Terbodore Coffee Roasters

The Midland’s Meander is full of little treasures, you just have to know where to find them.  Terbodores is definately one of those treasures.  Nestled in the Midlands and picturesquely set on a manicured small holding is this gem.  Primarily importers and roasters of coffee beans, Terbodores also have a lovely little restaurant and shop on site where you can enjoy the tranquility of the midlands while sipping on an award winning cappuccino.

As you step out of your car you are carried on the scent of freshly roasted coffee beans into a revamped stable building where the coffee roastery and packing room are.  A door off to the side takes you to a simply decorated restaurant with large wooden shutter type windows which lift up and open your view out onto the garden.  On the other side of the Roastery room is another door taking you to a small shop, filled with coffee, jams, teas, and other delightful treats.

Whenever I go to the Midlands I like to splash out and order freshly baked scones with real butter, chunky strawberry jam and fresh, whipped cream and a decaf cuppuccino – so this is what I ordered!  The rest of the orders from our table varied between scones and freshly made blueberry muffins, coffees, teas and coffee milkshakes.  Since we were only having a mid-morning snack, I decided to at least have a quick look over the menu, which looked mouth-wateringly appetizing with homemade meals like lasange and pastas.

Our food arrived and our eyes bulged, the muffins were definately homemade and filled with real blueberries and had blue berry jam oozing out the top of them.  The scones were also just as fresh with the chunky strawberry jam  and cream to one side -someone once told me you can always tell a good scone if you can pull it apart and it breaks evenly down the middle.  Well these scones did just that and I savored every bite, I was in scone heaven!  The decaf cappuccino was definately award winning and well deserving of the ‘2010’ and ‘runner up 2011 best coffee in the Midlands’ awards.  Feeling completely stuffed after eating every last morsel of scone on my plate we decided to continue with our meander around the Midlands and as we left we had to stop and greet the mighty Sultan, the Great Dane who lords over the property.

I highly recommend Terbodores to anyone who loves their coffee and enjoys the peace and tranquility of being in the Midlands.  I will definately be going back to try their lunches – leaving a little space for one of those delicious scones.

The Sugar Club in the Beverly Hills Hotel

I am usually not a fan of eating in hotels, in fact when I hear the word hotel in the same sentence as breakfast, lunch or dinner, my appetite is short lived – I guess it’s my association of food standing under the buffet lights for hours on end that turns my stomach and the a la carte menus are always loaded with promise, but on arrival the food is bland and disappointing!  So when we were generously invited by the Head Chef of the Beverly Hills Hotel, Gerard van Staden, to attend the Cederberg wine & food pairing at the Sugar Club in the Beverly Hills Hotel, I was so intrigued by Gerard’s experiences, stories and travels that I found myself strangely eager and enthusiastic to go.

The foyer of the Beverly Hills Hotel definately exudes elegance and warmth, with warm deep cream walls, tiles to match and dark wood trimmings. An elegant spiral staircase greets you with a large wrought iron chandelier sparkling at the center of the room. The walls on the staircase are filled with sepia pictures in dark wood frames while the walls leading to the lounge have featured artwork from various local schools in celebration of Mother’s Day.  The lounge is filled with classically styled wingback chairs, couches and poufs, all in earthy natural shades and neutral tones, complimented with tasteful ornaments, pictures and vases filled with fresh orchids.  Both the lounge and Sugar Club are illuminated by a mixture of soft down lights and chandeliers, adding the finishing touch to the creation of a warm and inviting area to relax in and perfect for the serving of pre-dinner drinks.  This is where we sampled our first glass of the Cederberg wines from the wine tasting, which was a slightly sweet, refreshing glass of Cederberg Rose 2011 – Rose is not my drink of preference but I found this Rose palatable and what would, in my opinion, make for the perfect summer lunch drink.

After our pre-dinner drinks, we moved over to the Sugar Club where we were seated at our tables. Gerard welcomed everyone and explained the menu for the evening, which was to be a four course dinner and each course was paired with one of the Cederberg wines.

First Course – Smoked Salmon Paupette with cucumber and dill, szechuan pepper straws, frisee salad and soft herbs. This was paired with the Cederberg Sauvignon Blanc 2011.

Second Course – Lapin Terrin with pickled enocki mushrooms, granny smith puree and baby fennel salad. This was paired with the Cederberg five generations Cabernet Sauvignon 2011.

Third Course – Fish Gratin with gratin soldiers, monkfish, tiger prawns, broads and confit leeks. This was paired with the Cederberg Shiraz 2008.

Dessert – Hot Chocolate Fondant with raspberry coulie, ice cream, popcorn and caramel. This was paired with the Cederberg Brut Classique 2006.

My intrigue was far satisfied above my expectations as every element of each dish came alive in my mouth, with the sauces for each dish the hero that tied everything together, producing taste sensations that left me wanting more.  My favorite dish was the first course salmon – probably a biased choice based on my love of norwegian salmon.  The Sauvignon Blanc was a perfect match.

The Lapin Terrin was a first for me as I have never eaten rabbit before – I have a food policy which is, there are animals you eat, i.e. cows, chickens, pigs and fish, and animals you don’t eat, i.e. rabbits!  Despite this rule I decided to suck it up, so I closed my eyes, blanked out the vivid image of my sadly missed pet bunny rabbits, Chewy and Thumper (unoriginal I know, but she really did thump her back leg on the floor and Chewy would come hopping) and put my fork in my mouth!  Honestly, I couldn’t tell if it was chicken or rabbit – although, doesn’t everything which is not beef, pork or fish usually taste like chicken?  The flavor of the Lapin Terrin was apparently subtle (according to a friend at the table who is a seasoned bunny eater).  I found it to be creamy, light and well complimented with the flavor of the fennel exploding in my mouth.  The Cabernet Sauvignon unfortunately was too powerful for this subtle, creamy dish, it’s one of those wines where you could drink a glass but a bottle would be too much – obviously not for me since I can’t open a bottle without finishing it.  The dish itself was better than expected although I won’t intentionally be ordering rabbit for any of the foreseeable future meals.

The third course was as Gerard said “fish with fish with fish accompanied by a great sauce”, I couldn’t have said it better.  The two types of fish and prawn were perfectly cooked and they literally melted in my mouth with the sauce swirling around and completing the dish.  I love fish, so this was an absolute winner dish too.  Strangely, the Cederberg Shiraz complimented the dish nicely and is a great wine – that’s saying a lot since I’m not a shiraz drinker, so I was pleasantly surprised.

The three delicious courses were followed by my favorite dessert, Chocolate Fondant.  Served with ice cream and topped with a few pieces of lightly salted popcorn and a drizzle of caramel sauce this was an unbelievable flavor and texture combination – needless to say I scraped my entire plate clean.  Unfortunately the center of the fondant was over cooked, meaning there was no melted chocolate oozing onto my plate, but the flavor was there.  The Cederberg Brut Classique was too dry for my palate and I didn’t enjoy the combination of the two, this was more of a personal preference as everyone else at the table seemed to enjoy the combination.

All in all I was incredibly impressed.  The food was outstanding, the setting romantic and picturesque, the service was to the standards of a five star establishment and the manager was friendly and attentive.  I have no doubt that with Gerard at the helm of the kitchens the Beverly Hills Hotel will be giving other local Umhlanga restaurants a run for their money.  I will definately be booking a table at ‘Elements‘, the other restaurant in the Beverly Hills Hotel, soon!

So this is the part where I eat my words and end by saying, hotels can serve excellent food in their restaurants … the but is … BUT only if the right person is running it – I guess that goes for any restaurant really.