The return of an old favourite

Café 1999

Where: 51 Lighthouse Road, uMhlanga

Open: Monday to Saturday noon to 10pm, Sunday noon to 4pm

Call: 064 525 1324

It’s been the talk of the town for weeks. The reopening of Café 1999 in uMhlanga. Many a Durban foodie has been excited by the prospect of chef Marcelle Roberts’ wonderful take on Mediterranean flavours. Its closure when Covid struck was deeply felt on the Berea and beyond.

Our little Sunday lunch club was quick to join in.

It’s great to see Roberts getting back into her stride in the kitchen. She really is one of Durban’s top chefs, and we’ve missed her.

The restaurant is smart but still informal, and it’s packed, always a good sign. It has a nostalgic feel, right down to the mosaic bar counter and the trademark knife and fork on the wrong side of the plate, something that started as an accident and soon became a signature.

Many of the waiting staff are familiar too, which adds to the feeling of being in a comfortable space.

The menu chef admits there is deliberate nostalgia now, although I am sure Roberts will create new dishes regularly, dishes that could become signatures to the next generation of patrons. So is the familiar division of the menu into titbits and bit parts. It’s a restaurant where you can make up a meal just out of the titbits alone, if you fancy trying different flavours. I know Durban is not big on tapas, but it’s a style I’ve always enjoyed.

Naturally the ricotta stuffed olives feature. These have been on the menu since day 1 and no-one does them better. There’s also deep fried camembert with peppadew jam and green apple slaw. There’s spicy fish cakes with red curry mayo, and ginger and lime prawn tails with wasabi mayo. Middle Eastern lamb tacos with spicy carrot pickle sounded good, as did seared Thai beef skewers in a satay sauce, and chicken wings with charred corn. There’s also a rocket and Parmesan salad.

Ingrid went for the Turkish figs (R98) stuffed with Gorgonzola and wrapped in Parma ham. Here she didn’t read the menu carefully, a fail I would make later. Under the impression they were being served raw as snacks, she was disappointed that the cooking crisped up the Parma ham and made the dish quite salty. I loved it and stole her second fig.

Trevor relished his crispy duck with pancakes and hoisin sauce (R155) which was everything it should be.

The Fat Frog Lady tried the trio of dips (R95), the creamy Gorgonzola, and olive and sundried tomato tapenade were lovely, but the carrot and coriander hummus was strangely bland and stiff. It needed some sumac or za’atar and a glug of olive oil or lemon juice. I enjoyed my calamari and chourico (R125) with a good spicy romesco sauce (the piquant red pepper sauce of north-east Spain) and green olives. The only issue was the dish had cooled considerably by the time it got to the table.

For mains there’s char grilled fillet and sirloin, the former with red wine jus, the latter café de Paris butter. One with duck fat roast potatoes, the other triple-fried chips. Lemon and rosemary roast chicken sounds good, while vegetarian options include harissa roast cauliflower, and miso glazed brinjal. There’s also an onion and spinach risotto that tempted.

The Fat Frog Lady’s chermoula grilled lamb loin on potato rosti with minted peas and lamb jus (R275) was lovely and the highlight of the afternoon. Both Ingrid and Trevor opted for the tuna special (R290). This was tuna rolled in sesame seeds and seared on top a bed of wasabi mash with a coconut sauce. The sizable piece of tuna was beautiful and perfectly cooked. And fresh, fresh, fresh. For me it needed something more piquant like an Asian-inspired dipping sauce, rather than the coconut cream which sort of disappeared into the mash.

I saw on the menu plum glazed duck breast (R245) and ordered it immediately but failed to note the sides: vanilla butternut purée and curried lentils along with a burnt honey jus. The duck breast was perfectly cooked and that burnt honey jus delicious, it’s just for me neither side worked with the duck, or each other, the butternut sweet, the lentils with an astringency that comes from a heavy hand with cumin. Next time I’ll give that onion and spinach risotto a whirl. Or try anything with those duck fat potatoes.

Desserts include a triple chocolate brownie, something Café 1999 was famous for, a banana split with peanut butter ice cream, and home-made ice creams. There’s also a cheese board. I went straight for the red wine pear tart with Gorgonzola ice cream (R95) which was everything I remembered from the early days on the Berea. Crisp flaky pastry, silky sweet pear and that creamy tang of the Gorgonzola. The ladies shared the Persian orange cake (R85) which was enjoyable and they loved the Turkish Delight ice cream, along with sprinklings of Turkish Delight that accompanied it. I relished a lovely espresso.

I look forward to my next visit.

Food: 3 ½

Service: 3 ½

Ambience: 3 ½

The Bill: R2 251 for four