Sweetness beckons at Miller’s Café

 In its early phases the village consisted of rows of high-pitched two-storey shops in a Disney-style setting, overlooked by a clock tower. Although deemed an illegal structure, it rapidly expanded and became Harare’s favourite shopping mall and home to a number of popular restaurants.
Built on the site of The Tea Cosy, a charming teashop serving tea and home made cake on green lawns under the shade of tall eucalyptus trees, Millers Café evolved gradually. The Tea Cosy lost its old world charm and was re-designed as the ramshackle and gloomy Café Med, which struggled on for several years. A few months ago the Med’s doors closed. This historic site then underwent a rapid and total makeover, and quite recently Miller’s Café, a beacon of sweetness and light, opened with a flourish and a fanfare.
If you ever get the feeling that you’re all alone in the world, a visit to Miller’s Café will rapidly change your mind. Two Sundays ago, towards lunchtime, George and I were strolling through the flea market at Sam Levy’s Village, and decided to check out the latest favourite haunt of Harare’s ever-hungry public. Every table was taken and peeved clients who said they had made previous bookings, were twiddling their thumbs on the verandah.
The next day I went in person to reserve a table for a mid-week dinner. We wanted to entertain friends who were leaving Harare for a stint in the crowded, cosmopolitan city of Nairobi. Two business-like young women kindly agreed to reserve a comfortable upholstered banquette in the corner for our party.
At 7.30pm on a Thursday evening, Miller’s Café was buzzing. The bright, light and spacious interior was packed with a cross section of Harare’s multi-cultural society, mostly in the thirty-something age bracket. Young men with solitaire earrings, Beckham-style, were flashing the latest cell phones and photographing their partners, all of whom were wearing black leather coats with faux fur collars. At other tables, family groups with young children were finishing off meals of pizza and burgers. Diehards wrapped up against the winter chill occupied every table on the verandah.
Our friends, who are wine lovers of note, brought a bottle of ultra smooth Australian Hollick Cabernet Sauvignon from their collection. A friendly and efficient waiter opened and poured the wine with some style, before serving three starters of escargot (US$6) with garlic butter, and a River Salad (US$9) for me.
The River Salad was the most exciting thing I’ve eaten in months. Crisp Iceberg lettuce, slices of avocado, green peppers, and tomato were layered and dressed with a delicious yoghurt-based vinaigrette. A few thin slices of good quality smoked salmon, crisp fried croutons and a sprinkling of chopped parsley completed this most perfect of dishes. George and our guests were also delighted with the escargots, served in the classic French way.
For his main course George chose Bulawayo to Beira, a succulent 300g char-grilled fillet steak topped with a handful of sautéed ocean-fresh prawns (US$14). This dish was well executed and delicious. My order of hake and peas, cutely named Financial Times, materialised as a cold and dry piece of hake surrounded by dry, discoloured green peas, which could have been re-cycled from Café Med days.
Our waiter, when enquiring if all was well, looked disappointed when I showed him the offending dish, and promptly retired to the kitchen. And that was it. I wonder whether staff training includes ways to respond to customer complaints.
One of our guests ordered lamb chops (US$13) with a baked potato (US$3). He declared the potato to be cold, and the lamb chop nothing to write home about. Our other guest asked for calamari (US$12), which looked disappointingly grey in colour and floppy.
Giving the kitchen one last chance, I asked for Borrowdale Bread and Butter Pudding, only to be told it was unavailable. George was unfazed by our disappointing main courses, and concluded his meal with a quite acceptable hot chocolate (US$2).
I have no idea how many chefs or cooks Millers Café employs, but based on our meal, there are likely to be separate chefs for meat, fish and salad, all with varying levels of competence. Perhaps in the fullness of time, quality control will ensure that all dishes leaving the kitchen have the same degree of excellence.
Millers Café
Sam Levy’s Village
Borrowdale
Open daily 7.30am – 9pm
Tel: 4883357
Cell: 0912 234 049
– cmalakoff@gmail.com