Not only the weather played its part. The food did its bit too, and how! We started off with a lovely glass of fruit juice, fresh, light and quenching.
For our lunch we chose the pot-pies: one beef and potato, and one chicken and mushroom. We observed our surroundings and for a moment got up from our table to admire something in the garden. The less fortunate lunch guests who had not managed to secure a table in the sun, tried to occupy our lovely sunspot instantly, but quickly saw the error of their ways when they saw our belongings still on the chairs and our alarmed look at the possibility of a serious Harare hijack happening. Clearly we were the lucky ones having made claim to the one sunny table available.
Our dishes arrived and were put in front of us on the lovely table cloth, accompanied by proper napkins (I am always intensely thankful for linen napkins; those flimsy paper thingies just do not do it for me at all). The two little ramekins had a beautifully browned hat each of puff pastry glistening with butter and decorated with a tuft of parsley. Everything at Bottom Drawer is always served with a fresh salad, and ours looked sumptuous: various types of lettuce, some carrot, baby mealie cobs, celery, spring onion and tomato, dressed with delightful vinaigrette.
We shared our pot-pies and found that both of them were excellent. The chicken and mushroom was seasoned properly: enhancing the taste and making one long for the next bite as soon as the first entered the mouth. The beef and potato had succulent very tender beef cubes with potato chunks that had taken on the deep taste of long and slow cooking.
We were quite replete after this meal, but in order for the reader to know what the desserts at Bottom Drawer are like, I manfully ordered a strawberry pavlova. The lengths one has to go to for one’s readership! It took some time to arrive, and my accompanying espresso was nearly finished when it did. But the espresso soon had to take a back seat. The pavlova was served on an elegant plate, sprinkled with chocolate chips, and proved to have a marvellous meringue base with a layer of silky whipped cream over it, generously strewn with sweet and ripe strawberries. All this made eating this superfluous dessert not really as difficult as we had feared.
After paying the bill we finally got up from our sunny table. Within seconds it was taken by the next pair of lucky lunch guests. Bottom Drawer is a great place and its food is done with care, love and attention to detail. Go there.
Deluxe Coffee Shop4 PlatesExpect to spend US$12 – US$18 per head
