average. I know the meals on the board change frequently and this variety makes return visits both appealing and rewarding. Stacey’s family is well-known in farming and motorsport circles, and she is certainly garnering a reputation for running a good venue.
The restaurant is on the site of a suburban retail estate along what we used to call Golden Stairs Road, close to Gateway High School and just along from the Chinese Embassy. I think the Golden Stairs plant nursery is operating at full tilt, but the stationery shop I went into last time we dined there seemed now to be closed… another sign of the times! Dining is on a veranda overlooking gardens and water features and throughout the visit we enjoyed the music played in the background — neither loud not soft — with a range of retro songs that we both loved. It was a super experience, lacking only the warmth of a welcome from owner-manager level — and if that’s the only complaint, then they really are achieving what they set out to do.
Antique Rose is at the Golden Stairs Nursery estate in Marlborough/Mount Pleasant/Emerald Hill. It is closed only on Sunday and opens Tuesdays to Fridays between 9am and late afternoon, and on Saturdays from 9:30am to lunchtime. Call 0771 131 896 for information and reservations. Secure parking is offered within the nursery grounds. It seems very family-friendly.
The East Guide to Zimbabwe’s Restaurants Volume 2 is scheduled to be published in The Standard on October 2. All restaurants and dining venues must think about coming into this, if they were not in the first edition published earlier this year. Write to [email protected] to find out more.
