Starter of skordalia, tarama saved the day

Friends and colleagues whose leisure hours and work schedules are tied in with Harare’s café culture, bemoan the non-existence of a good, let alone perfect cappuccino, in any of their hang-outs. ‘They use skimmed milk’, ‘the flavour is wrong’, ‘they don’t know how to blend coffee’, ‘it’s always watery’, are the constant complaints.
Well, perfection is a wonderful concept, and what is wrong with aiming for the stars? The school motto, ‘Per ardua ad astra’, promises that if you work hard you can achieve anything. But eventually, most of us settle for good or for fine, and in some cases for just OK, because perfection is hard to find.
And so it was when I checked out the online classifieds and the eating-out websites last Sunday morning, in search of a restaurant that served Sunday lunch. I did not expect to find a perfect Sunday roast, with well-risen Yorkshire pudding, a medium rare sirloin of beef, well made gravy, horseradish sauce, roast pumpkin and crunchy green beans. But I would settle for something along those lines, for something which might be called pretty good. Even fine would do.
Eventually, I gave up the idea of eating the roast beef of England, and decided to visit the Hellenic Cultural and Sporting Centre for lunch. It was the end of the month, and chances were that the delicious monthly traditional Greek buffet would be served.
I tried telephoning to confirm the buffet and to book a table, but the line seemed to be out of order. George and I decided to take a chance on getting a table, and arrived at Hellenic’s just after one o’clock.
Ominously, there were few vehicles in the car park. Apart from a jolly party having toots in the bar, we had the place to ourselves. We chose a table on the verandah overlooking a grassy playground and sports fields.
All the tables were attractively set, with clean white damask cloths and decorative swathes of red chiffon. A specimen vase with pink bougainvillea and a white rose stood in the centre of each table.
The buffet was off and lunchtime options were chalked up on a large board. I stood for several minutes, trying to choose between hake and chips, ‘T’ bone and chips, rump steak and chips, chicken schnitzel and chips, and the special of the day, spaghetti a la carbonara. None of these dishes seemed appropriate for the leisurely Sunday lunch I had in mind, but finally I ordered hake and George ordered schnitzel, both costing $8. We also ordered a starter of two Greek dishes — skordalia and tarama, served with Melba toast and beer sticks, $5.
The skordalia and tarama, tasty and attractively served, saved the day for me. My piece of hake was fresh, but over salted, and fried in batter. The French fries were a luminous orange colour and the serving of green beans and carrots tasted over-cooked. George said the schnitzel was tasty, but was disappointed with the fries and the stir-fry of carrot and beans.
Dessert was a choice between cheesecake and ice cream. I gave them both a miss and ordered a cup of Nescafe, which was served ready mixed with over-heated milk. George’s cup of Greek coffee, however, was well made and delicious.
Based on Hellenic’s excellent reputation for catering, I have a feeling that the monthly traditional buffet, when it occurs, is very good. But last Sunday’s meal was neither fine nor OK.
 
Hellenic Cultural and Sporting Centre
Samora Machel Avenue East
Harare
Tel: 721972
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