Dining area at Blueberry Cafe

Melt-in-the-mouth steak and mushroom stack at Blueberry Cafe

Great coffee, good food, warm welcome, super cool decor … and loos with a view. What’s not to like at Blueberry Cafe, asks Ingrid Shevlin

BLUEBERRY CAFE
Netherwood Farm, R103, Nottingham Road
Call 033 266 7132
Open daily from 8am to 4pm – although kitchen closes at 3pm. After that it’s cake and coffee only

Blueberry Cafe is the perfect place to chill with family or friends over a Sunday lunch. It’s setting among the rolling hills of the Midlands is spectacular. Surrounded only by undulating green pastures, it has views that go on for ever. Civilisation seems far away and so do the cares of everyday life. Every person is welcomed as if he or she is an old friend.

THE LOOK
Country chic with simple but clever design elements, which help create a very appealing space. Think high arched ceilings, windows on three sides, wooden tables, leather sofas and a stove heater in the centre. The cafe is divide into three sections, the dining area, an atrium with pot plants, and a shop where local crafters can strut their creative stuff. Leather bags, jewellery, ceramics, wooden furniture, designer lights and handcarved wooden bowls are some of the items for sale.

THE FOOD
Cafe food with a twist. Breakfast options range from homemade muesli served with gourmet Greek yoghurt, honey comb and berries to a full English with wood smoked bacon and sausages. Scones baked to order.
Lunch options include a charcuterie platter; local cheese board with blueberry chutney, walnuts and figs as well as a  mezze platter. There’s a seasonal green salad with either Norwegian salmon or duck. Otherwise there’s a gourmet bunny chow, butternut and candied ginger soup with homemade bread and a beef/chicken burger.
A separate section offers main items like beef medallion and black mushroom stack drizzled with chocolate rosemary jus (R95), and chicken breast with spinach and bacon and served with a creamy mushroom duxelle (R70). With these mains you a choice of two sides for R45.
For my main I opted for trout fillets severed with hollandaise sauce, R80. The two sides I chose for R45  were roast butternut, beetroot and feta rolled in cashew nuts and drizzled with basil pesto; and a leafy green apple, brie and walnut salad. Everything just worked well together with subtle and complementing flavours. Nice.
The daughter opted for a Malay chicken bunny chow served in homemade jeera bread with blueberry chutney, yoghurt and dhania, R80. A good version she said, but not one you would find at Govender’s Curry Kitchen in Umbilo.
Two family members ordered the beef medallions and mushroom stack, R95, plus two sides and said the steaks were amazing. Succulent and flavoursome.
The chicken burger served with with greens, gherkins and wholegrain mustard for R75 went down almost as well as the steaks.
So, successful mains which we rounded off with specactular desserts and very fine coffee. We had their famous blueberry cheesecake, R48, berry pavola, R35 and a honey and horlicks ice-cream, R40.
Blueberry serve African Sister (if I recall correctly ) beans and their cappuccino are as good as any served by top coffee shops in Durban.
All in all a happy occasion. I wouldn’t say the food was spectacular but as as part of a package with  ambiance and service, there was nothing to fault.

SERVICE
Competent and friendly. It’s interesting that reviews on social media sites can vary so much. A recent posting on Blueberry’s Facebook site revealed one very complimentary review plus one from a very irate dinner who complained about being refused a meal after arriving at 3.20pm. When I called Blueberry they said their kitchen closes at 3pm. However their site says they’re open from 8am to 4pm. Perhaps they should clarify this.

Loos with a view. Thanks to the rain, views were on the misty side.

LOO REVIEW
Stylish and roomy loos, with one wall made entirely of glass offering views that disappear into a distant horizon. I’m told that cows often wonder around and stare in, but no complaints yet from the  leader of the herd.