Cafe Mayfair
Where: Woolworths Centre, Mackeurtan Ave, Durban North
Open: Monday to Friday 7am to 4pm, Saturday and Sunday 7am to 3pm
Call: 031 563 2599
I’ve always enjoyed having breakfast at lunchtime - in fact even for dinner. On Sunday nights, eggs and bacon has always been something of a staple, a fall-back position to counter the looming Monday blues. So whenever one finds a place that offers an all-day breakfast, my ears perk up.
The bustling Mayfair Cafe in Durban North is one such eatery. And the options are vast and cater for everyone. There’s an extensive menu and a specials menu and a coffee menu. Prices are reasonable and service is swift. Our waitress was not only efficient and friendly, but she had a lovely energy.
My friend asked for a cola tonic and ginger ale, and she replied that she thought they were out of ginger ale, asking that if they didn’t have, “would lemonade be fine?” She returned soon after with a “look what I found” smile. I relished a good iced coffee (R44) which wasn’t just a coffee milkshake, while we perused the menu.
The menu offers an extensive selection of sandwiches, panini, or wraps with fillings like barbeque pulled pork, rare beef fillet with mustard and caramelised onions, or even egg mayo with crispy bacon bits and rocket. Salads might take in anything from brie with honey and roasted nuts to something with shredded tuna and even a thai fillet beef and a banting salad.
There’s peri-peri chicken livers, a Durban-style beef curry wrap, fresh fish from Barthos - which is just up the road - and steaks and even a Buddha bowl. Naturally there are burgers, including a naked variety served on a sweet potato rosti instead of a burger bun.
My friend ordered the gobstopper, which is a 200g grilled beef burger with avo, bacon and melted cheddar and chips (R105), except he asked for it to be a chicken burger instead. No problem for the kitchen. It was a substantial plate of food which he enjoyed immensely.
But back to my breakfast. Well, besides all the nuts, seeds, fruit and muesli options - I’ve never understood why people can’t eat that at home - there are any numbers of options with eggs, including a full English and a Mayfair breakfast, which is a fuller English, and options with salmon, mince, chourico and beans, and French toast.
I tried the sweet potato rosti with poached eggs, crispy bacon and baby spinach drizzled with Hollandaise (R89), which our waitress described as a Benedict on a rosti. It was an enjoyable if slightly salty meal. The one criticism is that sweet potato never really creates a great rosti - you simply can’t get it crisp enough. But it tasted good.
Desserts included a selection of cakes of the day - little, individual carrot cakes and lemon meringue pies looked enticing - and waffles. We opted to share one topped with mounds of chocolate ice-cream and chocolate sauce. Yum.
We finished with good coffees.
Food: 3
Service: 4
Ambience: 3 ½