By Le Connoisseur Chatters, in the Cresta Lodge near Msasa, makes no claim to be pretentious, offering good but basic food in the form of a buffet; they are supposed to have an à la carte lunch menu but we weren’t asked if we would like to try it, and in the end we also forgot to inquire further. I recall from our last visit here, some time ago, that we couldn’t clearly establish whether or not there was an à la carte or what was on it! The ambience on this visit was also evocative — the same large and cheery, if amateur, bird paintings; the same good service, barring a few slips; the same lunchtime crowd. On the latter, I must recommend doing an early lunch.
Cresta caters to company meetings and conferences and 1pm can often see a deluge of attendees flood into Chatters, swamping the buffet before almost as miraculously and abruptly ebbing just before 2pm.
We thought 12.30 would be a good time for tiffin. Just a handful of tables were occupied and we decided to sit near one of the large windows with a view of the pleasant garden and outside tables, even though it wasn’t too cold on this July afternoon. Drinks were a little limited and apart from fizzy canned drinks I settled for apple juice out of the two juice choices available.
Cee-Cee decided a hot drink was the order of the day and after some discussion with our waiter she settled for a big cup of coffee, having been advised that a cappuccino would get cold on its journey from the lounge.
Then on to the buffet! (We glanced across to the dessert selection and seriously considered putting some aside for later.) Cee-Cee thought she would try the Minestrone soup, which, though pleasant, seemed rather like (artificially coloured) packet soup with a few more added ingredients to tart it up.
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I created a little antipasto out of a bread roll, some cheese and some aubergine “tempura”, if I can call it that. I was happy to find the home-made rolls were considerably better than the last time and the aubergine properly cooked. Suddenly, while finishing our starters, our fears were realised — a long queue had materialised out of nowhere . . . the 1 o’clock invasion by a conference crowd!
Quickly we scurried to the buffet and inveigled a position at the “hot section”, with apologies, Zimbabwe style but with the tacit permission of the head waiter. Sometimes one has to do these things! Here there was a choice of chicken pieces, beef stew or bream and we both tried the chicken and Cee-Cee added a little of the fish.
To go with this we chose the carrots and courgette pieces and a few thickly sliced potato “chips”. You could be real trenchermen and pile it on but we just selected a few other items, the crisply fried rape salad from the cold section that we had misidentified as a spinach dish and a few more pieces of aubergine for me. The chicken was a little dry, which was expected, but the vegetables still crunchy, though I expect some people would have considered the carrots rather too crunchy; well, better than mushy, I say.
We did have to keep a serious eye on the desserts — was the crowd about to descend? Could we linger longer over our main meal? No, better not chance it! Last time we were here we had tarried too long and had to pick the scraps from a severely mauled presentation.
The service, as I said, was good, and we had a very pleasant waiter. I had hoped to try a glass of wine with the meal and had sent him off to see if this could be accomplished but had to remind him afterwards. Oops, sorry, he had forgotten but went to check with the bar. Yes, it can be done, he told us on his return, US$5 a glass. But it was too late now so we ordered more coffee.
When I saw the rather insipid and weak brew pouring from the spout I had the horrors and quickly switched to a cappuccino, not concerned if it came a little chilled from the distant lounge. In fact it was still hot and a good cappuccino. Cee-Cee’s first cup of coffee, I should add, was fine.
All in all, we had a decent meal. The price for the buffet hadn’t changed in nearly two years and was still US$20, perhaps a little high? Drinks, like the fruit juice and anything else from the bar is extra.
Family Restaurant 3 Plates Expect to spend between US$20-US$25 per head Cresta Lodge, Samora Machel Avenue, towards Msasa, Harare.
