Millflour Cafe
Where: Fig Tree Farm, 57 Inanda Road, Hillcrest
Open: Monday to Thursday 7.45am to 4.30pm, Friday 7.45am to 7.45pm, Saturday and Sunday 8am to 4.30pm.
Call: 082 853 8485
The Glass Guy and I popped into the Fig Tree Farm in Hillcrest one Sunday and it was buzzing. The venue boasts a collection of small boutique shops and the Millflour Cafe, a bakery and eatery, which spills out into the gardens.
There’s also plenty of adventures for the kids with a paintball range and golf driving range.
There’s a coffee shop and florist, an antique shop, and various artisanal food makers, plus a couple of pamper spots, nails, faces and hair etc. It’s popular with families.
We’re greeted warmly at the Millflour and soon shown to the last available inside table which has views of the pizza oven and team working away furiously.
Breakfasts here take in everything from avocado on toast to a big one that includes the works. There’s croissants done croque monsieur and madame style, and even used for French toast. There’s a flapjack stack and a range of benedicts, and a substantial section for vegans, including a big breakfast of sautéed potato, fried banana, baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms and vegan sausages. Bread can be traditional, Californian or multiseed sourdough ‒ I’m not sure what the difference is between the first two.
Vegans get a whole page of the menu with the likes of a falafel wrap, or crispy tofu burger or eggless pasta with beetroot butternut and vegan cheese. A cashew and mushroom stir fry or coconut and chickpea curry sounded interesting. There’s also a pizza with artichokes and olives.
Starters include spring rolls, halloumi fingers or chicken livers. There’s a small selection of salads and a ploughman’s board to share. We opt for the arancini balls (R65) and a focaccia with garlic and olive oil (R75). Both were good, the arancini balls nice and moist with some genuine flavour. The focaccia crisp and herby.
Pizzas are obviously popular here ‒ the wood-fired pizza oven doing overtime. There were often four or five stacked up and waiting to go in the oven, with all the usual options available. One of the nice things here is the kids can build their own pizzas, and no matter how busy, the staff were only too willing to help, offering bowls of things to add to their pizzas. They certainly enjoyed this.
There’s a range of burgers, a few pastas, including a classic lasagna and a selection of light meals. They make their own pies, which are served with chips and onion gravy. There are beef and chicken options and a pie of the day. There’s also two quiches of the day ‒ meat and vegetarian. Then there’s prego rolls, a selection of wraps and a half peri-peri chicken on weekends.
The Glass Guy went for the fish cakes (R110) made with hake and smoked snoek with spring onion, coriander and a hint of chilli. These were somewhat bland, and desperately needed salt and a good squeeze of lemon. They came with good chips and an interesting side salad. I chose the blackened hake with crispy calamari (R135) which was very good and had lovely cajun flavours. The fish was also cooked perfectly. It too came with chips and side salad, a nice touch getting both the sides, and offering excellent value.
Dessert offers a baked cheesecake or chocolate brownie stack. There’s a good old peppermint tart which I haven’t seen on Durban menus for years, a walnut and caramel slice and milk tart spring rolls. Plus there’s a selection of cakes and pies from the bakery, including lemon meringue, apple crumble, pear and pecan. Plus the coffee is excellent. The Glass Guy enjoying his iced version on a hot day.
We opted to skip desserts in favour of chocolate and pistachio ice cream cones from the little ice-cream shop in the centre. These too were good.
Food: 3
Service: 3 ½
Ambience: 3 ½
The Bill: Sorry, another receipt lost in the wash, but value is very good. It was less than R500 with tip.
Independent on Saturday