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WE Zimbos are very lucky to have such a world-class and world-famous hotel as Meikles literally on our doorsteps, here in Harare.
It is a hotel in the same tradition as Raffles in Singapore, Shepherd’s in Cairo, Nairobi’s Norfolk, Claridges in London and the Mount Nelson in Cape Town; if we don’t utilise its facilities, we’ve just ourselves to blame!
And although several of Meikles’ inestimable restaurants have been routinely shut since the bottom dropped out of our tourism sector, following the 2000 farm invasions, several survive and flourish.
Flagship operation is unarguably the well-proportioned Edwardian-styled, beautifully appointed La Fontaine Grill Room, with huge crystal-clear picture windows, overlooking colourful Africa Unity Square — and the spectacular eponymous fountain (when working!)
I can’t think of any other five-star hotel, anywhere in the world, which offers a gourmet standard table d’hôte lunch in its best eatery at just $20. If you haven’t tried it yet, I suggest you make a special effort: because it’s special event memorably good at a very affordable price.
Greendale Good Food & Wine Appreciation Society’s September lunch is there. I sent e-mails stating that table d’hôte or a la carte menus were available and that the former choice would set members back just $18. (The cost last time I went!)
Then I thought I’d better actually check and, as I was in the CBD on other business: with time to spare, what better way than to send myself on a one-man recce of menus and prices?
Splendid choice
I doubt if there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth among members when they learn that the former $18 TDH is now a $20 prix-fixe!
Especially when they hear that a splendid choice of food includes starters: mozzarella cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, drizzled with garlic pesto (surely caprese?) or crumbed calamari rings with tartare sauce or (my choice) carrot-and-ginger soup with garlic croutons and those still-warm dinky brown and/or white bread rolls the hotel bakes so well, with butter. The soup had a pleasing intensity and depth of flavour.
Mains choices comprised: grilled pork loin with mash and poached apple-and-pear salsa (the culinary one: not a Latin-American dance!) drizzled with a mustard sauce; or griddled sirloin steak and roast potatoes topped with a red-wine onion butter and a bacon-and-mushroom sauce.
Although executive chef Chris Gonzo is still firmly in charge of Meikles’ spotlessly efficient kitchens, I detect some innovation in these menu descriptions and suspect we need look no further than young go-ahead executive sous-chef Shane Ellis, recently head-hunted from Millers (no relation) Ballantyne Park.
I was still having much trouble with a sore mouth, following a road traffic incident (not accident) so ordered a not too challenging herb-crusted fillet of hake (herbs identified: garlic, coriander and basil: I think!) with cubed parsley potatoes. This came with al dente (and I mean that: not raw, which I couldn’t have managed to eat) courgettes and carrots and tempura-battered cauliflower, which made a pleasant change in the greens department.
Garden peas
(I’d still murder for nice fresh garden peas — or even frozen ones! French beans, julienne carrots, boiled cauliflower and/or broccoli begin to wear, when you eat out as often as I have to; and considering the wide range of fresh vegetables available in the stores at reasonable cost.)
The vegetarian option of spinach and feta cannelloni sounded one of Meikles’ more pedestrian choices.
At this stage, after just two courses, the $20 all-in deal already sounds great value for money in a city where, nowadays — and if you’re daft enough — you can easily lay out $12 to $18 for a plastic-tasting burger, chips or “wedges” and gloopy sauce.
As the original and very retro Victorian-style timber dessert trolley is now trundled up and there’s an overwhelming choice of attractive puddings and/or (if you have the appetite) cheese, biscuits and fruit compote, this is a steal.
Due to soreness, I (very unusually) spurned my normal first choice of fresh fruit salad and cream or ice-cream almost invariably plumped for, choosing a creamy pannacotta, light-as-air chocolate éclair and tiny individual fruit tart (leaving most of the pastry) but enjoying a rewarding citrus and kiwi fruit filling.
Wincing at the very thought of hard cheese and wafers, I was talked into sampling a soupcon of extremely well-kept Brie and Camembert, both runny and as soft as an angel’s kiss on half a soft-crumbed soup roll. I ended with a good, strong cup of filter coffee, without the petite-fours which usually accompany tea or coffee (my choice.)
Soup, main course fish, pudding, cheese, coffee, two lagers and a bottle of sparkling mineral water $26.
Dinner menu
Meikles’ traditional huge dinner menu is, of course, available at supper and as an a la carte choice at lunchtime but, for those in a hurry, perhaps, and possibly prejudiced against table d’hôte menus, there’s now a one-page laminated wipe-clean — is “dumbed down” an unkind phrase? — mini a la carte available.
This was brand new to me. Star items looked to be beef carpaccio with caper and raisin pesto, Parmesan cheese and olive oil; sesame-crusted fish cakes with sweet chilli; crumbed button mushrooms stuffed with creamed spinach and cheese or an unusual fusion dish of Southern Africa’s favourite bobotie in spring rolls with a crisp garden salad (all $6.)
At just $7 you’ll battle to find a “proper” Caesar salad anywhere. Meikles is, arguably, “improper”, as it features anchovies the dish’s creator expressly declared verboten — at seven bucks. Smoked salmon on rye bread with lemon-infused crème fraiche and horseradish sauce is $10.
Mains on this new menu include aromatic curries at $12, rump, fillet or sirloin steak with starch and sauce of choice, also $12, grilled or fried Kariba tilapia at $10 and pasta dishes at $8.
Greasy spoon prices for Edwardian elegance and classical service! See you there!
l
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BY DUSTY MILLER
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