Friday, June 01, 2018

Lunch at Broadway Confectionery and Deli, Voortrekker Road, Maitland

Recently, at an industry-related party, we caught up with a chef whom we have known for a long time: Wynand du Plessis, who runs a catering company called Extreem Kwizeen. He had been following our Portuguese travels on line. He asked us if we knew of the Broadway Confectionery and Deli in Maitland, which is a Portuguese bakery and café. He told us that one can have very good Pasteis de Nata and authentic Portuguese food there and invited us to join him for a quick lunch. How could we resist? We had not heard about it and found the prospect very interesting
It is in Voortrekker Road. After Paarden Eiland, leave the N1 and follow Koeberg Road into Maitland, where you turn right at the traffic light and you'll see it just there on your right. As always, parking in Voortrekker Road can be a bit of a challenge, but the side streets offer the best opportunities
A welcome at the door
Wynand’s wife Lizelle joined us. We sat at high chairs on the café side, which is fairly busy
They have a very good range of Portuguese products for sale
We began with some small tapas dishes, which we all shared. First, a small bowl of Bacalao with soused onions, olive oil and parsley; not too salty. Some of the Bacalao we had in Portugal was dry and shredded; this had large pieces and was more plump and moist. They sell dried bacalao, so you can prepare it yourself at home, but the price may give you a small heart attack. Real cod from the North Atlantic is scarce and expensive
The tender and mild octopus, cooked in onion, parsley, chilli, garlic and lemon would delight our Greek as well as our Portuguese friends
Then some deep fried Bacalao fritters, served with good mayonnaise in a squeezy bottle and a spicy but not too hot Prego sauce
Then something new for us; these are deep fried squares of mielie pap with herbs – we think dill and parsley. It was a very good way to serve mielie pap, which, normally, we do not enjoy. They had a lovely crisp texture outside and were soft inside, with flavour
 Lizelle had an Espetada of chicken, flavoured simply with oil and lemon, as her main course
Their dish of the day was Feijoada and Lynne asked for a small portion. It came on a side plate with the most enormous mound of rice. A stew of beans and meat, this had all sorts of different beans, carrots, spicy chorizo and soft well cooked tripe. Not for everyone. John did blanch a bit, but Lynne enjoyed it. However, lots of the rice was left. And dinner was not needed that night after this extravaganza
Wynand had a bowl of hot and spicy giblets in a good rich gravy. We both tasted them and they were really good. It comes with a salad of cabbage and onion with feta, olives, cucumber and tomatoes
John’s favourite South African Portuguese dish is Trinchado, a dish of cubed steak cooked in red wine, chilli and garlic, so he ordered that. He says that it was nearly as good as the one he loves best from Diaz Taverna; not quite as much chilli and garlic, but great texture and good flavour. The chips were good too. You can’t see much of it, but there was a pool of flavoursome sauce beneath the meat. You would never find this in Portugal; they don’t eat much spicy food. This originates from the former Portuguese colonies of Mozambique and Angola. Many of the South African Portuguese originated from Madeira, including the owners of this café
And we finished, of course, with those Pasteis de Nata, made on site. Their pastry is also very thin, it’s an art. Thank you Wynand, for inviting us to the Broadway Confectionery and Deli and, generously, not allowing us to contribute in any way to the bill. We owe you one!

1 comment:

  1. Hi my name James I really like the menu is fantastic as barista I am qualify I will like to join the team to share my skills with others as team work my contact number 0789716867

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