Refreshingly new place in Rolf Valley

While flipping through this cute little accessory last weekend, I came upon Lime Café and Drive Thru, a fairly new establishment situated in Rolf Valley.
In a previous incarnation, the Drive Thru was decorated like a seaside restaurant, and specialised in fish dishes and Mozambique-style chicken. The faint odour of Azeite Portuguese olive oil hung on the air.
Last Saturday, when George and I arrived for lunch, the space had been transformed.
Gone were the fishy accessories and traces of sea sand from Beira beach, and in their place were pristine white and lime green walls.
A picture of Bob Marley hung from one wall and a photo of the Beatles, clad in bell-bottomed trousers and striding across a zebra crossing, hung from another.
The seating looked fairly uncomfortable, but we perched for a while on bicycle saddle-sized bar stools ranged around midriff-high tables. These all had an uninterrupted view of two wide screen TVs showing the same rugby match.
Later we discovered an inter-leading wooden deck with picnic benches, tables and Zimbrellas, over-looking green playing fields.
We moved here after lunch, to admire the view and drink a cup of Cappuccino.
While we speed-read the menu, a tall young DJ wearing cargo pants and designer underwear was busy setting up his equipment for a marathon session of House Music.
Café hands were decorating the sparse white walls, tying green palm branches to pillars, while beautiful thirty-something young people began to arrive at Lime Café, in anticipation of the afternoon and evening’s entertainment.
Petty, our charming waitress, emerged from the kitchen with a plate of juicy spare ribs and fries (US$10) for George and an open smoked salmon sandwich with cream cheese (US$8) for me. George thought the spare ribs tasty, but I rated the sandwich only OK. For the size of the bread roll there could have been more filling.
On the plus side, the smoked salmon was of good quality and had a delicious flavour.
Grilled chicken, burgers and toasted sandwiches are other menu options, while the pizza oven near the Drive Thru section of the cafe is constantly busy.
As the decibel level of the House Music increased, we moved to a shady picnic table and bench on the outside wooden deck.
Petty brought us two richly steaming Cappuccinos, as we admired the smooth green cricket pitch and yellow flowering Cassia trees in the distance.
Several young future 20-20-cricket stars from nearby St John’s discussed how sixes could be scored from the pitch below, if the ball landed on Lime Café’s deck.
Given that a restaurant burned down last year, another closed because its premises were being re-developed, and others conceded defeat in the unequal struggle with a difficult economy, it is fortunate that Kfn publishes a new restaurant guide every year.
I look forward to visiting Sandawana’s top five choices, not excluding Mberengwa Beerhall, which also features on the list.
Lime Café and Drive Thru
Rolf Valley Shops
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