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OUT and ABOUT

Last week I promised to report on at least one more coffee and cake outlet as part of the ongoing ZOL eatout coffee tour. Just didn’t have the stomach for it. Chocolate is supposed to be good treatment for depression and was dished out liberally in JK Rawlings Harry Potter series as a first aid remedy against attacks from the Dementors — the dreadful jaolers of Askaban who sucked all the beauty and warmth out  of the air and left chill, fear and trembling in their wake. Chocolate straight up left me feeling slightly better so didn’t get round to it  diluted with coffee and cake. Next week I  hope!
The honeymooners returning from Thailand with photos of smiling faces and millions of flowers also cheered me up. Orchids are the national flowers of Thailand and abound everywhere — decorating drinks and food, dripping from even the poorest balcony and massed in airports. Bangkok airport is apparently festooned everywhere with flowers — waterfalls of orchids between the escalators, and gardens on either side of the endless moving walkways.
Hararians also like flowers and hats off to the people who keep the city cheerful with nurseries blooming on street corners. A favourite is near the Bridge Spar and I have bought many baby flowering plants this winter — pansies, primulas, dianthus, lobelias and petunias. At US$1 a sleeve it’s cheap and easy to brighten up your backyard, balcony or windowsill.
Also still cheerful and abundant is Food Lovers Market at Honeydew Farm in Greendale. It’s getting busier and busier — with car park overflowing onto the outside lawns on Saturday mornings. Brento’s coffee shop continues to take good advantage of this trade and provides good quality, inexpensive family meals — breakfast and lunch, teas and cakes. Writing about the coffee shop eighteen months ago and calling it ‘ordinary’ provoked indignant correspondence from loyal family and friends leaping to defence of this perceived criticism of the outlet. 
We sat inside on the high teak tables and stools set against the windows over looking the verdant nursery. The outside verandah is nice in warmer weather and there are now picnic tables on the lawn in the sun next to the playground — a good spot for families with small kids.
Its surprising that croissants and cake are dearer than the more upmarket Veldemeers – but I suppose croissants are not baked on the premises but sourced from neighbouring Fruit and Veg City bakery. The chocolate croissant (US$3) looked delicious served with a drizzle of extra chocolate. Carrot cake is US$4. Smoked salmon croissant has increased from US$8 to US$10 over the last year but otherwise prices remain static.
New on the menu is three egg omelette — US$6 with cheese, onion and tomato filling, US$7 with the addition of ham, or mushrooms. It made for a tasty substantial breakfast. I chose eggs benedict (US$7) but made the mistake of asking for the eggs done medium — which led them to be too hard for my taste.   One of the treats of eggs benedict is the runny yellow yolk mixing with the hollandaise sauce — in this case very rich and lemony.
The sunrise breakfast is good value at $6 and a full house is US$9 — making it a good family stop off. The sweeter tooth is catered to with pancake stacks, croissants, waffles and muffins. 
The lunch menu provides tasty standards — like spaghetti bolognaise and burgers with chips (US$9) and pies at US$7 and they have now introduced a lunchtime buffet salad bar.
Brento’s Facebook Page features a cover photo welcoming Love, Laughter and Friends. More of that is sure needed at the moment.
– g.jeke@yahoo.com