July’s top picks kicks of ‘My Places To Be’
Welcome to My Places To Be where Caxton Local Media editor, Corrinne Louw takes you on a journey that shows you her top pick of venues in and around Durban.
I’VE told this story to whoever cares to listen, unfortunately, you will have to hear it again. I contracted Covid in December 2020. The most crippling part, however; was that I completely lost my taste and smell. Everybody assured me that it would come back within a few weeks – it did not. I only fully tasted my first bite of food in March of this year.
It’s against this backdrop that I have started, ‘My Places To Be’, where I write about the places I visit, the food I eat, and my overall experience at the various venues around Durban. Welcome.
You might also be interested in: The Inchanga choo-choo is back for a second fundraising Open Day Festival
Back to my taste buds –with my taste absent I was always in search of ‘high flavour foods’. Curry, wasabi, Tabasco sauce, olives, and curry figs were my go-to foods.
The gravy soaking potatoes at Cane Cutters
The heat of the food was not an issue and I usually only got a hint of the taste with the first mouthful. It was during my ‘tasteless’ years that I discovered Cane Cutters in Glenwood and loved their mutton bunnies which I did not find too hot. I have quite a stewy palette and the people I was sharing the bunny with assured me it was tasty – I however could not appreciate the gravitas of the curry but I liked other elements of the dish.
Fast forward to July 2022 when my taste buds had almost 70% recovered and I tried Cane Cutters again. What was my favourite bunny chow was now too hot. Don’t get me wrong, everything else is tops. The texture and freshness of the white bread (a key ingredient in a good bunny chow) are always just right. The potatoes on top of the bunny chow had soaked up all the gravy it needed. The meat was falling apart and was perfectly tender and the carrot salad on the side was made just right.
You’ve got to see the lemon tree at Bentley Cafe
Two weeks later I came across a post by the Kloof Conservancy. If you don’t know them, they are an active and vibrant organisation, run by volunteers who aim to promote environmental awareness and conserve Kloof’s outstanding natural heritage for present and future generations.
They were promoting a hike and the opening of the Ngozaxa Trail which was ravaged by the April floods.
Read also: WATCH: Durban barista brews a cup of success
The hike was being coordinated by another incredible organisation, The Green Corridors, a social-purpose and impact-focused organisation that aims to see communities thrive in balance with the habitats around them.
Off I went on the hike. The cost was just R50, and I thought I had scored the luck of the century until I followed the trail.
It was grueling but, oh so worth it.
Our hike started at 8am promptly and by noon I was famished and had found my way to Willow Way Manor Bentley Café in Assagay. What a beautiful venue. I ordered the All Day Full House breakfast –it was not horrible but it did not blow me away. What did blow me away was the cappuccino and that biscuit brownie on the side, the ambiance, the wide open space, the windmill turning in my view, and the beautiful lemon tree overflowing with lemons at the end of the expansive property.
Talloula was a breath of fresh air
I had been eyeing Talloula for quite a while and managed to pop by last Sunday. On its website it is listed as ‘a breath of fresh air, set in the heart of the 1000 Hills valley just 5 minutes from Hillcrest outside Durban’. I had their prawn pasta, which was filled with more than enough prawns and a tasty tomato-based sauce.
* Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news
