Cafe 1999
Where:
Silvervause Centre, 117 Vause Road, Berea
Call:
031 202 3406
Open:
Monday to Saturday, 12.30-2.30pm, 6.30-10pm
Cafe 1999, with husband and wife team Sean and Marcelle Roberts at the helm, offers a relaxed environment where one can enjoy interesting flavours, new concepts and great cooking.
When old varsity friends get together we don’t mind the sharing is caring style of eating. Which is what the restaurant is about.
The starters feature deep-fried Camembert coated in sesame and poppy seeds with peppadew jam or Turkish figs stuffed with Gorgonzola and wrapped in Parma ham, or middle eastern lamb tacos on roti with tahini, yoghurt and spicy carrot pickle.
We opted to share. No meal here would be complete without the crumbed deep-fried stuffed olives served with aioli (R50). There’d be a riot if it was removed. It was as good as ever. We enjoyed the ginger and lime prawn tails with wasabi mayo (R95) and the crispy calamari tentacles (R85). A starter special of beef fillet satay served with spicy peanut sauce was exceptional with a minted salsa type side salad (R79).
Mains include the likes of Moroccan seared chicken, plum glazed duck breast and mustard crusted rack of lamb. Vegetarian options include whole roasted brown mushrooms and a vegan Buddah bowl – mushrooms, stir fried broccoli and half the vegetable patch on sticky rice with a soy and ginger sauce.
A friend immensely enjoyed the roasted cauliflower on hummus with baby spinach, roasted butternut, chickpeas and almonds (R125). Another had the chicken salad with artichokes, feta, sundried tomatoes and olives (R105). It got the thumbs up.
The fillet special too was cooked to perfection and served on a bed of roasted vegetables, (R180). I enjoyed fresh linefish – dorado (R195)– perfectly cooked with a super fresh salad. A good dish. We then shared chocolate brownies (R65) for which the chef is famed. The coffee was top notch.
Ratings:
(out of five)
Food:
4
Service:
3
Ambience:
4