There was reportedly a cyclone in the Mozambique Channel and it certainly seemed as if it had reached the Highveld. I suffered the full brunt of Cyclone Eline in the once lovely Burma Valley, another at Grande Bay, Mauritius at what was allegedly a cyclone-free time of year and a third (actually a hurricane) at sea on a cruise liner not dissimilar to Costa Concordia, currently headlining due to its cowardly — and crassly stupid — skipper. None were a pleasant experience.
So, as thunder roared, lightning flashed and centimetres of rain tumbled in the conventional lunch break, I pulled off the road at Kensington — windscreen wipers at double-speed, headlights on full, windows fogged — to eat at an old favourite: Taverna Athena.
Not over hungry, but I found it hard to resist Costa Agnastopolis’s cream of mushroom soup. Probably the best in Central Africa, it is rich, creamy, velvety and crammed with fine fresh fragrant fungi in a subtly under-stated herby broth. Topped with croutons and accompanied by a basket of lovely continental bread and butter, it’s a meal on its own at US$5.
But even a wordsmith like me can’t ring a 900-word feature from simple, steaming, potage du jour!Main course was Italian baked lasagna, with pleasant not quite al dente pasta, loads of flavoursome minced beef — again nicely, adequately seasoned -— garlicky, topped with melted cheese and rich béchamel sauce.
Surrounded by healthy, fresh salad, it was US$10, which most folk can live with. Two lady friends a few tables away, tucked into great pies (huku or steak) with gravy, chips and salads at just US$5.
To my amazement, I saw the restaurant’s trademark dish: lamb kleftiko is now US$25, which most people can live without. But Stavros says the melt-in-the-mouth “stolen lamb” speciality has innumerable dedicated fans. Athena seems the only place in Harare now serving it. Certainly it wasn’t “on” at AppleGees (formerly Papa’s, previously Mama Mia’s, nee Fat Mama’s) at Newlands, on Friday.
Lamb’s scarily dear; the dish takes at least 24 hours to simmer and catering staff have been awarded ludicrous pay hikes. So, you “Pays your money and takes your choice,” as the saying goes.
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Puddings are US$3-US$5; a fiver bought a mountain of fresh fruit salad topped with a generous scoop of coffee-flavoured (my least favourite) ice-cream. If I don’t like that taste much, I do enjoy good cappuccino…that’s what I ended with, as now torrential rain delayed my dash to the car and drive back to the office.
Taverna Athena, Kensington SC opens supper Monday-to-Saturday, lunch weekdays only.
Lucky 13!Coincidentally, 13 members of Greendale Good Food & Wine Appreciation Society ate at AppleGees at 1300 hours on Friday the Thirteenth of January. (Several members still on overseas leave.)
This was Mama Mia’s etc, where drink was served ancillary to good Mediterranean cooking. Now it’s a bar, where pub grub is served as an adjunct to the dispensing of grog, good cheer and humour.
I’m unsure why they changed culinary course, but it works reasonably well. None of the guys were ecstatic about the change, but we sure enjoyed a pleasant afternoon. (I left to shop at TM opposite just before they shut at 7!)
Three blokes had starters; everyone went for a main course (steak-egg-and-chips US$12; fish and chips US$10; spagbol US$8; liver and onions US$10); four had sweet; the bill was US$187 for “unlucky 13”, which included US$10 for corkage x 2.AppleGees (apparently there’s a US chain called AppleBees) opens 11am to 11pm each day except Sunday.
Talking about corkage, reader Johan Spies takes me to task for not mentioning in a recent revue that corkage at 3600, the magnificent new fine dining restaurant at Borrowdale Village is US$8 a bottle, which he calls “outrageous” and a “rip-off”.He’s entitled to his opinion. I had to incise the sentence I wrote quoting corkage charges as my article was about 80 words too long for available space: sorry!
But if places like AppleGees now charge five bucks corkage (they never used to!), Emmanuel’s US$7 and the Meikles restaurants US$10, US$8 doesn’t seem OTT to me, considering, they’re probably storing your plonk on ice, opening it professionally, serving in wonderful (and wonderfully dear) crystal, which must be washed and — eventually — replaced and providing you with filled ice-buckets (even chando’s dear in this workers’ paradise!)
But it’s probably better value to buy 360’s house wine, from US$15 a bottle, US$4 a glass, anyway. Lesley Orford of Alo, Alo tells me they left the premises opposite David Livingstone School on New Year’s Eve, their lease having expired.
Lesley says they’ll reopen Alo, Alo (sort of semi-fine dining: nouvelle cuisine cooking, ancienne regime portions), hopefully, in early February, in Arundel Village.
Dusty Miller
