We found a Groupon offer for a buffet at the Morningside Lodge Hotel restaurant in Durban just before we left: R70 instead of R150 a person and, not knowing Durban, we took a chance.
How bad could it be? It turned out to be a fairly Fawlty Towers experience.
the curries (a prawn & chicken, and a lamb biriani) were very bony and very mild
The puddings were scary, solid rice pudding and a very strange bouncy finger they called a chocolate brownie, which had no flavour and a most peculiar texture, like a very solid floury jelly.
Chicken wings next to the dessert
We asked for the wine list – blank looks from our waitress. “We have wine, led (red) wine (pause…) and white” she said. We asked, what kind? “Led wine or white wine.” We asked what name, what label – no label she said, “in glass”. In the end we gave up, realised we were being pretentious and said, “just bring us two glasses of the red”. It was absolutely awful! Oxidised, thin, sour and quite undrinkable. But it was included in the price…. They did eventually bring us a wine list as we were leaving – they have four wines on it
That was when we realized that Durban doesn’t drink much wine.
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2011
My husband and I used to travel to Kzn quite often when our son was at school there and were equally astounded by the hopeless wine selection in most, not all, establishments. Cafe 1999 is a happy exception. At one old school establishment the waitress was so astounded that we ordered a bottle of wine, she could neither pronounce the name of the wine nor could she write it down so she put her finger on the name on the wine list and carefully carried it to the manager, without moving the finger, to assist in finding it for her. We did get the correct wine that we ordered. Great fun :)
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