Meals to remember at The Coach House

By The Standard | Apr. 10, 2011

By le connoisseurIt’s a fact… dining at the Coach House is a wonderful experience readily available to residents of Bulawayo as well as to those guests who may be staying at the Nesbitt Castle Hotel. As Bulawayo residents, we are privileged to have such a fantastic and prestigious restaurant on our doorstep — situated in a quiet suburb well away from the congestion and bustle of the City.

Coach House is a terrific place to relax and enjoy the sheer luxury of leisurely dining, delectable cuisine and service par excellence — and also a great choice for celebrating a special anniversary. Our dinner reservation was made on the previous day and we were impressed to receive a very pleasant telephone call the next day to confirm that they were expecting us that evening.

In true Coach House-style and throughout the entire experience we were made to feel as very special guests, from being met as we parked our car, greeted by name and escorted through beautiful gardens towards the impressive front door into the spacious entrance hall where we were invited to be seated for pre-dinner drinks.

We chose tomato juice which came suitably chilled and garnished with fresh tomato, accompanied by a small plate of tasty savouries — just enough to set us in the mood for the main meal while our headwaiter, Godfrey, introduced us to the evening’s menu. There was no a la carte menu or “Specials” but a three-course set meal with choices of three dishes for each course.

The restaurant does not have a printed menu but was presented verbatim by Godfrey, suggesting that we could decide while enjoying our drinks and snacks and perhaps wish to make our final choice when we were seated at our table.

In due course we were escorted up the broad staircase to the upper floor dining-room and welcomed by waiter Tich to our table for two — beautifully set with gleaming silverware and crystal, white china and crisp white linen napkins — most effective on solid wooden tables matching the general Tudor-style décor. They also had an arrangement of flowers complemented by a lighted candle in a tall candleholder.

The choice of starters comprised chicken salad, vegetable spring rolls with sweet and sour sauce, or cream of butternut soup. I was tempted to opt for the soup, but in the end decided on the spring rolls which were quite delicious. My husband, who is a fish-lover, asked if there was any fish available and Tich promptly offered to inquire whether this could be arranged. He soon returned saying Chef would be pleased to prepare a seafood cocktail!

Main course dishes were chicken, beef or pork and we chose the rolled pork tenderloin with spinach stuffing and the crumbed beef fillet. These were accompanied by a medley of fresh, delicately cooked vegetables and potato wedges.

Choice of desserts were toffee-apple pie with fresh cream; crème brulee; and fresh fruit salad and cream. We chose toffee-apple pie and crème brulee — In all, a most excellent meal, washed down with a cool Chardonnay, and finally a pot of Tanganda tea and a perfectly decadent Dom Pedro!