I recently went on the most gluttonous trip of my life: a four-day assignment to explore the foodie offerings of KwaZulu-Natal’s Midlands Meander. I came back several kilos heavier, vowing to go on diet for at least a year.
The Midlands Meander is a gourmand’s heaven: the route through rolling green hills, misty valleys and postcard-worthy tree-lined avenues are lined with fantastic restaurants, delis, farm stalls and countless artisanal producers. A meander on the meander is basically the ultimate South African foodie road trip.
I couldn’t eat my way through the Midlands Meander on my own so I took my eager (meat-eating) colleague Christie Fynn with me. After a hectic four days at Indaba in Durban we headed out in our very posh sponsored car (a shiny VW Passat) with empty tummies and maps in hand.
We didn’t have a bad meal on the Meander, or stay anywhere that wasn’t country-cosy charming, but instead of writing 5000 words about everything I ate on the four-day trip (and it was a lot) I’ve come up with my highlights. Here are my ten favourite foodie spots on the Midlands Meander.
1. Cleopatra Mountain Farmhouse
This is one of the most romantic, beautiful, charming places I’ve ever stayed at. Cleopatra has always been known for its food, and deservedly so. It’s run by Richard and Mouse Poynton, the most delightful couple who are the kind of people you wish you were related to so you could visit their country-chic farmhouse and be fed country-delicious meals. Richard, the chef at Cleopatra, warns people not to come and stay for more than four days because of the amount of food you’re going to consume may render you unable to walk after that time. To be fair, you can walk off the massive breakfasts and bigger dinners in the Drakensberg mountains, under which Cleopatra sits, but even still you’ll find your pants a lot tighter when you leave. Our six-course dinner was a feast of: prawn and avo in piquant tomato sauce, smoked salmon bisque, Mediterranean roast peppers, lime granita, roast springbok loin and fondant potatoes (I had Thai-flavoured sole – sublime) and pears baked in puff pastry with butterscotch sauce (‘the kind of pudding your grandma would have made before she snuffed it’ says Richard). I am definitely going to be back here next time I’m in the Drakensberg.
Read more about my stay at Cleopatra here.
Winter rates start at R1250 a person, including dinner, tea and breakfast. Cleopatra also offers cooking and gardening courses.
Contact
Tel 0332677243, [email protected], www.cleomountain.com
2. Piggly Wiggly
Piggly Wiggly is something of an institution in these parts. It’s a farm stall, restaurant and winery and it serves up the best cappuccino in the Midlands (no, really – it’s won an award). If you’re feeling indulgent, go for one of these famous cappuccinos topped with a fat whirl of chocolate mousse. Yum. Otherwise, breakfast or lunch on the lawn (the menu is a farm stall-type vibe of quiches, sandwiches, big fry-up breakies and filled baked potatoes) amongst kids playing on jungle gyms and afterwards fill up your boot with farm stall goodies – there’s biltong, freshly baked bread, cheese from La Petite France and Indezi, farm ice cream, jersey cream, biscuits, jams and chutneys and Midlands mead and sherry. On the same lawns as Piggly Wiggly is a great wine shop, craft, gift and ceramic shops and a place where kids can paint pottery.
Contact
Cell 0828557365
Address R103, Lions River
3. Kish Mish
Kish Mish is not your usual Midlands foodie spot. This Persian spice shop is a must-stop for anyone interested in Middle Eastern cooking. Find Persian braai seasoning, saffron-infused oil, Egyptian dukkah and Arabian fish seasoning next to homemade cordials, delicious jams (such as scrumptious gooseberry and vanilla), and pickles. Have a spice tasting or watch a cooking demonstration (R20 – phone ahead to find out when the next one is) given by Kish Mish owners Amal and Sharon Ma’ani-Hessari.
Contact
Tel 0332344439
Address Happy Hills, R103, Lidgetton
4. Hartford House
This is where Christie and I ate so much we couldn’t move. Literally. Good thing we were staying in the honeymoon suite (very romantic, especially when you’re with your colleague and not your boyfriend) and we could lounge around on the couches, bigger-than-king-sized bed and his ‘n hers hammocks, overlooking the dam. The five-course dinner was magnificent: highlights were a caramelised onion soup served with wholegrain mustard and sesame seed ice cream that I could eat litres of, and ‘Peanut butter and syrup on toast’, a really creative and fabulous pudding of peanut sauce semi-freddo, maple syrup ice cream, sugar glazed banana and vanilla creme anglaise. However, it was the truly indulgent breakfast that is what’s most memorable about Hartford House. Christie and I sat down on the sunny veranda and sipped freshly-squeezed orange juice, planning only to eat some muesli and fruit to counteract the previous night’s massive feast. But after being presented with a three-course menu I couldn’t just order a plain old breakfast. Instead I had fresh fruit in berry coulis with a muesli base topped with brown-sugar-glazed vanilla gastrique yoghurt for a starter, a roasted cherry tomato, mozzarella, hand-pressed basil pesto and sundried tomato omelette for my main and for dessert, Maltabella ice cream with Amarula cream and prune compote. It sounds awesome, and it was. I just couldn’t move afterwards.
Winter rates at Hartford House start at R550 a person for a suite in the manor house, but if you have cash to splurge, then book one of the four massive, luxury lake suites at R1370 a person. There are also garden and pool suites scattered on the lawns of the farm.
Read more about my stay at Hartford House here.
Contact
Tel 0332632713, email [email protected], www.hartford.co.za
5. Swissland
Before going to Swissland, I wasn’t a big fan of goats. I liked goats cheese but not the goaty-smelling weird-eyed animals themselves. So while I was completely prepared to taste all of Swissland’s lovely goats cheeses (which I did) I wasn’t keen on the whole feeding the goats thing. Nevertheless, I was convinced to give them a few pellets once Christie had bought a bag of them from the cheese shop. I became a toddler at a petting zoo – it was so much fun having them nibble of my hand! I’ve since decided that goats are quite sweet and I’m even more keen on them after developing a bit of a foodie crush on Swissland’s award-winning Drakensberg and smoked Chevin cheeses. I just wish I could buy them in Cape Town.
Contact
Tel 0332344042
Address Old Main Road, R103, Balgowan
6. Granny Mouse’s Country House
Granny Mouse is somewhere I’ve always associated with the Midlands, having stayed there when I was really small. All I remember is drinking Milo next to a roaring fire while it was dark and misty outside. It has changed over the years but it’s still a charming, cosy, Midlands retreat. Our room had its own fireplace, a massive bath strewn with rose petals and comfy beds piled with thick duvets: a perfect winter hideaway. The food is country chic: we had …. for dinner in the formal dining room, followed by a huge breakfast spread the next morning (smoked salmon, eggs and rosti, muffins, cheese, preserves, pastries and fruit). There’s a great spa if you really want to chill out. Christie and I had a ‘romantic couple’s massage’ (funny how you bond with a colleague when you’re naked in a room together getting massaged) which was blissfully relaxing. If I lived in Joburg I’d definitely make my way down to Granny Mouse with my boyfriend for chilled-out weekends spent by one of the fireplaces in the lounge drinking sherry and getting massaged in the spa.
Winter rates start at R1235 a room a night. Until the end of August you can indulge in a winter special at R2600 a couple a night including dinner and breakfast, a couple’s aromatherapy full body massage and a foot massage.
Contact
Tel 0332344071, email [email protected], www.grannymouse.co.za
7. Nicolson’s
Our first stop on the trip was quiet Hilton, a dorp of beautiful gardens and autumnal trees, home to the eponymous school. Early lunch was at Nicholson’s on Garlington Estate (picture lush green fields sprinkled with gorgeous Nguni cattle). Opened a year ago by talented chef Jonty Nicolson and his bubbly wife Tanya, Nicolson’s is gaining a name for its unpretentious, flavoursome, real food. I opted for a roasted pear and berry-dressed salad with toasted almonds and grilled Camembert bruschetta: it was the Camembert/cranberry combo done up. My main was lightly crumbed calamari tubes on top of a tangy lime, coriander, garlic and spring onion broth, which was perfect for a chilly Midlands afternoon. I wish I could have stayed for dinner – the menu looked awesome. Next time.
Contact
Tel 0333295200
Seeking Drive, Garlington Estate, Hilton
8. Nottingham Road Beer and Rawdons pub
I love beer, especially naturally brewed beer made in independent micro-breweries (I’m a bit of a foodie snob like that). Nottingham Road Brewery was at the top of my Midlands to-do list and it didn’t disappoint. We had a long chat with the brew master who explained the whole brewing process and I think got quite excited about telling us about it (that’s another thing I love – independent producers waxing lyrical about their foodie product). After getting enthusiastic about the science of brewing, we had to test out the beer, of course. The best place to taste Nottingham Road Brewery’s brews is a couple of metres away from the brewery in Rawdons Hotel’s cosy pub, the Boar’s Head. It was the perfect place to be on that grey, cold Midlands afternoon: a fire was roaring, Phil Collins was playing softly in the background, the pub was suitably English and welcoming and we had a taster board of beer. Christie, not being a big beer drinker, liked the Tiddly Toad Light Lager, while I preferred the Pickled Pig Porter. Alas, we were working and had to leave after our tasters. If I was on holiday, I would have spent hours in the pub drinking adult-sized portions of their delicious beer and working my way through the hearty pub fare on the menu.
Contact
Nottingham Road Brewery – Tel 0332666728
The Boar’s Head – Tel 0332666044
9. Chocolate heaven
Gherkins and onions dipped in chocolate? That’s what you can expect at a ‘Chocolate dippingz’ experience at Chocolate Heaven, among other more conventional chocolate-dipped delights like marshmallows and fruit. This is a real haven for people who love the cocoa stuff. The owners import Belgian chocolate and then hand make chocolates with their own unique fillings such as curry, biltong, chilli and passionfruit and chai spices. I loved all the weird and wonderful fillings I tried, and Christie said the biltong one was great. Choose your own mix of chocolates to take home or indulge in a “˜chocolate dippingz’ experience, which involves plopping whatever you like (apparently people go for strawberries, fudge, Turkish delish and gherkins) into a bubbling pot of molten chocolate – strictly for serious chocolate lovers!
Contact
Tel 0332677299
Address R103, opposite the Rosetta Hotel, Rosetta
10. Born in Africa
Born in Africa produces some fantastic specialty liquor: have a tasting and try not to leave with several bottles of their mead, chilli-infused sherry (perfect for chilly Midlands evenings by the fire), butterscotch cream and butterscotch schnapps. They also make cherry ale, cranberry liqueur, pineapple, strawberry and brambleberry wine. Their cheeses and homemade preserves are also delicious: we particularly loved the white mountain goats cheese, peaches preserved in sherry and chilli gouda.
Contact
Tel 0332344992
Address Old Balgowan Farm, R103
And even though this is a list of ten, I had to add a couple more highlights in: the fish pie ever (creamy, perfect mash, at Cooking Bear in Caversham, a delightful little country restaurant.(Tel 0332344933, 55 Caversham Road).
I also loved Cafe Bloom, a sweet little restaurant that serves mainly vegetarian breakfasts and lunches in a converted warehouse decorated with ceramics and flower paintings you can buy. Their freshly squeezed juice and Autumn platter of cheese, olives, marinated mushrooms and chutney was lovely. (Tel 0332666118, Country Courtyard, off the R103, Nottingham Road).
La Baguette’s almost-sour lemon start is almost worth the four-hour drive from Joburg. The authentic French bakery also bakes the most amazing pies (spinach and feta with coriander cream, mozzarella and caramelised onion…) and fresh breads. (Tel 0333304491, Greenside Acres Centre, Howick).
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